Ratings Report Card: Monday Night

by Daniel Frankel
Sep 29th, 2009 | 3:51 PM | Comments 4

Get NBC 100 CCs of adrenaline and a lollipop stat!

The debut emergency responder drama ‘Trauma’ failed to stem the tide of what is becoming a moribund fall for the Peacock, especially on Monday night, with the new series from ‘Friday Night Lights’ mastermind Peter Berg failed to hold onto its ‘Heroes’ lead-in.

Yep, you know it’s time to call 911 when the discerning folks who still watch ‘Heroes’ won’t stick around to watch the new show.

Worse for NBC, there was little audience left for Jay Leno at 10 o’clock, with the talk show – which has been on a bit of a rating pendulum of late – swinging all the way down to a paltry 1.8 rating among adults 18-49 (the demographic that determines life or death among first-responding network execs).

BIG BANG THEORY (CBS) – No more bitter end-credit rolls for creator Chuck Lorre. ‘Big Bang” was up 9% over its personal best a week prior with an audience of 13 million and a 5.1 adult-demo rating.

TWO AND A HALF MEN (CBS) – All so up slightly from its premiere with 13.6 million viewers and a 4.7 demo mark.

CSI: MIAMI (CBS) – Down slightly from its premiere with a 13.5 million/4.1, but still finished first in its time period.

GOSSIP GIRL (CW) – A 1.6 demo rating for the CW is sexy.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS) – Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) does a bang-up job hosting the Emmys, and the show is only flat with its premiere a week prior? Watch last night’s episode here.

ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE (CBS) – Jenna Elfman’s new cougar comedy down slightly from its premiere with a 8.1 million/3.1. Watch last night’s episode here.

HOUSE (Fox) – Maybe they should keep House in the looney bin. Down 15% from its big two-hour premiere with 14.4 million viewers and a 5.7 demo rating.

DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC) – Potent with 16.7 million viewers, but down 12% from the prior week.

CASTLE (ABC) – In the 10 o’clock drama game, second place is last place. Scored 9.6 million viewers and finished well behind ‘CSI: NY.’

LIE TO ME (Fox) – As ‘House’ goes, so does the show it leads into. ‘Lie’ lays down to a mediocre 7.7 million viewers and a 2.9 demo rating. It’s down 41% from its mid-season debut, which was fueled by ‘American Idol.’ Bright spot: It’s still doing better than ‘Prison Break’ did at this time last season. Watch last night’s episode here.

HEROES (NBC) – Demo rating of 2.3 was down 11% from last week’s awful premiere. Not even a team of writers with exceptional powers could pull this thing out of its death spiral. Watch last night’s episode here.