New Hope for Community? No Hope for Ashley Judd's Missing?

Little-watched comedy series returns with great TV ratings (for the little-watched comedy series), while Judd's new thriller series gets off to arguably discouraging start

By Joal Ryan Mar 16, 2012 6:38 PMTags
Community, Joel McHale, Missing, Ashley JuddNBC/ABC

Community wasn't back last night: It was bigger than that.

A look at Thursday's key TV ratings results, including an arguably discouraging premiere for Ashley Judd's Missing:

Airing its first new episode since pulling a three-month, network-imposed benching, the Nielsen-challenged Community showed signs of life with nearly 5 million viewers and a 2.2 rating among adults 18- to 49-years-old, per the early numbers.

Its demo rating was up nearly 50 percent from its last outing in December.

While still a long, long way from hit-show status, Community was NBC's second-biggest draw of the night, finishing just behind The Office, and, for the Nielsen-challenged network, sorta was a hit. Consider than on Wednesday, the Peacock comedies Whitney and Are You There, Chelsea? didn't pull so much as 1.5 ratings in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Judd's Missing, meanwhile, was a mixed bag for ABC.

On one hand, the new thriller was a marked upgrade over Wipeout in the 8 p.m. hour.

Its 10 milion viewers represented broadcast TV's second-largest overall audience of the night; only American Idol scored more. 

On the other hand, its 2.0 demo rating was weak. The number made the Judd series look like Harry's Law, a show capable of drawing eyeballs, just not the demographically desirable kind.