RATINGS RECAP: 9/23/10

Here are the ratings from last night:

ABC
8:00 My Generation
Viewers: 5.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6
9:00 Grey's Anatomy
Viewers: 14.3 million, 18-49 demo: 5.4
10:00 Private Practice
Viewers: 8.8 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2

CBS
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
Viewers: 14.0 million, 18-49 demo: 4.9
8:30 $#*! My Dad Says
Viewers: 12.6 million, 18-49 demo: 4.0
9:00 CSI
Viewers: 14.7 million, 18-49 demo: 3.4
10:00 The Mentalist
Viewers: 15.5 million, 18-49 demo: 3.4

NBC
8:00 Community
Viewers: 5.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2
8:30 30 Rock
Viewers: 5.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6
9:00 The Office
Viewers: 8.5 million, 18-49 demo: 4.4
9:30 Outsourced
Viewers: 7.5 million, 18-49 demo: 3.6
10:00 The Apprentice
Viewers: 3.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4  

FOX
8:00 Bones
Viewers: 9.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7 
9:00 Fringe
Viewers: 5.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1



Thursday night of premiere week saw lots of shows return strong, two pilots sample well, one poor sample, and one show that tanked in Week 2. So basically Thursday was all over the map. The big winner was The Big Bang Theory on CBS which dominated in its new timeslot. CBS's big gamble of sending Survivor to Wednesday and trying to launch a comedy block on Thurs has clearly paid off. They have to be thrilled that Big Bang registered nearly 15 million viewers and just under a 5 in the demo, it actually built in viewers from its season premiere at 9:30pm on Mondays. It was a stunning result. Meanwhile the loser was NBC's The Apprentice which crashed and burned in its second week and is now getting among the lowest numbers on the big four networks. How can NBC leave it in this high profile slot?

Among series premieres, two comedies had respectable samplings. CBS's $#*! My Dad Says had a solid debut as it held on fairly well to Big Bang's enormous lead-in. People were clearly willing to give this show a chance, we'll see if it holds up in future weeks. Outsourced on NBC also had a positive sample, holding on fairly well to its The Office lead-in. Both these comedies haven't been getting great reviews so it will be interesting to see how they hold up next week. ABC's My Generation made it two nights in a row for disappointing drama debuts on the alphabet network with just over 5 million viewers. It seems like Weds at 10pm and Thurs at 8pm are cursed slots for ABC.

Returning series were successful last night for the most part. ABC saw very strong numbers for Grey's Anatomy which still kills in the demo. Private Practice was a bit soft and evaporated a lot of Grey's lead in. CSI and The Mentalist both returned to very solid total viewer numbers but seem to be skewing even older. Not even Justin Bieber could help CSI from its old-skewing ways. Still the overall viewer numbers continue to make these shows hits. NBC's comedies saw a mixed bag. Community was disappointing with only 5 million viewers, it seems unlikely the show can rise in future weeks. 30 Rock lost a chunk of its audience from when it was on at 9:30pm but still pulled nearly 6 million. Not great by any means but NBC will take it. The Office posted a strong viewership number for the first time in awhile and remains a strong force in the demo. FOX saw strong viewership numbers for Bones but Fringe continued to bleed from the lead-in pretty heavily. This show is certainly on the hot seat.