AFTERNOON UPDATE: With the NFL game factored out, the entire NBC line-up fell. THE VOICE dropped 0.2 to 2.5, SEAN SAVES THE WORLD by 0.3 to 1.4, and THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW by 0.3 to a dire 1.0. PARENTHOOD fell 0.2 to 1.3. Meanwhile, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES rose 0.1 to a sterling 1.3 (but REIGN remained at 0.6), and SCANDAL, THE BIG BANG THEORY (but not THE MILLERS) and ELEMENTARY all also climbed 0.1.
THURSDAY CABLE: It was a heavy sports night for a Thursday, and all the non-rerun highlights belonged to football or basketball: 2.4 for the NFL Network’s pro game, 2.2 for ESPN’s Stanford vs. Oregon confrontation, and 1.1 for NBA Basketball on TNT. USA’s WHITE COLLAR and COVERT AFFAIRS were way back at 0.5/0.4.
NBC: Inserting an episode of THE VOICE at 8PM naturally raised the hour’s rating. But the show’s 2.7 counts as its series low. And since the NBC affiliate in DC aired the Redskins game, that might be an inflated number, also the case with SEAN SAVES THE WORLD‘s 1.7 (up a huge 0.6, at least partly thanks to its lead-in), THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW‘s 1.3 (up 0.2) and PARENTHOOD‘s 1.5 (up 0.3).
CBS: As with NBC and The Voice, it was a foregone conclusion that a fresh episode of THE BIG BANG THEORY would boost THE MILLERS. But again, while way up from last week, Big Bang‘s 4.8 was down 0.4 from the last new episode. THE MILLERS was up 0.6 from last week (to 2.7), but down 0.1 from 2 weeks ago. THE CRAZY ONES rose 0.2 to 2.1, still down 0.2 from 2 weeks ago. 2 1/2 MEN, which was preempted last week, was down 0.3 from 2 weeks ago to a series low 2.0. ELEMENTARY slipped 0.1 to 1.7.
ABC: ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND hit a new low 0.9. GREY’S ANATOMY edged up 0.1 to 2.7, but SCANDAL dropped 0.2 to the same 2.7.
FOX: The return of the regular Thursday schedule didn’t go well, as THE X FACTOR hit a new low 1.2, down a scary 0.8 (thanks, of course, in part to NBC airing The Voice against it). GLEE was down 0.1 from its last regular episode to tie its series low 1.5 (the last episode to air was the Finn tribute episode, which had done an uncharacteristically huge 2.9).
CW: Even though THE VAMPIRE DIARIES was up 0.3 to 1.2, REIGN could only hold steady at 0.6. Even a 0.1 slip at this point could seal that show’s fate.
All the networks air regular line-ups tonight, and the question is whether NBC’s GRIMM and DRACULA will hold, or continue to drop as they did last week.
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