AFTERNOON UPDATE: Everything on CBS except THE CRAZY ONES moved by 0.1, with THE BIG BANG THEORY and ELEMENTARY up, and THE MILLERS and 2 1/2 MEN down. ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND found an extra 0.1, not that it’s going to help. In the race not to be canceled, PARKS & RECREATION put some space between itself and COMMUNITY, rising 0.1 to 1.3. THE VAMPIRE DIARIES grew by 0.1 to 1.0, keeping it above ABC for the hour. But no afternoon bump for AMERICAN IDOL.
THURSDAY CABLE: SUITS returned to USA with 0.8, down 0.2 from September’s fall finale (which aired on a Tuesday, and against significantly weaker network competition). The SIRENS pilot was at 0.5, which fell to 0.4 by the 2d half-hour, not a great sign. (The slump was even worse in total viewers, with 2.3M for SUITS, 1.3M for the 1st SIRENS episode, and 1M for the 2d.) On FX, SAINT GEORGE (which has one of those 10/90 episode orders like ANGER MANAGEMENT, so the initial ratings are critical) debuted with a dismal 0.4. The night was led by PAWN STARS (History), down 0.1 from last week to 1.2, followed by companion show VIKINGS, down 0.2 to 1.1. The NBA game on TNT was at 1.1, and EAGLEHEART (Adult Swim) was at 0.8.
FOX can’t make those Thursday changes fast enough.
FOX: AMERICAN IDOL set yet another series low, down 0.2 to 2.2, in its last airing before moving to 9PM next week. RAKE, about to move to Fridays, remained mired at 0.8.
ABC: Not unexpectedly, the return of ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND raised no interest, at the same 0.8 as its last episode in 2013. Both of the Shonda Rhimes powerhouses were down heavily from last week’s midseason premieres: GREY’S ANATOMY by 0.5 to 2.6, and SCANDAL by 0.6 to 2.8.
CBS: THE BIG BANG THEORY was gigantic as usual, up 0.2 to 5.2, and then THE MILLERS rose 0.3 to 3.0. 2 1/2 MEN was also up, by 0.2 to 2.7, but THE CRAZY ONES tumbled 0.2 to 1.7, tying its series low at a bad time in the season for bubble shows to show signs of weakness. ELEMENTARY wrapped up the night by rising 0.1 to 1.7.
NBC: Not much to say, as COMMUNITY stayed at its series low 1.0, PARKS & RECREATION gained 0.1 to 1.2, HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT dropped 0.1 to 1.1, and PARENTHOOD was up 0.1 to 1.2.
CW: Weird: the expectation was that news of a racier cut of last night’s REIGN being released online might hurt its broadcast rating, but instead the show climbed 0.2 to 0.7. It helped, of course, that lead-in THE VAMPIRE DIARIES was up 0.1 to 1.0, but still impressive that Reign had a bigger lift than Vampire.
All the networks are new tonight, with the exception of CW and FOX’s last Friday rerun of BONES before it returns to Mondays.
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