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4.7. That was last year’s World Series Game 1 rating in 18-49s, which appears to be the lowest Game 1 rating ever in the demo. As FOX prepares to begin its St. Louis vs. Texas series tonight, that’s the number they’ll have in mind. (The lowest rated Series as a whole was 4.8 in 2008, when the series got off to a decent start but later suffered a disastrous rain delay game.) But back to last night:ABC: Remember that LAST MAN STANDING still has another week of airing against X FACTOR on FOX before Glee returns to its timeslot on November 1. So we won’t really know where Standing stands till then. What we do know, though–and this is something TV teaches almost every year, but the networks choose not to listen–is that despite the big-gun name of Tim Allen and all the financial commitment that certainly entailed, Standing is already being outrated by shows starring Zooey Deschanel, Kat Dennings and Jane Levy. MAN UP had a better debut than it deserved, but even so, any slippage from its so-so number will be dangerous.
CBS: UNFORGETTABLE was able to put some space between itself and the 10PM competition, and although its 2.5 rating is no great shakes, that may be enough to give it a lease on life.
NBC: PARENTHOOD wasn’t able to capitalize on last week’s bump for its birth episode. Its lead over BODY OF PROOF, however, may increase when final numbers are released, because Body often declines due to a DANCING WITH THE STARS overrun at 10PM.
FOX: The network has to be happy to see X Factor recover from its sub-par Sunday airing and return to its Wed/Thurs levels. As noted, though, FOX now have to take the bumpy ride of a World Series with mid-level teams and the usual uncertainty of just how many games will be played.
CW: RINGER built on its 90210 lead-in, a welcome sign for the show (the absence of New Girl may have helped). Next week CW will air 2 repeats in the 8-10PM slots and hope audiences will come back in November.
Although the big news of tonight will be the World Series, NBC will be anxiously watching the numbers for UP ALL NIGHT, which has a flashback birth episode (isn’t it too early for a new show to be airing flashbacks?) that’s been promoted almost like a series launch.
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