It's the most amazing switch I've seen in years: NBC owned Thursday night for DECADES thanks to blockbusters like "The Cosby Show," "Cheers" and "Seinfeld." CBS chipped away at their lead in the last five years, with huge hits like "CSI" and "Survivor." They finally owned Thursday (the most profitable night of TV thanks to all those movie ads studios like to run the day before films open) just last year. And in one fell swoop, ABC has stolen their thunder. They moved "Grey's Anatomy" to Thursday opposite CBS's #1 show and flourished. At the last moment, they moved "Ugly Betty" from Friday at 8 p.m. (where it might very well have languished) to Thursday at 8 p.m. where it's been a solid hit on its own and the perfect lead-in. And CBS helped by making the biggest blunder of the year: moving "Without A Trace" just as it was beating "ER" to Sundays. Now "ER" is showing new signs of life. I still think "Shark" will be a keeper, but CBS had their foot on "ER's" throat and they let off. Now if ABC could find a more compatible series at 10 p.m. than the convoluted and silly "Six Degrees," they'd be in even better shape. Maybe they should have used "Men In Trees?" Here are the overnights, per MediaWeek's Marc Berman:
8 p.m.
1. Survivor: Cook Island (CBS) -- 15.74 million
2. Ugly Betty (ABC) -- 13.81 million
3. My Name Is Earl (NBC) -- 9.9 million /The Office (NBC) -- 8.79 million
4. Baseball (FOX) -- 8.05 million
5. Smallville (CW) -- 4.93 million
9 p.m.
1. Grey's Anatomy (ABC) -- 22.82 million
2. CSI (CBS) -- 21.58 million
3. Deal Or No Deal (NBC) -- 10.09 million
4. Baseball (FOX) -- 8.05 million
5. Supernatural (CW) -- 3.7 million
10 p.m.
1. ER (NBC) -- 14.37 million
2. Shark (CBS) -- 14.14 million
3. Six Degrees (ABC) -- 9.01 million
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2 comments:
I can't believe people still watch Survivor. I'm yet to see Ugly Betty. Downloaded it yesterday so we'll see if its any good.
This is a weak season fro Survivor according to friends who care. But I think it and especially Amazing Race are pretty smart, well-done shows. As good a time-killer as most things on TV without insulting your intelligence. They're Shakespeare compared to Fear factor and Big Brother et al. As for Ugly Betty, it's not great (doesn't have quite the right balance between satire and sincerity) but the cast is pretty winning. I don't feel obliged to watch it but I don't wish it ill. By the way, did you buy it at iTunes or just get a bootleg copy somewhere?
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