Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By John J. Joex

One more show returned this week with new episodes, Human Target, and saw an improvement in its numbers from where it was before taking a two week break. The show pulled a 2.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 7.8 million viewers. Still not great numbers, but at least something to build on. Chuck dropped by a tick from the prior week going from a 2.4 rating to a 2.3, while Lost saw an improvement from its season low numbers last week as it increased to a 4.3 rating and 9.5 million viewers. Ghost Whisperer improved its performance from the prior week and Medium stayed about steady. This week, FlashFoward returns from its extended hiatus so check back with us in one week to see if that one manages to reverse the declining trend in the ratings that it saw last Fall.

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: Still Mostly Repeats

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

By John J. Joex

Even though the Olympics wrapped up, most of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows delivered only repeats or took a break this last week. Chuck returned to Monday night with a new episode and boosted that show’s numbers a bit from its last outing with a new episode, delivering a 2.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Lost, on the other hand, took a tumble on Tuesday night, dropping down to a 4.0 rating in the 18-49 demo. This is the lowest the show has seen this season and I’m not certain if this indicates some fan disillusionment or just the one week impact of a big episode of American Idol which FOX has competing with it.  On Friday, Ghost Whisper and Medium returned with new episodes though both were down a bit from their season to date averages.

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: Slow Ratings Week for Sci Fi

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

Survivors of the 1980’s will certainly remember one of the first ever computer animated characters Max Headroom who made a splash in that decade as the spokesperson for Coca Cola (actually, the much reviled “New Coke”) and who also had his own talk show.  However, they may or may not remember the short-lived Science Fiction series that featured the character and ran on ABC from 1987-1988.  Based on the British TV movie 20 Minutes into the Future, the series starred Matt Frewer (the real-life actor that the digital character was modeled after) and focused on a dystopian near-future where television dominates the lives of every person (wait isn’t that present day society?) and ratings and shows are monitored on a minute-by-minute basis and can get cancelled within a moments notice (that is today!).  Max Headroom gave us the first attempt to bring cyber-punk to television (and it was actually one of the very few examples of the genre in this medium) and was really ahead of its time and a bit too heady for Prime Time audiences who preferred to tune into Dallas or Dynasty or Matlock.  And it unfortunately disappeared after its initial run with little expose in subsequent years (it was available for online viewing briefly at AOL’s In2TV, but has since been pulled).  Fortunately, the series is finally receiving the DVD treatment it deserves.  Warner Bros. Home Video and Shout! Factory will team up to bring all fourteen episodes of the series to DVD along with special features.  A release date of August 10th of this year has been mentioned, but that’s probably only tentative at best at this point.  Stay tuned to Axiom’s Edge, though, for more updates as additional information becomes available.  And for information on the status of other shows working their way to DVD, visit the TV Shows on DVD site.

Audiences were not too crazy about The Crazies this past weekend as the remake of the George A. Romero classic only eked its way to the Number 3 spot at the Box Office with a tally of just over $16.5 million.  Even though the movie failed take theaters by storm, it still did pretty well considering its modest budget of only $20 million.  Seeing as it nearly recouped that in its first weekend, the movie will already be in the black by next week.  Avatar continued to wane as it dropped to Number 4, pulling in $14 million.  Percy Jackson has demonstrated some staying power as it remained in the Top 5 during its third weekend and earned an additional $9.8 million.  With its international receipts, that movie has earned nearly $140 million total so far vs. a $95 million budget and can be considered a success.  The Wolfman is not so lucky as that one fell down to Number 8 on the charts and has only amassed $120 million worldwide against a $150 million budget.  You can see the full Box Office results from the weekend at Box Office Mojo.

With the Olympics in full swing last week, the only two Science Fiction and Fantasy shows with new episodes on the Broadcast Networks were Lost and Smallville.  Lost managed to hold fairly steady against both the Olympics and American Idol and pulled a 4.6 rating with nearly 10 million viewers.  The CW’s Smallville also continued to prove defiant on Friday nights as it posted a 1.1 rating and just over 2.5 million viewers, really good numbers for the part time network on a typically low viewership night.  Next week should bring most shows back with new episodes and we will resume the full version of the Rating Results column then.  For more information on the ratings for all shows last week, you can go to TV by the Numbers.

Also, following are some highlights of Science Fiction and Fantasy related stories from our reddit.com page The Sci Fi Scroll (sign up and submit your own stories):

What Will – And Won’t – Be Revealed In Lost’s Final Episodes
io9.com 2/28/2010
With Lost hurtling towards its series finale, the cast and writers of the show appeared at this year’s Paleyfest armed with answers, spoilers and teases – As well as a promise we’re sure they can’t keep. (Read the Full Article)

SyFy Backs CAPRICA Despite Low Ratings
Sci Fi Mafia 2/26/2010
The SyFy network is backing “Caprica” despite low ratings and mixed reviews from BSG fans. According to the network, the “Battlestar Galactica” prequel spin-off series was not expected to have a strong start even though it has a built-in fan base to start. (Read the Full Article)

Batman Breaks Superman’s Sales Record
io9.com 2/26/2010
Just days after the first appearance of Superman set a new world record for the most expensive comic book ever, Batman’s first appearance has sold for even more. (Read the Full Article)

Horror director dares: Watch my scary movie alone, win $10,000
Sci Fi Wire 2/24/2010
Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma issued a challenge yesterday to any horror film fan who thinks he or she can’t be scared—a $10,000 reward for anyone who can watch his latest supernatural thriller alone in a theater all the way through the closing credits. (Read the Full Article)

Synthesizer Used to Create the Original “Doctor Who” Theme Up for Sale
Slice of Sci Fi 2/24/2010
Looking for a gift for the “Doctor Who” fan who has everything?  You might want to surf over to E-Bay and put in a bit on the original synthesizer used in the mid 60’s to create one of the world’s most iconic and recognizable theme songs. (Read the Full Article)

FOX Gets Movie Rights to John Twelve Hawks Fourth Realm Book Trilogy
THe Hollywood Reporter 2/24/2010
Fox has picked up the rights to the sci-fi book series known as the Fourth Realm Trilogy, written by reclusive author John Twelve Hawks, and has set “Watchmen” co-writer Alex Tse to adapt. (Read the Full Article)

By John J. Joex

With the Olympics in full gear this past week, only four Science Fiction and Fantasy shows had new episodes to present as competition. Lost did the best, pulling a 4.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic and just under 10 million viewers. That’s down somewhat from where it has been this season, but it had both the Olympics and America Idol to contend with and should jump back up closer to its previous numbers once the Prime Time landscape resets to normal. Human Target took another hit, dropping to a 2.1 rating and just over 7 million viewers. Sure, they can blame it on the Olympics, but that show is starting to run out of excuses and needs to get its numbers going in the other direction. FOX’s other show with a new episode last week, Past Life, also took a big hit in the ratings, sinking to only a 1.1 rating and three and a half million viewers. If the CW’s Supernatural had not run a repeat in that hour, it might have beat the paranormal crime drama. This, as we previously mentioned, has prompted FOX to pull the show from its schedule. Smallville held steady on Friday night with a new episode that matched the numbers it has seen most of the season.

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: Past Life Destined to be Past History

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

By John J. Joex

The character of Dr. Kate McGinn may be able to help people get in touch with their past lives in FOX’s new supernatural series Past Life, but if she turns her talents to fortune telling she will see that her show has little chance of surviving long in Prime Time. The series debuted last week and quickly got lost in the shuffle. The numbers for the show’s Tuesday night debut actually look pretty good at first glance with a 3.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and just over nine million viewers. But when you look at how much Past Life lost from its American Idol lead-in, dropping 69% from a 10.1 rating, and how much it lost throughout its debut hour, going from a 3.7 rating in its first half hour to a 2.5 rating in the second half hour, you see that number’s not strong at all. Then, the show’s first outing in its regular Thursday 9 PM EST timeslot that it is borrowing from Fringe brought even worse news. Past Life barely even registered during that hour pulling only a 1.4 rating and 5.3 million viewers. With a downward spiral like that, expect FOX to exile this one to Friday or Saturday pretty quickly, assuming they don’t pull it from the schedule altogether. And the network has to be kicking themselves over this scheduling gaff because Fringe was just starting to pick up some momentum in the timeslot against some pretty tough competition over on ABC and CBS. Now that show is on break until April and FOX is stuck with a pretty gaping hole on Thursday nights.

Heroes wrapped up its fourth (and possibly last) season with little fanfare as posted only a 2.0 rating with 4.4 million viewers in its final outing this year. In the hour just before that, Chuck took a bit of a hit as that show only managed a 2.2 rating, though that could be attributed to post-Super Bowl windfall that CBS’s scheduled expected to get last week.

On Tuesday, Lost dipped down from its premiere the prior week pulling a 4.9 rating with 11 million viewers. The drop is to be expected and was actually not as big of a drop from the 6th season debut that some might have predicted. On Wednesday, Human Target managed to improve its numbers by a tick from its prior week as it posted a 2.5 rating and just under 9 million viewers.

The debut of the latest season of Survivor last Thursday put a dent in the CW’s two supernatural shows on that night (and may have contributed to Past Life’s poor performance). Vampire Diaries pulled only 1.5 rating, down from its season to date average of 1.8. And Supernatural dropped off from its season to date average of 1.1 to score a 1.0 rating.

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: Lost Scores Big in 6th Season Premiere

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

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