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GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK: October 26, 2013

GOOD WEEK: "MOM"
The new shows, especially the huge crop of sitcoms, are still finding their way. Many have gotten a vote of confidence with a full season order from their network. But no show proved itself more worthy this week than the CBS Monday sitcom Mom, which was up three tenths in the demo for its best numbers since the series premiere. Mom has had a tough task considering it's been the new show on a night that has already seen upheaval when CBS finally decided 2 Broke Girls was not worthy of being a 9pm anchor. Whether its Girls or repeats of The Big Bang Theory, Mom has had good retention and it will have its third different lead-in when Mike & Molly has its season premiere on November 4. The show is finding itself creatively and audiences seem to be responding. This performance is certainly more impressive than the other two new CBS sitcoms despite lower raw numbers because The Millers has horrible retention out of The Big Bang Theory and The Crazy Ones has been somewhat underwhelming.

BAD WEEK: ABC'S NEW SITCOMS
This has been the fall of the sitcoms and aside from the two cancelled ones, Welcome to the Family and We Are Men, people seem mixed on their appeal with every show having its set of fans. None are out of the gate smashes in the ratings like dramas The Blacklist and Sleepy Hollow but ABC's new batch has been really disappointing in the ratings. The Goldbergs is bleeding a huge amount of its Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. lead-in, same goes for Super Fun Night out of Modern Family. Back in the Game hasn't proven as compatible with The Middle as many thought it would be, and Trophy Wife is the lowest performer of them all. ABC is also having trouble with returning sitcom The Neighbors on Friday nights. With only Marvel having received a full season, ABC has some decisions to make with only two comedies on the bench. Namely, will it keep the Tuesday and Friday sitcom block in addition to their Wednesday lineup? I think ABC will be patient with these shows, but they have to make some decisions.

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