No rhyme or reason at all for her ratings and she's a bit biased. How
does Sanctuary get an A for anything?
I'm surprised Heroes is tanking this year. It's actually interesting
despite some X-Men-ish family melodrama. Papa Petrelli is a far
scarier bid bad than Adam was last year, Mohinder has actually turned
into a credible old school science based villain and the Sylar
revelations have been fun. If only Peter and Claire got rid of their
terminal stupidity. Oh well.
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> Well, you know that I already lambasted "Knight Rider", so am
surprised it did well enough to be picked up. ( I swear the original
was better). "Valentine" was on my hit list too, not at all
surprised it's tanking. I haven't watched "The Mentalist" yet; guess
I kept thinking of it as a serious version of "Psych". But i've heard
good things so will check it out if I get time. I'm
surprised "Eleventh Hour" is doing as well. It's really just another
procedural show with a mystery to solve, and starring a quirky lead
doctor/scientist. It's like "House" on the road, or, a more grounded
version of the out there science on "Fringe", another solve-the-
problem-of-the-week show with a quirky lead. "Eleventh Hour" is okay,
but not a must see. I record it and watch "Life on Mars" instead.
> "Life on Mars" is at least entertaining so far. Not sure where
it'll go. It's the kind of show that to me would realistically only
stay fresh for one, possibly two, seasons. It has good actors, a good
look, and actually decent plots. I'd give it a solid "B", not sure
where in the world they came up with a "D" rating.
> Ditto for "My Own Worst Enemy". If I can quit worrying about the
*why* of creating this split personality (for security I guess, but
it's still a stretch), I can enjoy Slater as an actor. Still, you
wonder who long the theme of each side recording messages to update
the other side can last. A "B-" to me right now, again, due to good
actors and at least interesting plots. But an "F"--what's the
criterion this lady's using, her own tastes, or simply rating based
on viewership?
>
> -------------- Original message --------------
> From: "Tracey de Morsella" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> How Did The Fall TV Shows Fare?
>
> As the fall TV season hits its stride, the winners and losers have
emerged, and it's a bloodbath out there. Ratings in general are
horrible, and the major networks are still reeling from last year's
writers' strike and a splintered viewership.
>
> Three series have already been pulled from the airwaves, including
CBS' The Ex List.
>
> Herewith, the first of two SCI FI Wire assessments of how new and
returning SF&F shows made the grade, in descending order. Today, we
look at the new shows. Tomorrow, returning series.
>
> (In the past if a TV series was on one of the four big broadcast
networks, it needed to bring in 10 million viewers or so to prove it
was worthy. For The CW, the number was lower, and 3 million viewers
did the trick. Oh, how things have changed!)
>
> The Mentalist (CBS) Premiered with 15.55 million viewers. Last
week, 15.29 million viewers. OK, he's a fake psychic, and it's not
really science fiction, but we'll claim any show that does this well.
It's the only certified hit for the new season, drawing great numbers
against Fox's Fringe. Beyond that, it manages to keep 90 percent of
its viewers from lead-in NCIS. That sounds like a match made in TV
heaven. Grade: A+
>
> Sanctuary (SCI FI) Premiered with 3 million viewers. Television's
first mostly virtual series kicked off great, and it looks like a
worthy successor to exiting SCI FI Friday shows Stargate Atlantis and
Battlestar Galactica. Grade: A
>
> Eleventh Hour (CBS) Premiered with 11.59 million viewers. Last
week, 12.16 million viewers. Not a hit, this show can't keep up with
its lead-in C.S.I.'s big numbers. But it has built its audience and
consistently does well against NBC's ER and ABC's Life on Mars.
Whether or not the series will stay on Thursdays or be swapped with
Tuesday's Without A Trace remains to be seen, but in this ratings
environment those numbers look good. Grade: B+
>
> Fringe (Fox) Premiered with 9 million viewers. Last week, 9.11
million viewers. This show had the most hype heading into the fall
season, so the ratings have been a bit of a disappointment. Still,
considering the implosion of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
and some of Fox's other shows, 9 million+ viewers seems pretty good.
Grade: B
>
> Knight Rider (NBC) Premiered with 7.3 million viewers. Last week,
7.23 million viewers. This lightweight show with apparent lightweight
ratings wouldn't seem to be a keeper for NBC. But Knight Rider
appeals strongly to the young male viewer, and that was good enough
for a full-season pickup. Grade: C (NBC is owned by NBC Universal,
which also owns SCIFI.COM.)
>
> Life on Mars (ABC) Premiered with 11.6 million viewers. Last week,
8.06 million viewers. This British transplant got a strong sampling
when it premiered and managed to beat out CBS' Eleventh Hour in a
head-to-head ratings smackdown. Since then, it's been losing viewers
each week, which is always a bad sign. Between Eli Stone on Tuesdays,
Dirty Sexy Money on Wednesdays and Life on Mars on Thursdays, ABC is
having a tough time in the 10 p.m. hour. Grade: D
>
> My Own Worst Enemy (NBC) Premiered with 7.27 million viewers. Last
week, 5.72 million viewers. Another troubled show, My Own Worst Enemy
didn't appeal to viewers from the beginning, despite heavy promotion.
Part of the problem has to do with lead-in Heroes' anemic numbers
this season, but Enemy loses viewers by the half-hour mark, and
that's a bad, bad sign. It's possible NBC will try Enemy in another
slot and bring its reliable Medium, which is waiting in the wings,
back where it belongs on Mondays. Grade: D- Valentine (The CW)
Premiered with 1.1 million viewers. Last week, 846,000 viewers. The
CW took a risk by turning over its Sunday nights to Media Rights
Capital, which produced three new series. Unfortunately, the
experiment failed, and the shows tanked across the board. Production
was "temporarily" halted on Valentine after finishing eight episodes.
Media Rights Capital promises to continue production and finish its
13-episode order, but considering it can't even crack a mill
> ion viewers, the Greek Gods themselves would be challenged to save
this one. Grade: F
>
> The Ex List (CBS) Premiered with 6.85 million viewers. Last week,
5.65 million viewers. While Ghost Whisperer has been doing well on
Fridays, the younger-skewing Ex List has proved a poor companion. CBS
just pulled the series off the air, with six episodes still in the
can. A repeat of NCIS will take its place. No word from CBS whether
the series will be canceled or tried out in another timeslot. Grade:
F
>
> That's not all folks! There are more new series headed our way in
the coming months, including the syndicated Legend of the Seeker,
which premieres this Saturday, and Joss Whedon's highly anticipated
Dollhouse, set for Fox early next year. Stay tuned! --Kathie
Huddleston
>
> http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=61810
>
