Nielsen sitcom ratings Jan. 2-8, 2006

[Sal]

TOP 20 OVERALL --- ALL SERIES

Program Network Viewers
1 "Rose Bowl" ABC 35.63
2 CSI (9 p.m.) CBS 27.23
3 "Rose Bowl Pre-Game" ABC 24.54
4 Desperate Housewives ABC 23.72
5 "NFL Playoff Game: Jacksonville-New England" ABC 22.55
6 "NFL Post-Game" (Sun.) CBS 22.30
7 "NFL Showcase" (Sat.) ABC 22.01
8 Without a Trace CBS 20.93
9 "Fiesta Bowl" ABC 20.60
10 "Orange Bowl" ABC 18.56

11 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC 17.54
12 60 Minutes CBS 17.50
13 Dancing With the Stars ABC 17.46
14 Grey's Anatomy ABC 16.30
15 Cold Case CBS 15.95
16 Law & Order: SVU NBC 15.22
17 CSI (8 p.m.) CBS 14.55
18 ER NBC 13.97
19 Numb3rs CBS 13.93
20 CSI: Miami (Mon.) CBS 13.93


21st AND UNDER --- SITCOMS ONLY


21 Two and a Half Men CBS 13.71

35 My Name Is Earl NBC 11.19
37 Out of Practice CBS 10.47
39 The Simpsons (8 p.m.) FOX 10.11

41 King of Queens CBS 9.87
43 How I Met Your Mother CBS 9.56
47 Four Kings NBC 8.86
49 Office NBC 8.73

54 Hope and Faith ABC 8.32
56 Family Guy FOX 8.10
58 Will & Grace NBC 7.95
59 Scrubs (9:30 p.m.) NBC 7.84
60 Scrubs (9 p.m.) NBC 7.69

65 War at Home FOX 7.35
66 The Simpsons (7:30 p.m.) FOX 7.12
68 Yes, Dear CBS 6.91
69 American Dad FOX 6.89

71 Still Standing CBS 6.51
78 That '70s Show FOX 5.19

85 The Simpsons (7 p.m.) FOX 4.87

98 Arrested Development Mon (8:30 p.m.) FOX 4.19
99 Arrested Development (8 p.m.) FOX 4.16

101 Stacked FOX 4.09
103 Bernie Mac FOX 4.04
104 Malcolm in the Middle FOX 3.56
109 Everybody Hates Chris UPN 3.31



Comments

---7 of the top 10 shows are football-related, which is 7 too many for my liking!

---No sitcoms in top 20, unless you consider "Desperate Housewives" as a comedy, although that could change this week.

---Big winners were CBS with their Monday lineup, which was strong as usual. Big losers have to be FOX. They need an overhaul and fast! How long can they keep a stiff like "Arrested Development" around just to please a few critics? Pull the plug now!

[Dean Winchester]

Originally Posted by Sal

---Big winners were CBS with their Monday lineup, which was strong as usual. Big losers have to be FOX. They need an overhaul and fast! How long can they keep a stiff like "Arrested Development" around just to please a few critics? Pull the plug now!

why judge a show based on it's ratings? Need you be reminded of the early 90's when Seinfeld as a "critical success" that stayed around the 50's and 60's in the ratings (this is before Thursdays happened), while shows like Evening Shade and Major Dad were top 20 hits at the same time and both shows have gone into virtual obscurity and many people have forgotten those two, whereas Seinfeld is still beloved today.

Trust me, in maybe thirteen years time, Arrested Development will be a cult classic and Two And A Half Men will be in Evening Shade territory. Ratings don't always mean ****, shows like Cheers and Seinfeld would've never gotten off the ground if NBC judged the quality of the shows based on the initial ratings they got, which is precisely what you're doing with Arrested.

[gilligan fanatic]

The Brady Bunch, The Odd Couple, Leave it to Beaver, The Partridge Family, and a lot more were never in the top 30.

[treky]

and "All in the Family" did so poorly it's first season, CBS was ready to pull the plug on it, but viewers started watching it during the summer and the ratings shot up, and stayed there for the next 8 years. And "Cheers" also did poorly in the ratings for its first 2 seasons. It only became a hit when NBC made "The Cosby show" its lead-in.

[Sean Snow]

How long can they keep a stiff like "Arrested Development" around just to please a few critics? Pull the plug now!

Because AD makes other current sitcoms look like badly produced middle school plays in comparison.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Sal

TOP 20 OVERALL --- ALL SERIES

Program Network Viewers
1 "Rose Bowl" ABC 35.63
2 CSI (9 p.m.) CBS 27.23
3 "Rose Bowl Pre-Game" ABC 24.54
4 Desperate Housewives ABC 23.72
5 "NFL Playoff Game: Jacksonville-New England" ABC 22.55
6 "NFL Post-Game" (Sun.) CBS 22.30
7 "NFL Showcase" (Sat.) ABC 22.01
8 Without a Trace CBS 20.93
9 "Fiesta Bowl" ABC 20.60
10 "Orange Bowl" ABC 18.56

11 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC 17.54
12 60 Minutes CBS 17.50
13 Dancing With the Stars ABC 17.46
14 Grey's Anatomy ABC 16.30
15 Cold Case CBS 15.95
16 Law & Order: SVU NBC 15.22
17 CSI (8 p.m.) CBS 14.55
18 ER NBC 13.97
19 Numb3rs CBS 13.93
20 CSI: Miami (Mon.) CBS 13.93


21st AND UNDER --- SITCOMS ONLY


21 Two and a Half Men CBS 13.71

35 My Name Is Earl NBC 11.19
37 Out of Practice CBS 10.47
39 The Simpsons (8 p.m.) FOX 10.11

41 King of Queens CBS 9.87
43 How I Met Your Mother CBS 9.56
47 Four Kings NBC 8.86
49 Office NBC 8.73

54 Hope and Faith ABC 8.32
56 Family Guy FOX 8.10
58 Will & Grace NBC 7.95
59 Scrubs (9:30 p.m.) NBC 7.84
60 Scrubs (9 p.m.) NBC 7.69

65 War at Home FOX 7.35
66 The Simpsons (7:30 p.m.) FOX 7.12
68 Yes, Dear CBS 6.91
69 American Dad FOX 6.89

71 Still Standing CBS 6.51
78 That '70s Show FOX 5.19

85 The Simpsons (7 p.m.) FOX 4.87

98 Arrested Development Mon (8:30 p.m.) FOX 4.19
99 Arrested Development (8 p.m.) FOX 4.16

101 Stacked FOX 4.09
103 Bernie Mac FOX 4.04
104 Malcolm in the Middle FOX 3.56
109 Everybody Hates Chris UPN 3.31



Comments

---7 of the top 10 shows are football-related, which is 7 too many for my liking!

---No sitcoms in top 20, unless you consider "Desperate Housewives" as a comedy, although that could change this week.

---Big winners were CBS with their Monday lineup, which was strong as usual. Big losers have to be FOX. They need an overhaul and fast! How long can they keep a stiff like "Arrested Development" around just to please a few critics? Pull the plug now!

Isn't all this in the USA Today?-lol

[Sal]

Originally Posted by HUNG UP!

why judge a show based on it's ratings? Need you be reminded of the early 90's when Seinfeld as a "critical success" that stayed around the 50's and 60's in the ratings (this is before Thursdays happened), while shows like Evening Shade and Major Dad were top 20 hits at the same time and both shows have gone into virtual obscurity and many people have forgotten those two, whereas Seinfeld is still beloved today.

Trust me, in maybe thirteen years time, Arrested Development will be a cult classic and Two And A Half Men will be in Evening Shade territory. Ratings don't always mean ****, shows like Cheers and Seinfeld would've never gotten off the ground if NBC judged the quality of the shows based on the initial ratings they got, which is precisely what you're doing with Arrested.

The comments I made at the end were based on how certain sitcoms performed that week. I do not try to rate shows by quality based on their ratings. There have been great shows that have received low ratings (like "The Odd Couple") and bad shows that have received high ratings, (like "My Name Is Earl"). I also do not try to predict how long a series might stay on the air based on how they performed in the ratings, otherwise I'd be very rich. However, if a pattern develops, such as what is happening with "Arrested Development", then it should be noted.

My real purpose for doing this was simple. Any paper---yes, even USA Today---can give you the Top 20 shows for a certain week. I just thought you'd like to see a more complete picture and see how everyone else was doing. What I've discovered so far was this: The sitcom may not be dying, like some critics will have you believe, but it's still in intensive care with no signs of improvement just yet.