Who Drew a Smaller Crowd: Rosie or Ellen?

Take the weekly TV ratings pop quiz

By Joal Ryan Dec 03, 2008 11:45 PMTags
Rosie O'Donnell, Ellen DeGeneresJoe Kohen/Getty Images; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

OK, let's get the easy stuff out of the way: What was TV's most watched show last week? The Dancing With the Stars finale, duh. 

But with Grey's Anatomy in reruns, what was the No. 1 show among the demographically desirable? Whose variety special played to the smaller house: Rosie O'Donnell or Ellen DeGeneres'? And which former CW show killed the CW?

The answers—and more questions—in this week's ratings pop quiz:

Question 1: Knowing that Grey's was a repeat, CBS' Monday comedies are hot, and Desperate Housewives would be a very smart answer, what was the No. 1 show for the 18-49 demo? (Answer: Sunday Night Football. Housewives finished second; Two and a Half Men, third.)

Question 2: OK, smartypantses: Rosie or Ellen? (Answer: DeGeneres drew a smaller audience for Ellen's Even Bigger Really Big Show, which averaged 2.3 million, than O'Donnell did for the much-maligned Rosie Live, which averaged 5 million.)

Question 3: So did Rosie really beat Ellen? (Answer: No way. O'Donnell's show aired on NBC on a Wednesday night; DeGeneres managed to draw a measurable audience on cable—TBS to be precise—on a Saturday night.)

Question 4: Sure, the CW's ratings are low, but at least it'll always have myNetworkTV to kick around, right? (Answer: Well…myNetworkTV upended the CW, averaging 1.9 million prime-time viewers to the latter's 1.4 million. Credit the upset to the CW airing lots of reruns and myNetworkTV airing the old CW show, Friday Night Smackdown, which drew 3.8 million viewers. The CW couldn't do any bigger or better than 2.2 million for a new One Tree Hill. The CW, however, was bigger than MyNetworkTV where it counts—to the CW: among women 18-34 who don't give a flying clothesline about pro wrestling.)

Question 5: Which hip hit shows were older than at least some of their target audience? (Answer: The 19-year-old Simpsons and the 35-year-old A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving finished 15th and 18th, respectively, in the 18-49 demo.)

Question 6: What was the most unhip hit show? (Answer: NCIS, which finished fourth in total viewers with 18.1 million, but 14th in adults 18-49.)

Question 7: A long time ago, say back in September, did you ever think Gary Unmarried (7.6 million) would draw a larger audience than Heroes (7.5 million)? (Answer: Oh, come on. We know you're lying.)

Question 8: Who was Sunday's biggest blonde on cable? (Answer: While Britney Spears is, sizewise, larger than Tinker Bell, the fairy scored 4.4 million viewers for her new Disney Channel CGI special compared to the pop star's 3.8 million for her MTV documentary special.)

Question 9: What was the hardest thing to take about The Shield finale? (Answer: It got beat on its night by the fourth-season premiere of The Real Housewives of Orange County, 1.9 million viewers to 1.8 million.)

Question 10: Miranda Cosgrove or the Jonas Brothers? (Answer: In the battle of oft-repeated tween movies, Cosgrove's iCarly movie, iGo to Japan, outdrew the Jonases' Camp Rock, 3.4 million to 3 million.)