Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By John J. Joex

The audience for Lost may have been dwindling over its past few seasons, but quite a number returned for the debut of the show’s sixth and final season. The two hour premiere in its new Tuesday night timeslot pulled a 5.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic and over twelve million viewers. That’s up from the last year’s premiere by 10%. Even the recap show that preceded the season premiere this year pulled over a 4.0 rating and close to ten million viewers. This suggests that the series will go out on a ratings high-note, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see these numbers tapper off some after those fans who have been away for a while decide it will take too much brain matter to get up to speed.

FOX’s Human Target received some bad news this week as it settled into what I guess will be its regular timeslot at 8 PM EST on Wednesdays (I thought it was slated for the 9 PM slot). The series only pulled a 2.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic and under eight million viewers. That’s considerably down from the 3.2 rating and around 10 million viewers it has enjoyed so far this season. You can blame FOX’s schedule juggling to some extent because the show has not been in the same timeslot two weeks in a row so far. But a 25% drop in its ratings score? That show needs to turn things around real quickly, otherwise Christopher Chance will have to find some way of protecting himself from the network executioners.

Things are looking up for FOX’s other genre entry Fringe, though. That show managed to hold its own against new episodes of CSI and Grey’s Anatomy as it pulled a 2.7 rating and 7.4 million viewers. That’s down from the 3.0 rating it had last week, but it only had repeats as competition then. Of course the good news comes with bad news as now Fringe takes a second hiatus and will not return until April (Past Life will sub-lease its timeslot in the meantime). So just as the show starts to pick up some momentum, FOX slams it back down with their scheduling tomfoolery.

On Friday, Smallville pulled its best numbers of the season with a special two hour episode “Absolute Justice” which introduced the Justice Society into that show’s mythology and acted as a pilot for a potential series as well.

Here is the full breakdown of the numbers for all of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows that aired on the broadcast networks this past week:

Source: TV by the Numbers

Previous Results: Fringe Gets a Win

For more on the Cancellation Alert for each show, see our Cancellation Watch column

By John J. Joex

For one week at least, Fringe took the Number 1 position in its 9 PM EST Thursday timeslot as it scored a 3.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic and almost 9 million viewers. Of course it only had to contend with repeats of CSI and Grey’s Anatomy, but at least this demonstrates that the show still has a following and that it might pull better numbers in a less competitive timeslot. FOX’s Human Target also did well in a special Tuesday night airing (to avoid preemption from Obama’s Wednesday State of the Union Address). That show pulled a 3.2 rating, just lightly down from the prior week, and 9.6 million viewers.

Heroes continues its struggles on Monday nights, even though it did improve its numbers by one tick from the prior week. Still a 1.9 rating in the 18-49 demo hardly presents a strong case for a fifth season renewal. Chuck remained steady with a 2.5 rating and should track in that range throughout the rest of the season.

On Friday night, Dollhouse went out with a bang, quality-wise at least. The series finale gave us one of the best episodes of that show’s short run, unfortunately nobody tuned in as it only pulled a 0.8 rating and fifth place in its timeslot (one hour earlier at 8 PM EST this week). Perennial fifth place network CW even topped Dollhouse with Smallville which pulled a 1.1 rating.

And there was a Lost sighting during the week, but it was only a repeat episode to gear fans up for the sixth season premiere which comes this Tuesday.

Here is the full breakdown of the numbers for all of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows that aired on the broadcast networks this past week:

Source: TV by the Numbers

Previous Results: Human Target Hits the Mark; Heroes Fading Fast

For more on the Cancellation Alert for each show, see our Cancellation Watch column

By John J. Joex

FOX may not be able to crown its new series Human Target a hit just yet, but it sure is heading in that direction. Its special Sunday night premiere pulled a 2.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 10 million viewers. FOX had hoped to get some additional push from the NFL playoff game, but they ended up getting the early game that day. However, Human Target’s numbers improved during its second half hour suggesting that the network’s heavy promotional push worked and viewers switched over to the premiere after the late game on CBS ended. FOX then gave the premiere an encore run on Tuesday following American Idol where its rating jumped to a 3.4, though part of that came from the bleed-over at the end of Idol. Then on Wednesday, the show aired its first episode in its regular 9 PM EST timeslot, and that also scored a 3.4 rating along with 10.4 million viewers. Sure, a lot of that comes from the American Idol lead-in, but the show should continue to improve throughout the season because it has fairly wide appeal.

Heroes, on the other hand, is heading in the other direction and fast. It pulled a series low for a new episode of an abysmal 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic and less than 4 million viewers. I don’t care what Angela Bromstad said previously about them wanting it back for a fifth season, I just can’t see the show sticking around with these numbers, even on fourth place NBC. Heroes’ Monday night companion, Chuck, did much better at the 8 PM EST hour with a 2.5 rating and 6.7 million viewers.

On Thursday, the CW’s two supernatural-tinged shows returned from their winter hiatuses at about where they were before the break. Vampire Diaries dropped just a bit in the ratings, pulling a 1.6. Supernatural, though, actually improved some on the first half of the season with a 1.3 rating (up from the 1.2 it was averaging) and almost 2.8 million viewers. And on FOX, Fringe managed to hold onto the gains it has seen since returning from its hiatus as it pulled a 2.6 rating and nearly 7 million viewers. Unfortunately, FOX will put that one on a second hiatus starting early February and it will not return with new episodes until April.

The Friday night shows were preempted this week by the Hope for Haiti telethon that aired across multiple networks.

Here is the full breakdown of the numbers for all of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows that aired on the broadcast networks this past week:

Source: TV by the Numbers

Previous Results: Chuck Kung Fu’s the Ratings; Fringe Shows Life

For more on the Cancellation Alert for each show, see our Cancellation Watch column

By John J. Joex

Two shows returned with new episodes this week (one for the first time this season) and both scored ratings victories (of sorts) on two separate nights. Chuck’s special two-hour season premiere last Sunday drew the largest ratings numbers that show has seen in some time with an average of a 2.9 in the 18-49 demographic and 7.4 million viewers. Then on Monday, it aired its first Season 3 episode in its regular timeslot and held onto a fair portion of its previous night’s audience, pulling a 2.6 rating and 7.3 million viewers. And while these numbers night be nothing to write home about on several other networks, fourth place NBC has to be encouraged by the show’s results so far.

Fringe also returned with new installments this week airing a special “lost” episode on Monday at 9 PM EST. This episode beat out Heroes on NBC pulling a 2.8 rating and 7.8 million viewers; the highest numbers it has seen this season since its premiere. Viewers may have been a bit confused by the episode as FOX failed to give much heads up on the fact that it was a hold-over from last season and included an appearance by Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo) who died earlier this season. This did not deter fans, though, because in its first new Season 2 episode for 2010 in its regular Thursday 9 PM EST timeslot, Fringe scored the highest numbers it has seen in that hour this season with a 2.6 rating and 6.6 million viewers (and that’s against new episodes of CSI and Grey’s Anatomy). So apparently there is something to FOX’s claim that when American Idol is on the numbers for all its shows improve (with Dollhouse as the exception).

And speaking of that Joss Whedon show, it continues to languish as it wraps up its final episodes. And next week’s series finale has been bumped one week in favor of a telethon to raise money for those affected by the earthquakes in Haiti. As for Dollhouse’s Friday night competition, I’m not sure what to make of Ghost Whisperer’s numbers. It continues to win its timeslot consistently, but it is considerably down from last year (averaging 8-9 million viewers this season vs. over 10 million last season). I’m guessing CBS will stick with it since it has become a Friday night staple and since Medium has finally given it a good lead-out show, but then I wouldn’t be too surprised if that network made a change after season end (remember, they axed Eleventh Hour last season’s even though it ended in the Top 25).

Here is the full breakdown of the numbers for all of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows that aired on the broadcast networks this past week:

Source: TV by the Numbers

Previous Results: Heroes Gets Off to a Slow Start

For more on the Cancellation Alert for each show, see our Cancellation Watch column

By John J. Joex

Four Science Fiction and Fantasy shows had new episodes in the first week of the New Year with Heroes leading off the return from the winter hiatus. Facing stiff competition from the Fiesta Bowl, though, that show drew pretty poor numbers in its two hour mid-season bow. It averaged only a 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic with under five million viewers. On any other network I would assume this one is on its way out (and I did earlier in the season), but with the chance that NBC may pull out of its five night a week Jay Leno experiment, that network may have a fair amount of Prime Time real estate to fill up pretty quickly. I will talk more about that show’s future prospects in my Cancellation Watch column later this week.

The Ghost Whisperer and Medium returned with new episodes to Friday nights and pulled about the same numbers that they saw during the first half of the season. Dollhouse, in the process of airing out its final episodes, continued to barely register in its Friday timeslot.

This week brings the return of Chuck, Fringe, and Vampire Diaries so check back next week to see how those shows scored in the ratings.

Here is the full breakdown of the numbers for all of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows that aired on the broadcast networks this past week:

Source: TV by the Numbers

Previous Results: Fringe Back Down

For more on the Cancellation Alert for each show, see our Cancellation Watch column

By John J. Joex

With the holidays upon us, just about every show was in repeats this past week.  Dollhouse was the only broadcast network series in the Science Fiction and Fantasy vein with new episodes, but unfortunately it went mostly unnoticed.  In its last night of two-hour episode blocks, Dollhouse averaged only a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic and just over two million viewers from the 8 PM to 10 PM period.  That series will now take a break until the first week of January when it will return and air out its final three episodes.  Check back with us then when we will return with the full version of the Ratings Results column.  In the mean time, you can keep up with the ratings at TV by the Numbers.

By John J. Joex

As most of the Fall shows have settled into their winter hiatuses now, there were only two Science Fiction and Fantasy shows with new episodes this past week, both on FOX.  On Thursday, Fringe slipped back from the gains it saw last week as it had to contend with a new episode of CSI.  It pulled a 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic which is still a tick higher that what it has averaged so far this season.  Dollhouse saw a slight improvement from last week, most likely prompted by Summer Glau’s first appearance as a recurring character on the show.  The first hour did better with 1.0 rating and  2.72 million viewers, then the second hour slacked off with a 0.8 rating and only 2.09 viewers.

Here is the full breakdown of the numbers for all of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows that aired on the broadcast networks this past week:

Source: TV by the Numbers

Previous Results: FlashForward Wraps Up Fall Run with a Thud

For more on the Cancellation Alert for each show, see our Cancellation Watch column

By John J. Joex

After ABC’s FlashForward started off the season with a big splash and a lot of talk that it would be the next big thing in Science Fiction television, it wrapped up its Fall run with numbers that have plummeted over 40% from its premiere. That show bowed in late September with a 4.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 12.4 million viewers. This past Thursday’s airing only pulled a 2.2 rating and 7.3 million viewers. Even worse, the show now goes on an extended three month hiatus and will not return until March 4th. This almost assures that FlashForward will be a one-season wonder. Unless the show turns around its attrition and builds back up its audience across its back-nine episodes, which is highly unlikely considering the trend it’s seen so far and the extended break, ABC will assuredly cut ties with the show. I have now raised the Cancellation Alert on this show to Medium (more on that in the next Cancellation Watch column).

Fringe, on the other hand, got a bit of good news this last week as it improved its numbers to the highest it has seen since its second season debut. Without new episodes of CSI and Grey’s Anatomy to contend with, the show managed a 2.5 rating and just under 7 million viewers. Not spectacular numbers, but at least the show saw an upswing. The bad news for the show, though, is that FOX will keep it in this timeslot throughout the second half of the season and will also give it a second hiatus in spring from February to April. I still believe that FOX will continue to show patience with this one, but if they do end up pulling the plug on it at the end of the season, they have no one but themselves and their poor scheduling decisions to blame.

Heroes continued its upward trend as it finished out the Fall with a 2.5 rating. Still, that show has become a shadow of its former self ratings-wise (Season 4 has actually been pretty good quality-wise, though). It has yet to even equal the numbers it saw at the end of Season 3, which were already pretty low. Dollhouse returned to wrap up its remaining episodes and did not cause any tremors in the ratings. During the first hour of its two episode block it barely bested a repeat of Smallville on the CW. And finally, Ghost Whisperer and Medium continue to win their timeslots on Friday evenings, but their numbers continue to be down from what CBS saw on that evening last year. Not certain if that will prompt CBS to make any changes during Spring, but these two are underperforming on a network notorious for have little patience with shows in the genre.

Here is the full breakdown of the numbers for all of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows that aired on the broadcast networks this past week:

Source: TV by the Numbers

Previous Results: V Finally Levels Off

For more on the Cancellation Alert for each show, see our Cancellation Watch column

By John J. Joex

Only three of the network Science Fiction and Fantasy shows had new episodes during the Thanksgiving week, and of those, ABC’s V finally managed to shake off the ratings attrition it has experienced since its premiere. That show pulled a 3.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 9.3 million viewers, almost exactly the same as it had the previous week. If the show can maintain that level, ABC will probably bring it back for a second season, though they may still balk considering the cost of the show. The worst thing for V at this point is the three month hiatus it is currently looking at. Will the viewers who stuck it out through the first four episodes tune back in when the show returns in March? Hard to say at this point, but the show has very little wiggle-room left when it airs out the rest of the episodes of its first season order.

Heroes managed to gain back a tick from the ratings low it plummeted to two weeks ago, but that show is still struggling and is almost certainly on its last leg. It will have about half a dozen episodes to air when it returns in January after next week’s mid-season finale. And that will likely act as the swansong for the once proud franchise.

Eastwick returned after a two week absence, but apparently not too many fans got the memo because the show sunk to a new low with a 1.1 rating and 3.65 million viewers. Not good news for those few hopefuls still trying to convince ABC to change its mind about the cancellation.

Here is the full breakdown of the numbers for all of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows that aired on the broadcast networks this past week:

Source: TV by the Numbers

Previous Results: Could V be in Trouble Already?

For more on the Cancellation Alert for each show, see our Cancellation Watch column

By John J. Joex

When ABC’s remake of V debuted just three short weeks ago it was the toast of the town as the highest rated premiere for a new series this season. Now, after two weeks of steep slides in the ratings, some sources already have a deathwatch out for the show. I’m not certain if I would go that far, and I’m not raising the Cancellation Alert just yet, but I would say that the future of the show is somewhat murky. After posting a 29% drop in its rating among the 18-49 demographic after its premiere, the third episode of the alien invasion series dropped another 16% to a 3.1 rating. Now that is still an acceptable number, and if the show can stop the attrition, it should be okay. But it’s hard to say for certain. Sci Fi Wire made a good point that since production on the show was halted and ABC decided to air the first four episodes as a trial, they may decide not to resume production on the rather expensive series. If the ratings take another significant drop this Tuesday, I would consider that a definite possibility. If they hold steady, or even improve a bit (unlikely being a holiday week), ABC may go ahead with the remaining episodes. But even if they do that, the series will not return until March which in itself will result if a drop-off of viewers. I will see how this Tuesday’s episode fairs in the Nielsens, but I would suggest not getting too attached to this one.

Another series not to get attached to is FlashFoward. That one continues to lose viewers and almost certainly will not see a second season unless it has a significant turnaround. In fact, it’s not impossible at this point that ABC could cut back on the nine episodes that it ordered to complete the season. For this reason, I’m going to go ahead and move the Cancellation Alert on this show to Moderate.

I’m not touching Fringe yet, though. I know what TV by the Numbers is saying about the show and I know their Renew/Cancel Index is fairly accurate, but I have to hold out some faith in FOX on this one (foolish me). Word is that FOX has remained supportive of the show, and I can’t see why they would just kill off a promising franchise. I will continue to keep a close eye on that one in the coming weeks and months, though.

Here is the full breakdown of the numbers for all of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows that aired on the broadcast networks this past week:

Source: TV by the Numbers

Previous Results: Numbers for V Take a Dive for Second Episode

For more on the Cancellation Alert for each show, see our Cancellation Watch column