RATINGS RECAP: 10/30/14

ABC
8:00 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Viewers: 6.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
9:00 Scandal
Viewers: 9.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.1
10:00 How to Get Away with Murder
Viewers: 8.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7

CBS
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
Viewers: 16.3 million, 18-49 demo: 4.1
8:30 Mom
Viewers: 11.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5
9:00 Two and a Half Men
Viewers: 10.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.4
9:30 The McCarthys
Viewers: 8.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
10:00 Elementary
Viewers: 7.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2

NBC
8:00 The Biggest Loser
Viewers: 4.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
9:00 Bad Judge
Viewers: 3.9 million, 18-49 demo: 0.9
9:30 A to Z
Viewers: 2.5 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7
10:00 Parenthood
Viewers: 3.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1

FOX
8:00 Bones
Viewers: 5.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 Gracepoint
Viewers: 3.3 million, 18-49 demo: 0.8

Thursday night had the first Thursday of the season without football on CBS, allowing them to premiere their regular lineup. The first half went alright while the second half was a disaster. At 8pm, The Big Bang Theory was down half a demo point from its Monday airing over a week ago but it had very similar total viewers. I'm not sure what happened here, but I wouldn't be surprised if it goes up next week. At 8:30pm, the season premiere of Mom easily hit a series high in total viewers and tied a high in the demo. Retention was better out of Big Bang than The Millers, but it wasn't great. I would still call this a promising performance. Two and a Half Men had a pretty good night at 9pm, falling just a tenth behind Mom. The news turned for the worse at 9:30pm where there was very little interest in The McCarthys. The new comedy was a big disappointment and I can't see CBS keeping it here too long when it has Mike & Molly and the new The Odd Couple on the bench. At 10pm, Elementary collapsed to a new series low with no interest. This show has been trending downward, but it returned pretty terribly even by the low CBS 10pm standards.

Over on ABC, the annual Charlie Brown special did alright but wasn't as strong as Grey's Anatomy in the hour. It didn't impact Scandal though as that show was down seven tenths in viewers but up a tenth in the demo. The news wasn't as good for How to Get Away with Murder, which was down 1.3 million viewers and three tenths in the demo, easily hitting series lows. This was a definite disappointment but it is still TV's top 10pm show. NBC hit or tied series lows across the board with The Biggest Loser down two tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo, Bad Judge down half a million viewers and a tenth in the demo, A to Z down six tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo, and Parenthood down a tenth in viewers and the demo. The carnage was enough to get Bad Judge and A to Z cancelled, but they will finish their initial orders. Finally on FOX, Bones was down a million viewers and four tenths in the demo for a rough showing. Gracepoint was down two tenths in viewers and even in the demo. A pretty rough night for a lot of shows.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Scandal (ABC)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: Elementary (CBS)