RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Rake’ Soft In Debut, ‘Michael J. Fox’ & ‘Sean’ Status Quo In Swap

Fox’s streak of solid drama series premieres, The Following, Sleepy Hollow and Almost Human, came to an end last night when midseason series Rake opened with a 1.7 in adults 18-49. That wasn’t as bad as some other drama debuts this season, like Lucky 7, Ironside, Betrayal and Hostages, but came in below expectations, delivering Fox’s lowest non-Friday premiere rating for a new series — comedy or drama — since  Mob Doctor (1.5) in fall 2012. Fox still won the night with help from American Idol (3.3), down 13% from last Thursday.

Following last week’s disastrous 0.6 rating for The Michael J. Fox Show, NBC tried switching it with Sean Saves The World to the same net result. Airing at 9 PM, following Community (1.1, even with last week) and Parks & Recreation (1.2, even), Michael J. Fox inched up a tenth to a 0.7, but Sean Saves The World at 9:30 PM slipped by the same amount to a 0.7. Parenthood (1.3) was up a tenth. ABC’s The Taste (1.1) rebounded from the series low 0.9 rating last week, up 22%. Shark Tank rerun (1.1) aired at 10 PM. CBS aired all repeats. The CW’s The Vampire Diaries returned from a long hiatus with its 100th episode, which drew 2.7 million viewers and a 1.2 in adults 18-49, up 9% in the demo from its most recent original on December 12. Reign (0.7) was up 17%.