TV News: CBS Misses Ratings Target With ‘How to Be a Gentleman’

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CHICAGO – It has felt for a few years like everything CBS threw against the wall would stick. Sure, shows like “The Defenders” and “$#*! My Dad Says” got canceled but they weren’t bombs. Ladies and gentleman, we are happy to report that the new Kevin Dillon sitcom “How to Be a Gentleman” is an official bomb. With a household rating of only 5.5, the show dropped a remarkable 41% from its lead-in (“The Big Bang Theory”) and was even down 18% from the second episode of “$#*! My Dad Says” at this time last year. Thanks for ignoring this mess.

CBS turns their night around at 8pm CST as we can now officially call “Person of Interest” a hit. The show held strong, dropping only 6% from its premiere, with a good 8.1 rating, comparable to where the monster hit “C.S.I.” was with an 8.6 on this night last year. That’s pretty impressive. Expect a full-season order soon. “The Mentalist” closes out the night with an 8.5.

How to Be a Gentleman
How to Be a Gentleman
Photo credit: CBS

The story of “The X Factor” on FOX continues to be an interesting one as it scored a nice 8.1 rating in the overnights, which is significantly highers than “Bones”/”Fringe” last year but also a bit down from expectations.

ABC may be in trouble again as “Charlie’s Angels” dipped a sizable 25% from its premiere, notching a lowly 4.6 rating. Those are numbers that could get the show canceled, never mind if it continues to plummet. It could be gone before the holidays. “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice” performed as expected.

Then there’s NBC — the network critics love but no one watches. “Community” (2.7) and “Parks and Recreation” (3.1) continue to struggle but both perform better in the key 18-49 demo. Things improved with a 4.4 rating for “The Office” and a 3.8 for “Whitney,” which is a low enough number that execs may start to worry. It was actually down 7% from “Outsourced” at this time last year. And it continues. “Prime Suspect” finished third, dropping 9% to a 4.6 rating — a number that also inches it closer to cancellation.

Finally, “The Secret Circle” continues to tumble on The CW, falling another few notches and now bringing lower ratings than year-ago occupant “Nikita.” It’s gone from a 2.3 to a 1.9 to a 1.7. Ouch.

Source: Nielsen Media Research Data and TV Media Insights

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Feedback's picture

Now that Desperate

Now that Desperate Housewives is in its final season, ABC can take the risk of moving it to Thursday nights to lead into Grey’s Anatomy. The move just makes sense and I’m wondering why they haven’t thought about it before. 8pm Desperate Housewives, 9pm Grey’s Anatomy, 10pm Private Practice… It’s a perfect lineup of shows that lead into the other like clockwork.

NBC on the other hand needs to learn the lesson that Big Bang Theory cannot be stopped. They have to stop trying to compete with it (especially with Community). I love NBC’s comedies so I think they need to move them to Wednesday nights so they stop competing with other network’s comedies… If only they could move Football to Thursday nights, we’d be looking at NBC as the new owner of Thursday nights.

CBS’s conundrum is easily solvable. Move Two and a Half Men to Thursday nights. Sure, their Monday line-up will lose some steam, but if they pull the plug on the revival of Saturday nights, they can get Rules of Engagement back in Two and a Half Men’s old spot. If not, they can just develop another hit-comedy. CBS does it so easily, it makes everyone else look bad.

Mitch's picture

This is a Great Show! with a great cast!

This is a great show with a great cast. Hopefully CBS will give it time. Every pilot is rough to start. Critics hated Big Bang and now it’s a hit. CBS didn’t promote the show and put all their money into Two Broke Girls.

Hopefully America will tune in this week and give this great cast the time they deserve.

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