Big Picture
Good Morning, Nicki! Plus, Daniel Radcliffe works his magic and Bruce Jenner blasts to the past. Get the latest pics!
MORE PHOTOS +Most Commented
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: Vote in the Final Round! (2036)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (700)
- Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart Photos Galore! New Pics From Their Post-Twilight Flicks! (606)
- Afternoon Mail! Are Gleeks Having More Sex Than Vamps? (586)
- TV's Top Couple Tournament: And the Winner Is... (506)
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z Share First Photos of Baby Blue Ivy! (399)
- Whitney Houston Dead at 48 (397)
- Twitter Name Change: Introducing @Ted_Casablanca (306)
- Life After Breaking Dawn?! Maybe, Says Studio Head! (226)
- Morning Mail! Céline Dion Talks Whitney Houston's Tragic Death (223)
Top 10 Stories
- Whitney Houston's Funeral: "Totally Opposite" of Michael Jackson's
- Oscar Winner Marcia Gay Harden Files for Divorce
- Matt Bomer Comes Out as Gay: "So Proud of Him," Says White Collar Costar
- So True? So False? Is Jessica Simpson Really Going on The Biggest Loser?!
- Kids' Choice Nominations Are In: Harry Potter, Tim Tebow, Taylor Swift and More Score Nods
- Teen Mom's Amber Portwood Headed to Halfway House Drug Program
- Did Stephen Colbert Shut Down Report Due to Mother's "Serious Illness"?
- One Tree Hill's Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols Break Up
- Awkward Alert: Jon Stewart's Underwear Joke Hits Close to Home With David Letterman
- Jennifer Lopez Tweets, Then Deletes, Steamy Casper Smart Shot—Check It Out!
Fashion Police
"Rules" Viewers Bid Ritter Farewell
John Ritter loved baseball. He would probably have been tuned in to Fox's National League Championship game between the Chicago Cubs and the Florida Marlins Tuesday night--first pitch thrown at 8:18 p.m. CT. The game averaged 15.6 million viewers.
But even more viewers, an average of 17.7 million, opted to watch Ritter's TV finale in his ABC sitcom, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, which aired at 8 p.m. nationwide, opposite the baseball game in much of the country. The half-hour episode was the last of three taped before the comic star's sudden death on September 11.
According to Nielsen Media Research, Ritter's sitcom was the most watched show of the night, registering an 11.2 household rating and an 18 share in addition to the nearly 18 million viewers. (Last year at this time, the show's audience was 14.6 million.) Particularly strong with women and teens, the show also earned a 7.1 rating and 21 share in adults 18-49, the demographic most favored by advertisers.
By comparison, Fox's baseball coverage, drawing the biggest ratings since 20.8 million fans tuned in for the Atlanta-Philadelphia match-up in 1993, drew a 10.1 household rating and a 17 share.
Not even the California recall results--in which many stations cut away shortly after 8 p.m. to announce Arnold Schwarzenegger's historic win--dented 8 Simple Rules ...'s numbers. While an ABC rep said the sitcom's ratings might have been slightly affected, it was later prime-time programming, like NYPD Blue, that was more greatly impacted.
In other words, Ritter's final Rules ruled.
The ratings for Ritter's farewell show helped ABC to a solid overall second place for Tuesday night, behind Fox's playoff coverage, but well ahead of both CBS and NBC.
But now it's worrying time for ABC.
Before the season began, the Alphabet net had positioned Ritter's 8 Simple Rules... as a linchpin around which the struggling network hoped to build new shows and eventually climb back to ratings respectability.
After Ritter died unexpectedly, the network made the controversial decision to continue with the show sans the actor. It is not yet known how long it will be before new episodes can be shot. ABC says the new episodes will encompass the tragedy of Ritter's death by showing the widowed Cate Hennessy (Katey Sagal) and the three children coping with the sudden death of their father, Paul. Little else has been determined about the revamped show.
ABC had bandied about the idea of adding a new male character, but no names have been confirmed. There had been whispers that Ed O'Neill would reunite with his Married...with Children costar Sagal, to play her character's brother and the childrens' uncle, according to the New York Post. But ABC says the rumors were totally unfounded, with O'Neill locked into playing Joe Friday on the network's retooled but still struggling cop drama L.A. Dragnet, airing Saturdays.
Next Tuesday, the network will rerun the "Come and Knock on Our Door" episode of 8 Simple Rules ... that originally aired in January. It's a double-duty tribute to Ritter--it includes his character's dream sequence of his two daughters living with a guy in a '70s style apartment, a parody of Three's Company, the sitcom that made him a star.
0 Comments
Now loading...