Did death become Heroes? Did the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade miss Glee? And did you know Ugly Betty is still on the air?
The answers—and more questions—in the latest TV ratings quiz:
1. When Nathan fell, did Heroes rise? Technically, yes. Last night's annual offing of Adrian Pasdar was witnessed by 5.9 million, per Nielsen estimates. That put the show up 14 percent from last week, when it barely broke 5 million.
2. So, is Heroes saved? Up is up. You can't argue with that. You also can't help but notice that, advance hype or no, the episode got killed at 8 p.m. by a How I Met Your Mother rerun, a Shrek the Halls rerun and, understandably, an all-new House. Even odder, Heroes lost steam—and viewers—from its first half-hour to its character-killing-off, final half-hour.
3. While we're on the subject, Grinch or Shrek? Judging by last night's numbers—How the Grinch Stole Christmas' 9.6 million versus Shrek the Halls' 10 million, as both aired on ABC—the answer is the green guy. Um, OK, the fatter green guy.
4. Was Macy's sorry that NBC rained on Glee? Eh, probably not so much. The department store's annual Thanksgiving parade scored its best numbers in the top TV markets since 2006, the Glee-uninviting NBC reported. Overall, an estimated 45.8 million caught some or all of the show. No word on how many were waiting and/or hoping that the kids of McKinley High would crash the festivities.
5. Did you know that while most shows are heading into winter vacation, Ugly Betty is working it with new episodes? Apparently not. Last Friday's all-new installment scored a cable-esque 3.3 million. Granted, the night after Thanksgiving isn't an ideal showcase, but reruns of Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs and Medium all managed to hit 5 million-plus. And, as pointed out by TVbytheNumbers, even a Jay Leno Show repeat that night scored a bigger-than-Betty audience.
6. How was Beyoncé's Thanksgiving? Not as big as CSI's. At 9 p.m., a Thanksgiving rerun of the CBS crime show outdrew the singer's holiday-night ABC special, Beyoncé: I Am…Yours, by nearly 4 million.
7. Where's the Top 10? Not out yet. Nielsen's weekly rankings were delayed by the holiday. Ditto for its cable standings.