Future Tense? Not for FlashForward
ABC/CRAIG SJODIN
FlashForward, Grey's Anatomy, The Mentalist and CSI: Which show didn't the future look bright for last night?
First, let's run down what the answer isn't.
• It's not FlashForward, even if the all-new Lost was asked to lead off ABC's Thursday against CBS' Survivor: Samoa and Fox's Bones. In the most impressive launch of the week, FlashForward won the 8 p.m. hour with 12.4 million viewers, per preliminary Nielsen estimates.
• It's not Grey's Anatomy, even if the financially strapped Seattle Grace itself is downsizing. The show's two-hour, season-six premiere ruled the night with 16.8 million gathering for Dr. O'Malley's memorial.
• And nope, it's not The Mentalist, even if last season's freshman hit fell flat in its sophomore premiere—not to mention its new night and time—with a big, but disappointing 14.3 million. Still, the show may rebound as soon as next week when it goes up against Private Practice, and not Grey's, at 10 p.m.
And that means the answer—and the winner of the cloudiest future—is:
Exclusive
Simon Baker's Emmy Nom: Get the Guy a Beer!
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Want to congratulate Simon Baker on his first Emmy nomination for his work on The Mentalist? Well, you should forget about champagne.
The Aussie actor is much more about a nice ice-cold one.
House, The Mentalist Take Tuesday
Adam Taylor/FOX
With According to Jim and without Dancing With the Stars, ABC got killed in Tuesday night's ratings race.
Fox and CBS stepped in and cleaned up with a solid House (12.4 million viewers) and a record-sized episode of The Mentalist (18.8 million), respectively, Nielsen estimates said.
House was the night's biggest show among adults 18-49. The Mentalist scored the biggest audience and, for the first time, CBS said, outdrew its lead-in, NCIS (18.5 million).
Fox's Fringe (8.7 million) held steady but got beat in the demo by the surging Mentalist.
On ABC, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town did OK (9 million) but was down about 2 million viewers from last week's A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It would take too many fingers to count how many viewers the season-premiering According to Jim (5.8 million, for back-to-back episodes) and the late Eli Stone (4.9 million) were down from last week's DWTS finale.
The CW opted for repeats over dead air. Not that you could tell the difference from the numbers posted by 90210 (1.2 million) and especially Privileged (855,000).
Grey's, DWTS Top Ratings; How'd Your Shows Do?
John P. Johnson/HBO
Fringe or The Mentalist? Gossip Girl or Supernatural? Twilight or True Blood? Which shows were the bigger hits last week?
The answers, and other highlights from the latest weekly ratings standings:
• CBS' The Mentalist (15.8 million) was TV's most-watched freshman, but Fox's Fringe (9.2 million) made its mark as the No. 1 new show among the coveted 18-49 demo.
• Gossip Girl (2.9 million) might be the CW's signature show, but America's Next Top Model (4.8 million), Smallville (4.2 million) and Supernatural (3.3 million) signed off on bigger audiences.
• Okay, Twilight's not a TV show. But it was a hit. Just like HBO's True Blood, which took a bite out of 2.4 million in its season finale. How much did its audience grow from September premiere to Sunday? A whopping 71 percent.
• The Monday edition of ABC's Dancing With the Stars (19.6 million) was TV's most-watched show. The network also scored TV's biggest hit among the 18-49 set with Grey's Anatomy (15.9 million overall).
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