Friday Ratings: Fox’s ‘Last Man Standing’ And CBS ‘Blue Bloods’ Top Night

Fox’s Last Man Standing and CBS drama Blue Bloods usually dominate the Friday ratings, and that proved to be the case yet again this week, as both season finales topped the night.

It was also a night for farewells, as several shows that closed their seasons have been consigned to the cancellation dustbin.

In the 8 PM slot, Last Man Standing drew an 0.8/5 and 4.67 million total audience, dominating the competition. Unfortunately, its strong pull couldn’t help its followers, as the season finales of The Cool Kids (O.6/4 and 3.43 million) and legal drama Proven Innocent (0.4/2 and 1.74 million) marked the end for both series, which received pink slips from the network this week.

At NBC, a new episode of The Blacklist (0.6/4 and 3.95 million) continued performing, matching its season high and holding an 0.6 audience share for its new broadcasts. The two-hour NBC Dateline is benefiting from that lead-in, checking in as the top news magazine of the evening and continuing to build momentum, particularly among adults 25-54, which clocks in at an 0.8 in that demo.

ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had an 0.4/3 and 2.34 million total audience for its sixth season premiere. The network touted it as a gain in total viewers from the May finale and the largest audience since January 2018, but the bow was fourth in the time slot. ABC’s 20/20 had an 0.5/3 and 2.68 million for its two-hour broadcast.

At CBS, which renewed all of its strong scripted drama lineup, the season finale of MacGyver had an 0.6/4 and a 5.43 million audience, followed by veteran Hawaii Five-0 (0.7/4 and 6.64 million) and Blue Bloods with 0.8/4 and 8.42, the latter by far the night’s largest total audience.

The CW saw Dynasty with an 0.1/1 and 0.45 million, followed by a back-to-back rerun of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which came in at an 0.1 and slighly grew its total audience for the second half-hour.