Good Nudes for Two and a Half Men and Ashton Kutcher!

Comedy rebounds in TV ratings as Kutcher shows off his birthday suit again; more results from the latest rankings

By Joal Ryan Oct 25, 2011 6:48 PMTags
Two and a Half Men, Marin Hinkle, Jon Cryer, Holland Taylor, Conchata Ferrell, Angus T. Jones, Ashton KutcherAdam Rose/CBS

Ashton Kutcher can stop reading stories (and/or Charlie Sheen quotes) about how Two and a Half Men's headed in the wrong direction. At least momentarily.

Last night's Men rebounded in the ratings, and moved the needle upward for the first time since the comedy's super-sized season premiere.

And the difference-maker may have just been Kutcher his own naked self. 

An estimated 15.5 million tuned in "The Squat and the Hover," which opened with a shot of the buff Kutcher in the buff (not unlike how his character was introduced in the aforementioned super-sized premiere).

The episode starred in the 18-49 demo, improving by 5 percent over last week's season low, and hitting a night-best 5.6 rating.

Speaking of last week's season low…

The Oct. 17 episode, "A Giant Cat Holding a Churro," opened with a shot of Jon Cryer in his tighty whities.

(Draw your own conclusions here.)

To be fair, last night's Men also featured some extra-special guest stars, including Jane Lynch and Joe Manganiello, so it could be argued that it was they who sparked the resurgence. 

(Draw your own conclusions here.)

Other key ratings results:

Dancing With the Stars (estimated 17 million viewers last night): Down a touch from last week. Were viewers not digging Broadway—or protesting Carson Kressley's ouster? 

Hart of Dixie (estimated 2 million viewers last night): Among the CW's trio of freshman dramas, this one's been the straggler. But on Monday, it perked up—blew up, really—by nearly 20 percent over last week, when it finished in 110th place.

Once Upon a Time (13th place): The week's most-watched new show.

Person of Interest (17th place): The week's most-watched new show that wasn't premiering.

Modern Family (12th place): How bad were Cryer's tighty whities for business? Men lost its 18-49 crown to this consistent (and consistently big) comedy. 

2 Broke Girls (20th place): Tim Allen's Last Man Standing (31st place) came down to Earth; this consistent (and consistently big) comedy reclaimed its title as the most-watched new comedy.

How I Met Your Mother (32nd place): Another Top 10 finish in the 18-49 demo.

Rules of Engagement (17th place): A huge upgrade for CBS' Thursday lineup over the canceled How to Be a Gentleman. Even Sheen, the sitcom critic, was impressed.

Man Up! (47th place): Not a bad start, but not really an upgrade, either, for ABC's Wednesday lineup over last fall's Better With You.

Charlie's Angels (56th place): No, it didn't go out on top, but it did almost embarrass A Gifted Man (42nd place), which ranked as the lowest-rated Big Four network show that hadn't been canceled several days prior.

Vampire Diaries (86th place): Up five spots from the previous rankings.

The Walking Dead (6.7 million viewers): Cable's No. 1 series. Again. (And, as of today, renewed for season three.)

Here's a complete look at the TV week's Top 10 most-watched broadcast shows:

  1. NCIS, 19.4 million viewers
  2. Dancing With the Stars (Monday), 17.8 million viewers
  3. NCIS: Los Angeles, 15.4 million viewers
  4. World Series Game 4, 15.2 million viewers
  5. Two and a Half Men, 15.1 million viewers
  6. The Big Bang Theory, 14.9 million viewers
  7. The OT (football post-game show), 14.7 million viewers
  8. World Series Game 2, 14.3 million viewers
  9. World Series Game 1, 14.2 million viewers
  10. Dancing With the Stars (Tuesday), 13.8 million viewers