ABC/CRAIG SJODINFlashForward, The Vampire Diaries and The Real Housewives of Atlanta don't have a thing in common. Except that they do.
We'll find out what as we play good week, bad week in the latest TV ratings quiz:
1. Was it a good or bad week for…FlashForward? Good week. ABC got to brag that the Thursday night series is TV's most DVR'd freshman, packing on nearly 2 million viewers over the course of a week. In the latest Nielsen rankings, the show finished 29th, with a 9.9 million viewers (and counting).
2. …The Vampire Diaries? It got picked up for the rest of the season, its reruns are going to replace Melrose Place's on Wednesdays, and its Thursday night rerun last week outdrew all-new episodes of 90210 and Dollhouse, so, yeah, the CW show's good.
3. …Housewives of Atlanta? Good week. Sorry, make that great week.
The reality show ended its second season as Bravo's highest-rated Housewives series ever, more than doubling its own audience from last season. Its finale averaged 3 million viewers, and ranked among cable's top shows.
4. …Ugly Betty? Ugly week. The veteran ABC comedy, now trying to survive on Fridays, was the least-watched series on the big four networks (80th place, 4.4 million).
5. …Eastwick? Well, the struggling ABC freshman (73rd place, 4.8 million) does have its fans to boost its spirits, and Ugly Betty to keep it out of the basement, but other than that...Not a great week.
6. …Dollhouse? In case the previous mention didn't make its status clear, let's take this step by step. The bad: The Joss Whedon show (113th place, 2.1 million) got yanked for the November sweeps. The good: It added more DVR viewers, percentagewise, than any other Fox hourlong drama or comedy. The better: Hey, it won't have to air on Fridays for a few weeks! The bottom line: It's hard to be a successful TV show when you don't air on TV.
7. …Community and Parks and Recreation? Lucky week. The Thursday night comedies finished 69th and 71st, respectively, and got renewed because NBC can't air Jay Leno at 8 p.m., too. (We hope.)
8. …Dummies? Fabulous week. The premiere of ventriloquist Jeff Dunham's new Comedy Central show (5.4 million) was cable's most-watched nonsports show behind only USA's Monk (5.42 million) and the debuting White Collar (5.4 million), which got off to an ever hotter, faster start.
9. …Television? Supergreat week! According to Nielsen, kids are spending more time planted in front of the tube "than they have in years." Our nation's future had no comment.
Added bonus: A select rundown of the week that was:
- Number of shows with bigger audiences than Emmy winners 30 Rock and Mad Men: About 50 (in the case of NBC's 30 Rock); about 300 (in the case of AMC's Mad Men).
- Moving into the top 10: ABC's Grey's Anatomy (sixth place, 15.1 million) and Desperate Housewives (10th place, 14.2 million).
- Moving out of the top 10: CBS' CSI and The Mentalist, which were both in reruns, and Two and a Half Men (11th place, 14.1 million), which lost its spot, but not its audience, to baseball.
- Most unlikely hipster: CBS' nerd-loving The Big Bang Theory, which was the most-watched series among the demographically desirable after Grey's Anatomy.