RATINGS RECAP: 9/19/11

Here it is! The fall season ratings are here! And what a bang it started out with!!

ABC
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
Viewers: 19.0 million, 18-49 demo: 4.0
10:00 Castle
Viewers: 13.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2

CBS
8:00 How I Met Your Mother
Viewers: 11.0 million, 18-49 demo: 4.7
8:30 How I Met Your Mother
Viewers: 12.2 million, 18-49 demo: 5.2
9:00 Two and a Half Men
Viewers: 28.7 million, 18-49 demo: 10.7
9:30 2 Broke Girls
Viewers: 19.4 million, 18-49 demo: 7.1
10:00 Hawaii Five-0 
Viewers: 12.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.4

NBC
8:00 The Sing-Off
Viewers: 5.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
10:00 The Playboy Club
Viewers: 5.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6

FOX
8:00 Hell's Kitchen
Viewers: 6.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6 

The first night of premiere week had earth shattering results on CBS, which pulled numbers unheard of on scripted TV in recent years. The first post-Charlie Sheen episode of Two and a Half Men featuring new cast member Ashton Kutcher delivered an incredible 28.7 million viewers and 10.7 demo. No show outside of American Idol can even come close to these numbers typically as it was the best scripted season premiere since Desperate Housewives way back in 2005. Simply put, this was an amazing performance and it exceeded many expectations. Also to those who think lead-ins don't matter, take a look at the series premiere of 2 Broke Girls which followed Men. It delivered the best sitcom premiere ratings since 2001, ten years ago! CBS was very wise to give this show this kind of platform because it got sampled in a way most shows could only dream of. The halo effect happened earlier in the night too where How I Met Your Mother was way up from any numbers it posted last year. It got a stunning 5.2 demo at 8:30pm which was rarely attained by any sitcom last year. The effect didn't quite last through Hawaii Five-0 though. On the surface, it had good numbers but it dropped a ton of the 2 Broke Girls lead-in. Still, it managed to win the demo in the hour with a 3.4 which is good for 10pm. CBS couldn't have asked for a better start to the season.

The news was not nearly as good at downtrodden NBC though which fell on its face the first night. The Sing Off may have stolen a few eyeballs from Dancing with the Stars, but not many as it posted an anemic 5.3 million viewers. It probably has a chance to go up though as people may switch over from Dancing and the CBS comedies will surely not have as strong a night next week. The bigger problem was at 10pm though where The Playboy Club was DOA. With a pitiful 5 million viewers and very low 1.6 demo, this show already seems to be in danger of cancellation. We knew these were placeholders for The Voice and Smash,  but NBC had to hope for better. They spent all summer promoting The Playboy Club and it didn't even get viewers to tune in out of curiosity. It might be another long season for the peacock network.

ABC was solid as usual on Monday with its premiere of stalwarts Dancing with the Stars and Castle. The newest edition of Dancing with the Stars was a strong performer as it always is but it was down heavily from last fall's debut of 21.3 million and a 5.1 demo. There is a lot of criticism that the star lineup is weaker this year and of course there was huge competition from Two and a Half Men in the 9pm hour, but still, it wouldn't surprise me if this was one of the lower rated seasons for Dancing. Maybe they're saving their big guns for the upcoming competition with The Voice in the spring? At 10pm was the fourth season premiere of Castle which surprisingly won the total viewer count but not the demo (I thought it would be the other way around). It was up significantly from last fall's season premiere of 10.7 million and a 2.7 demo despite the lead-in not being as strong. That is good news for the veteran drama and ABC. Even with tons of competition, FOX's Hell's Kitchen was up two tenths in viewers and the demo for its season finale. The two hour premiere of Terra Nova is next week.