Latest in Lie To Me

UPDATED: Fringe got lucky to score an early renewal because no other bubble show got a reprieve at Fox. The network tonight axed all others: the Tim Roth-starring procedural Lie To Me, sophomore drama Human Target and freshmen The Chicago Code, Traffic Light and Breaking In. That is in contrast with last May, when it…

This is a good way for a bubble show to finish the season. Fox’s Human Target popped up on Monday last night and drew a 2.1/6 in 18-49 and 7.8 million viewers at 8 PM, up 75% in the demo from its last telecast in the Friday 8 PM slot and up 24% from its last airing in its former regular Wednesday 8 PM berth. Fox had…

David E. Kelley’s new legal drama Harry’s Law (2.1/6 in 18-49, 10.6 million) held up well in its second week, down only a tenth from last week’s premiere to score the best Week 1-to-Week 2 retention for a new drama this season. It was also the highest-rated NBC show in 18-49 and total viewers for a second consecutive…

Only ABC and Fox served originals last night. ABC’s The Bachelor (2.8/7 in adults 18-49) was on par with its season premiere last week, down just a tenth. Recently renewed dramedy Castle (2.1/5) was down 13%. ABC won the night in 18-49 (2.6/6) and total viewers (8.7 million). Fox’s back-to-back Lie to Me episodes…

Fox will not be giving a back-nine order to crime procedural Lie to Me, whose current third season will consist of 13 episodes.  Sources at the network stress that the show has not been canceled, with final decision expected to be made in the spring. The rationale for the order cutback is that Fox won’t need more…

NBC is making changes on Monday in midseason and they can’t come soon enough as the network had another dismal ratings performance  last night, with none of its series crossing the 2 demo rating mark. Chuck (1.8/5, 5.5 million) came the closest, down 10% from its last original 2 weeks ago (it was preempted for Matt…

Fox and NBC’s Monday dramas returned after preemptions to different results. There was no good news for NBC as freshmen The Event (1.7/4) and Chase (1.2/3) were down 15% and 8%, respectively, from their last originals 2 weeks ago. Both hit all-time lows. The Event didn’t get much help from Matt Lauer’s interview with…

The big Monday Night Football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants on ESPN had an impact on the broadcast networks last night, with male-skewing shows down across the board, including series lows for recently renewed freshmen The Event, Chase and Hawaii Five-0, while female-friendly fare did just…

UPDATE 1 PM: As they normally do, CBS’ HIMYM (3.3/9) and Two and a Half Men (4.4/11) each went up .1 in the finals. Good news for Mike & Molly — it also added .1, pulling even with last week’s delivery. Also even with last week is Fox’s House after a .1 bump in the finals. ABC’s Castle (2.5/7) went down .2 with the Dan…

UPDATE 2PM: With Nielsen’s final numbers in, as expected, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars (4.0/10) and Castle (2.7/7) were adjusted downward, with Castle tumbling 16% from the fast nationals and finishing second the 10 PM hour behind Hawaii Five-0. Meanwhile, CBS’ How I Met Your Mother (3.5/10) and Two and a Half Men…

In its ratings pattern, NBC’s new serialized drama The Event begins to resemble more ABC’s last season sci-fi misfire FlashForward than the network’s long-running mystery drama Lost. In its third airing last night, The Event drew a 2.4/6 among adults 18-49, down 17% from last week and 33% from its series premiere 2…

In the fallout of the Lone Star cancellation, Fox’s drama Human Target will move from Fridays to Wednesdays, taking over the slot originally given to Lie To Me. Lie to Me was to premiere on Nov. 10 and run in the Wednesday 8 PM slot, leading into an one-hour Hell’s Kitchen. But as the crime procedural was summoned…