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On a night when atypical competition should have made for some shuffling in the numbers, the news was that there wasn’t much at all.
ABC: The network had to be hoping that with a repeat Office on NBC and the male-skewing World Series on FOX, they could get some extra viewers for GREY’S ANATOMY. But the show actually went down 0.1 from last week, which means its 3.5 rating, down over 20% from last year’s average, is about where it’s going to be for a while. The weird thing about CHARLIE’S ANGELS isn’t its 1.2 last night, but the fact that as of now, the network is still planning to air another dead episode on November 3, in the midst of sweeps.CBS: PERSON OF INTEREST is reportedly about to receive a full-season pick-up, but it didn’t benefit from the repeats on NBC last night, and may have been slightly dented by the World Series. The good news for CBS was that while RULES OF ENGAGEMENT will never be a blockbuster, it’s far more compatible with BIG BANG THEORY than the deceased How To Be A Gentleman was.
FOX: They now know that they’ll have a Game 5 on Monday, removing the need to air House and Terra Nova reruns, but won’t know until at least Sunday if they’re going to get into the promised land of a Game 6 and potential Game 7. Last night’s number, like Wednesday’s, looks to be again just about what they’ve been doing with X FACTOR.
NBC: They sat out the night with repeats, and if Sunday’s football game is on the low side (and with New Orleans a 2-touchdown favorite over the Colts, that’s a possibility), the weekly average could be truly woeful.
CW: In the universe of this network, where tenths are truly meaningful, the 0.9 for SECRET CIRCLE counts as good news. The show has been improving creatively over the past couple of weeks as well, with less soap and more deadly villains.
In the stories about CBS’s pending pick-ups, notably absent has been A GIFTED MAN, so tonight’s rating for that show may be critical. Also, EXTREME MAKEOVER will make its Friday debut for ABC.
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