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SMASHWatch has a note from THE BACHELOR.
NBC: SMASH was down 0.3 last night, to a still-decent 2.4 that was nevertheless only 0.1 above its season low thus far. But it faced atypical competition from the post-Bachelor special on ABC, which is sort of an excuse (“sort of” because with CBS in repeats, the aggregate ABC/CBS total was just about the same as it usually is when those networks both air new episodes). Meanwhile, last night featured Anjelica Huston playing video games (and becoming BFFs with the endlessly-creepy Ellis), Katharine McPhee at a bar mitzvah (where she gets discovered by someone worshiping her talent… yet again), a hallucinated Marilyn Monroe, and the continuation of the dreadful Debra Messing storyline–remember when we thought Smash was going to be ambitious and smart? Also on Smash‘s “dog ate my homework” list: THE VOICE hit a season low, thanks to Daylight Savings Time and The Bachelor‘s season finale. Despite all this, NBC easily won the night.ABC: That BACHELOR finale, and also the AFTER THE FINAL ROSE post-finale special, were down sharply from last year, and that was in keeping with Bachelor‘s ratings trend all season.
FOX: ALCATRAZ hit a new series low 1.6 as its arguments for renewal continue to dwindle. The 1.2 lead-in it got from a HOUSE rerun didn’t help.
CBS: All repeats, and very steady: with the marginal exception of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (possibly affected by Daylight Savings Time), all the series were within 0.1 of last week’s reruns, even with increased ABC competition.
CW: The network wanted no part of competing against the Bachelor finale, and its reruns were pulverized: a 0.3 for AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL and a horrific 0.1 for HART OF DIXIE.
Tonight all the networks except CBS have new programming. The arrival is NBC’s FASHION STAR, trying to get some unscripted traction against procedurals on the other networks. FOX will hope its 4-sitcom schedule doesn’t slip too much in Week 2, and ABC will hope things don’t get too much worse than they already are on Tuesdays.
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