It’s tough out there for a new TV show. Creators put their hearts and souls into pilots, introducing their baby bird-like new series into the big, harsh world, all the while, hoping and praying their baby can fly. Well, as you know, some shows flourish and some shows plummet. Others glide along, barely getting by or delaying the inevitable: cancellation. It’s a cruel, swift death we often call The Ax. Each week during Fall Premiere Season, we’ll take a look at the ratings for fall’s new crop of shows and tell you which ones are flapping their baby wings just hard enough, which ones are flying, and which ones sadly, will be a victim of the Ax Factor. This week, The Neighbors fell to the “maybe” list, while CBS and Fox are (again) in danger of claiming their first victims.
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Revolution (NBC, Mondays at 10 PM ET): Revolution drew 8.4 million viewers this week — a bit down from last week, but these numbers were still powerful enough (HAH!) to garner a full-season pick-up for the J.J. Abrams and Jon Favreau-backed show.
Go On (NBC, Tuesdays at 9 PM ET): Despite a 19 percent drop, it looks like Matthew Perry‘s group therapy sitcom will go on for at least the rest of the television year after NBC picked up the series for a full season — could you *be* any more excited about the order, Matt?
The New Normal (NBC, Tuesdays at 9:30 PM ET): This just goes to show that buzz can create miracles: Despite still-declining ratings (down 15 percent this week, with only 4.6 million viewers) the Ryan Murphy sitcom was the third peacock show to receive a full season order this week.
Vegas (CBS, Tuesdays at 10 PM ET): Luckily for fans of Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis in cowboy hats, Vegas survived this week’s Terrible Tuesday. Ratings were down for pretty much everyone, but CBS still won the night, and Vegas won the 10 p.m. hour with 12.1 million viewers. Let’s hit the casinos, shall we?
Elementary (CBS, Thursdays at 10 PM ET): Lucy Liu‘s modern incarnation of Watson might be slightly troubled by their 16 percent drop from last week, but CBS still won the night by a long shot, so this series’ current safety is no big mystery.
Last Resort (ABC, Thursdays at 8 PM): Could this Scott Speedman-led drama be sinking ship? Last Resort lost over a million viewers this week — about 18 percent of their premiere audience. Still, despite losing to The X Factor behemoth and CBS’s unsinkable comedy hour, it bested NBC’s comedy block by a long shot.
The Neighbors (ABC, Wednesdays at 8:30 PM ET): Critics must have been dancing for joy when they learned that this heavily panned comedy fell 38 percent in its demo, to a 2.0 rating with 6.61 million viewers.
666 Park Avenue: (ABC, Sundays at 10 PM ET): Apparently, big-name stars like Terry O’Quinn and Vanessa Williams and a Once Upon A Time/Revenge lead-in weren’t enough to scare up some serious numbers for this supposedly promising new drama. 666 Park drew in 7 million viewers — not bad, but not as deviously delicious as it could have been.
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Made In Jersey (CBS, Fridays at 9 PM ET): The critically panned drama did terribly on CBS standards: It opened to 7.7 million viewers, and a grim 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. I guess turning Snooki into a big-shot Manhattan lawyer wasn’t such a good idea, after all.
Follow Shaunna on Twitter @HWShaunna
[PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Kennedy/CBS]
MORE:
The Ax Factor: ‘Vegas’ Is Lucky, ‘Go On’ Is Going Strong, & ‘Mob Doctor’ May Get Whacked
Fun With Ratings: ‘Once Upon a Time’ Sees Fairy Tale Ratings, ‘666 Park Avenue’ Is a Fright
Fun with Ratings: No Mystery Behind ‘Elementary’ Popularity or ‘Big Bang’ Victory
