More grim news for ABC and NBC.
ABC: After ONCE UPON A TIME set the tone with a series-low 2.1, down 0.3 from its last airing, RED WIDOW had a disastrous 2-hour debut at 1.4. That ended ABC’s chance to launch any successful dramas this season (it still has one comedy on deck), and made the dim starts for GCB (2.2) and 666 Park Avenue (2.1) look positively rosy. Widow is almost guaranteed to go down next week, especially with a lower lead-in from Revenge, so it may already be time to wonder if the network will leave it on the air for the rest of the season.
NBC: CELEBRITY APPRENTICE was down an entire ratings point from last year’s premiere to a dismal 1.6 (although hey, at least it beat Red Widow), indicating America’s love affair with The Donald may be over, and giving NBC 2 more hours of primetime to worry about. Prior to that, DATELINE had a 1.3.
CBS: All the angst at the other networks helped most of the CBS schedule, as 60 MINUTES climbed 0.4 to 1.7, THE AMAZING RACE slipped just a tick from its season premiere to 2.4 (it was way up from last week’s airing as the only non-rerun against The Oscars, but that’s an unfair comparison), THE GOOD WIFE rose 0.3 to 1.6, and THE MENTALIST was down slightly to 1.5.
FOX: The network shuffled its animated schedule a bit last night. A 7:30PM CLEVELAND SHOW had a 1.5 (up 0.4), and then a second 8:30PM episode had a 1.9. That was up 0.1 from what BOB’S BURGERS did in that slot 2 weeks ago, but was boosted by THE SIMPSONS lead-in, which was up 0.3 to 2.3. Bob, meanwhile, aired at 9:30PM and had a 1.7, which was down 0.2 from American Dad in that slot, but it had the excuse of airing after a rerun FAMILY GUY, which had a 1.9 (still enough to beat the original competition on all the other networks).
CBS is in reruns tonight (except for RULES OF ENGAGEMENT), and CASTLE has a repeat as well, but the rest of the night’s programming is new.
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