RATINGS RECAP: 11/3/11

ABC
8:00 Charlie's Angels
Viewers: 5.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
9:00 Grey's Anatomy
Viewers: 9.5 million, 18-49 demo: 3.6
10:00 Private Practice
Viewers: 6.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6

CBS
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
Viewers: 16.0 million, 18-49 demo: 5.4
8:30 Rules of Engagement
Viewers: 11.8 million, 18-49 demo: 3.7
9:00 Person of Interest
Viewers: 11.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7
10:00 The Mentalist
Viewers: 13.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.9

NBC
8:00 Community
Viewers: 3.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
8:30 Parks and Recreation
Viewers: 4.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
9:00 The Office
Viewers: 6.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2
9:30 Whitney
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
10:00 Prime Suspect
Viewers: 4.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2

FOX
8:00 The X-Factor
Viewers: 11.6 million, 18-49 demo: 3.7
9:00 Bones
Viewers: 10.0 million, 18-49 demo: 3.3

Thursday night had a season premiere on FOX and we'll get to that but the big news was The Big Bang Theory's stunning performance. The sitcom seems to be growing in big ways this season (perhaps due to gaining fans in syndication) and it was up a huge 1.5 million viewers and three tenths in the demo for its best Thursday airing ever. These are just stunning numbers especially for an 8pm show and the syndication is paying major dividends if that is the reason. At 8:30pm, Rules of Engagement was helped by the lead-in and was up 1.2 million viewers and four tenths in the demo for a season high. The numbers are good but the retention is only ok. Still, for a show that was slotted for Saturdays, it has proven it still has some life left. At 9pm, Person of Interest was up two tenths in viewers but even in the demo. The fact that it had the same total viewers but was a full demo point behind Rules shows that the two shows have very different audiences. Person isn't lighting the world on fire but is remarkably steady. Finally at 10pm, The Mentalist was up a nice 1.3 million viewers and four tenths in the demo for season highs as its headed closer to where it was last week.

FOX started things off with the results edition of The X-Factor which performed well and in line with what was probably expected. At 9pm was the season premiere of Bones. It premiered to strong numbers and retained a great amount of The X-Factor's audience. In fact, it was in line with what it was getting post-American Idol last season and Idol was a whole lot stronger. FOX made the right call in strengthening this show after Idol last year.

Meanwhile on ABC, the cancelled Charlie's Angels started off down three tenths in viewers and even in the demo from its last new airing three weeks ago. This show stabilized right around the time it got cancelled but the demo is just way too low for ABC. At 9pm, Grey's Anatomy was down four tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. At 10pm, Private Practice was up two tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo despite the lead-in being down a bit. This was its best numbers since the season premiere, but it wouldn't be surprising to see this show take a break in the spring for one of ABC's many dramas on deck.

Over on NBC the numbers rebounded some from last week's dreadful results but they were nothing special. At 8pm, Community was up four tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo from last week's embarrassing numbers. At 8:30pm, Parks and Recreation was up a tenth in viewers and three tenths in the demo. At 9pm, The Office remained the bright spot and it was up seven tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo. This show is very similar to timeslot competitor Grey's Anatomy in the sense that it has fallen a far way but remains one of the top demo draws for its network. At 9:30pm, Whitney was up a tenth in viewers and a tenth in the demo. Finally at 10pm, Prime Suspect rebounded some from series lows as it was up half a million viewers and a tenth in the demo. This show can't possibly last in the long run, right?