It was a brutal night all around with most shows hitting lows, but it was especially disappointing for NBC, whose heavily promoted relaunch of Law & Order: LA bombed, drawing a paltry 1.5/4 among adults 18-49 for its two-hour premiere and 6 million viewers. That was down 32% from LOLA‘s most original telecast on Dec…

It got ugly for CBS last night when, in its second outing, midseason dramedy Chaos (0.9/3 in 18-49, 5.6 million viewers) fell 18% from its underwhelming premiere to finish a distant fourth at 8 PM in adults 18-49, behind a Kitchen Nightmares repeat on Fox. Chaos also pushed down CSI: NY (1.6/5, off 11%, 9.4 million)…

Gwyneth Paltrow returned to Glee last night, and the Fox dramedy (4.6/14 in adults 18-49, 12 million viewers) went up 5% in the ratings from its most recent original 2 weeks ago. After finishing tied for first place in 18-49 with CBS’ NCIS for the first time on Jan. 22, Glee returned to its status of sole demo winner…

Fox was onto something when it scheduled serialized drama 24 like a reality series, airing it over a half-season with no breaks, a model that was subsequently adopted by another successful serialized drama, ABC’s Lost. How damaging are long hiatuses for serialized dramas? Look at NBC’s Heroes, which quickly ran out of…

Reality series Secret Millionaire started its second incarnation on American television strong, pulling a 3.3/9 in 18-49 and 12.6 million viewers in its debut on ABC last night. That was ABC’s best performance in the 8 PM hour with regular programming since March 2008 (in viewers) and November 2009 (18-49). Secret Mill…

Fox’s 90-minute American Idol (7.7/22 in adults 18-49, 20.6 million), featuring performances by the 12 female semi-finalists, was down 3% in 18-49 and flat in total viewers from last week’s two-hour Wednesday edition. Vs. the comparable night last season and the boys’ semi-final round on Tuesday, Idol was up 3% and…

ABC’s special Charlie Sheen edition of 20/20 (3.3/10 in adults 18-49, 9.5 million viewers) was the top-rated program among adults 18-49 at 10 PM last night. It almost doubled its lead-in, drama V (1.8/5, 5 million, down 5% in 18-49), a rare feat for a program in the DVR-heavy 10 PM hour. This was ABC’s best…

Viewers can’t get enough of Charlie Sheen. After a day of media blitz featuring a string of interviews with the troubled Two and a Half Men star, viewers flocked to watch him on the show that spawned all the controversy. A repeat of Men (11.6 million viewers, 3.2/9 in adults 18-49) was the most watched show on…

Two hours of Fox’s American Idol (7.2/20 in adults 18-49, 21.6 million viewers) dominated another Thursday, delivering the highest numbers on the night with non-sports programming for any network in 3 years (18-49) and 4 years (total viewers). The reality series was down 5% in the demo from last Thursday but, probably…

After getting a ratings hit on Valentine’s Day, ABC’s female-friendly Monday lineup had a rebounded nicely last night. The Bachelor (3.3/9 in adults 18-49, 10.3 million viewers) was up 14% from last week in the demo for a season high. Castle (2.6/7, 9 million) was up 18%. With CBS’ flagship Monday series, Two and a Hal…

Fox’s comedy block edged out competition on a quiet Sunday night, which was probably impacted by viewers’ Presidents Day weekend-related activities. It was a photo finish demo race, with Fox averaging a 2.4/7 in 18-49, ABC a 2.3/7 and CBS a 2.2/6. With no football, NBC was a distant fourth with a 1.6/5 (It aired Dateli…

After a depressing Thursday ratings report riddled with declines and season/series lows, things looked much brighter on Friday with most shows posting week-to-week gains. After two alarming drops, Fox’s sci-fi series Fringe (1.5/5, 4.1 million) rebounded, up 7% from last week. Its lead-in, Kitchen Nightmares (1.7/6…