The four broadcast networks, which could use a little good ratings news these days, got just a little bit from the folks at A.C. Nielsen.
For the first two weeks of the 1991-92 season, the combined ratings and shares of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox were up over the first two weeks of the 1990-91 season.Oh, the increase isn't dramatic - up 0.9 percent in ratings and 2.6 percent in shares for the first week, 7.9 percent ratings and 6.9 percent share the second - but it's something.
Of course, the biggest beneficiary of this increase is CBS, and the biggest reason for the increase is Monday night.
CBS's Monday lineup of "Evening Shade," "Major Dad," "Murphy Brown," "Designing Women" and "Northern Exposure" has become a blockbuster, beating down even "Monday Night Football."
(And when football ends in January, expect CBS to do even better on Mondays.)
There are other bits of good news for the Big Eye. It's running a strong second to ABC on Tuesday nights. "The Royal Family" has done surprisingly well on Wednesday nights, and even "Teech" better than expected. Fridays have shown some improvement, with "Brooklyn Bridge" leading the way. (Although "Princesses" is coming out of the starting blocks very slowly, to say the least.)
After two weeks, CBS is 1.4 ratings points ahead of longtime Nielsen champ NBC, and ABC is still further behind. Those numbers look particularly strong when you consider that the Big Eye still has baseball playoffs, the World Series, the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics coming up.
Here's a quick look at some winners and losers in the first battles of this season's ratings war:
- NBC's entire Sunday night lineup is shaping up as a mega-bomb. "The Adventures of Mark & Brian," "Eerie, Indiana," "Man of the People" and "Pacific Station" are all at the bottom of the ratings - and NBC is finishing fourth on the most-watched night of the week, behind CBS, ABC and Fox.
- Some of NBC old hits are fading. "The Golden Girls" is struggling badly after moving from 8 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, and "The Cosby Show" has even dropped out of the top 20.
- "America's Funniest Home Videos" and "America's Funniest People" are both losing their luster as well. They're out of the top 20, and "Murder, She Wrote" has regained the top spot on Sundays at 7 p.m.
- "Home Improvement" looks like the first new show to hit it big in a season and a half. It finished eighth and ninth in its first two outings.
- ABC's move of "Full House" from Fridays to Tuesdays appears to have worked. "House" is winning the time slot and providing a great lead-in to "Home Improvement." (Although CBS's "Rescue 911" remains surprisingly strong.)
- Roseanne's latest public bruhaha hasn't hurt "Roseanne" ratings yet. It's still ABC's biggest show and finished No. 1 last week.
- "P.S. I LUV U" may be extraordinarily insipid, but it's finished second (to "Sisters") Saturdays at 9 p.m. - and doing better than anything CBS has had on in that time slot in years.
- ABC's in quite a bit of trouble on Wednesdays. "Dinosaurs" is finishing third at 7 p.m., and "Sibs," "Anything But Love" and "Good & Evil" are struggling.
- Overall, NBC is in big trouble. Its ratings continue to sink as its hit shows age and it hasn't come up with any new winners.DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH: Although it's been reported that NBC is talking to MGM about reviving "thirtysomething" as a limited-run series, don't count on it.
First, both Ken Olin (Michael) and Patricia Wettig (Nancy) have stated categorically that they have no interest in returning to those parts. And without Michael and Nancy, it would be pretty much impossible to revive the series.
Second - and most importantly - the creator/executive producers of "thirtysomething," Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, say they haven't even been contacted by either NBC or MGM. And several other cast members have indicated they wouldn't be interested in returning unless Zwick and Herskovitz are involved.
(And both are otherwise involved - in making movies. So even if they're asked, they probably won't have the time.)
In a similar vein, you two or three remaining "Twin Peaks" fans shouldn't hold your breath over getting some kind of conclusion to the horribly inconclusive show that aired on ABC.
Yes, it's true that David Lynch is making a "Twin Peaks" movie with most of the same cast. But not only does the movie still not have an American distributor to get it into theaters in this country, it's reportedly a prequel to the TV series, covering the days leading up to Laura Palmer's murder.
In other words, it will end where the series began. And because there was no conclusion - or even much coherency - to the series, we'll still be left hanging.MUSICAL CHAIRS: There's no confirmation out of NBC yet, but word is that when Doc Severinson accompanies Johnny Carson into TV retirement next spring he'll be replaced by Brandord Marsalis.
Carson, of course, is being replaced by Jay Leno in May.ON CBS AND USA: The networks and cable are still edging closer together in terms of cooperation - the latest sign comes in the form of a series that will air both on CBS and on USA.
Ben Vereen will play a police captain in a new series from prolific producer Stephen J. Cannell titled "Silk Stockings." The show will air late night Wednesdays on CBS's Crime Time After Prime Time, with the same episode airing the following Sunday in USA's prime time lineup.
Of course, here in Utah you won't see "Stockings" on the CBS affiliate, KSL. The folks at Ch. 5 choose to give us "The Love Boat" instead.