While certainly not a depressing defeat at the hands of the Summer Television ratings decline, CBS’ Jericho returned last night (Cultural Learnings Jericho Rerun Report – “Pilot”) with ratings that are considered a mixed result. There are some positives, but since this is just the pilot it’s hard to tell how being a serial will affect future weeks.
From PIFeedback:
The return of CBS’ Jericho, also a repeat, was the most-watched show at 9 p.m., with 4.74 million viewers — 210,000 behind the encore of lead-in Ghost Whisperer. Demographically, Jericho was second among adults 18-49, with a 1.1/ 4.
The Good News:
– Jericho won its timeslot in viewership, something that Close to Home had done in the weeks previous.
– Jericho held onto a large chunk of its Ghost Whisperer lead-in (4.95 Million Viewers)
The Bad News:
– The show finished behind last week’s episode of Close to Home considerably in total viewers, and by a small margin in Adults 18-49.
– The show failed to be even close to competing with Friday Night Smackdown! in key demos.
All in all, I’d say it’s a disappointment in the fact that the show couldn’t elevate CBS’ ratings over last week’s crime procedural. Still, the show maintained a great deal of its lead-in and there is still a chance that next week could see the series perform slightly better. However, it will actually face more competition next week when FOX burns off its remaining episodes of Drive in the timeslot.
And if Jericho can keep these numbers steady throughout the summer, I think CBS will be pleased.
In preparing to write these pieces, I knew that I was going to have a problem with Heroes. I have a lot of opinions about this series, and admittedly not all of them are positive: despite enjoying the series immensely at certain points, at others I cringed and wondered just why I was watching it. So, knowing that I would likely end up writing an article about its season as a whole, I tried to distill my thoughts into something positive, but tentative. But then I realized that would not work, and that I needed to be honest. And so, here we are, with what is my first venture into this territory. Because, you see, even though it officially made the Drama Series Top 10…I don’t think that Heroes should be considered for an Emmy award for Outstanding Drama Series.
There are certain shows that are all hype and no follow through; they launch in September to rave reviews and high ratings, but immediately falter and fail to pull you in. For a brief period, I felt Ugly Betty was that show. And then, something clicked: the soap opera elements of the show’s plot were given resonance, and the series returned to its characters and settings that made it a success in the first place. And that’s really the hallmark of a series’ first season: does it end in worse or better shape than when it started. With perhaps the strongest melodramatic finale of the season (Take that, Grey’s), Ugly Betty proved that its initial success was no fluke, and its growth makes it deserving of Emmy consideration.
Attempting to sell people on NBC’s Friday Night Lights has always been difficult, as it is tough to describe just what makes it one of the best shows on television. Is it a football show, or is it just another teen drama? Does it value principles such as family or principles such as teen lust? Is it trying to be a broad political commentary on the War in Iraq, or rather a representation of isolated small town America? What I believe I’ve decided upon is that Friday Night Lights is that it is an amazing achievement because it manages to be all of these things: through a handheld camera lens, Peter Berg and Jason Katims have created a window into the lives of families, teenagers, high school football, and even the ramifications of world politics on small town America. The best new network drama of the Season, Friday Night Lights it without a doubt worthy of Emmy consideration.
Cultural Learnings 