Housewives beat football; Lost ratings down

[Kingdom]

....and Night Line is jumping ahead of Late Night talk shows...... wild fall season continues!

Serial Dramas Become a Tough Sell

Serial dramas are suddenly finding audiences steering away from them, with CBS yanking Smith, starring Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen, from its schedule, NBC moving Kidnapped, starring Jeremy Sisto and Delroy Lindo, to the graveyard of Saturday night and ABC losing five million viewers for Lost. San Francisco Chronicle TV columnist Tim Goodman observed today (Monday) that ABC's plan to put Lost on hiatus for 13 weeks beginning next month in order to avoid repeats might backfire. (It's being replaced during that period by yet another serial drama, Day Break, starring Taye Diggs and Adam Baldwin.) "What if five million more people don't come back?" Goodman asks.

Day Break is.. the drama version of Groundhog Day.

'Housewives' Hold the Lead

For the third consecutive Sunday, ABC's Desperate Housewives has beaten back the challenge of NBC's Sunday Night Football. In fact the NFL contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Diego Chargers and its pregame show never rose above second place at any time during primetime, averaging a 7.3 rating and a 12 share. By contrast, Housewives was easily the highest-rated show of the night, scoring a 12.9/19. But if football had a tough time competing, baseball had a tougher one, with the National League playoff game drawing only a 4.1/16. (An overrun of its NFL game at 7:00 p.m. registered an 11.9/21).

Late Night Variety Shows Down; 'Nightline' Up

While ratings for CBS's The Late Show with David Letterman are down 11 percent and NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno are down 5 percent in 2006, those for ABC's Nightline are up 2 percent for the year and up 15 percent in last week's showings, the Philadelphia Inquirer observed today (Monday). In an interview with Inquirer TV columnist Gail Shister (who has branded the show "Nightline Lite -- less filling, more popular"), James Goldston, the former BBC producer who took over as executive producer of Nightline last November, said, "It's early. I'm pleased that we're up, but it's not enough. We have a long way to go before I'm satisfied with what we're doing."

[DravenX]

Smallville is pretty much the only show besides the playoffs that I watch during the fall and winter.

[missionhockey21]

Good old Tim Goodman (big Arrested Developmen fan and supporter), I agree with him on the decision about LOST. The diehards will stick on, but a thirteen week layoff is not going to retain a large percent of new viewers, nor will it help to regain past viewers.

.... plus it totally sucks as a LOST fan.

[Kingdom]

People complained so much about the schedule last season, at least they won't stop n go so much this time. People who actually like the show, will still watch.

[Kingdom]

Smallville is pretty much the only show besides the playoffs that I watch during the fall and winter.

Somebodyyyyyyyyyy saaaaveeeeee me [shrilled voice]

[missionhockey21]

People complained so much about the schedule last season, at least they won't stop n go so much this time. People who actually like the show, will still watch.

I didn't mind the schedule last year. It was a bit painful, but I suppose this is an issue of either getting punched a few times solidly, or taking one big uppercut to the face and getting it over with. But yeah, LOST viewers will follow their dealer known as ABC no matter the night, time or schedule.

[Kingdom]

I didn't mind the schedule last year. It was a bit painful, but I suppose this is an issue of either getting punched a few times solidly, or taking one big uppercut to the face and getting it over with. But yeah, LOST viewers will follow their dealer known as ABC no matter the night, time or schedule.

I think they should have just gone completely with the 24 model and do the whole season in the new year. I can see people not liking that, but it's been nice for 24, so why not? But running six episodes (which they say amounts to literally a mini-series movie on The Others) and then going on a hiatus is going to piss off a lot of people. I think they'll be fine in the end, and maybe in the future use the 24 model or use a normal model like the CSIs use (they rarely ever show back to back repeats).

[realmofotalk]

Somebodyyyyyyyyyy saaaaveeeeee me [shrilled voice]

Because of the comic book tourneys, I thought you were a bigger fan of Smallville than ****in "Lost".

[Molina00]

Smallville is about the only show I watch too.
I am a Lost fan too but I have only seen season 1 on DVD so I don't want to start watching it when it airs and ruin things.

[Lynch]

I watched the entire first and second seasons of Lost in 2 weeks. DVD is the way to go man. (just sucks for discussion threads, cuz you have to steer way clear of them)

[Kingdom]

Because of the comic book tourneys, I thought you were a bigger fan of Smallville than ****in "Lost".

I have seasons 3-5 of Smallville on DVD and I've been keeping up with season 6.
I never got into the show until a couple months ago (I never had the WB.. well CW now until late this past summer). I love the show. But Lost and House are the cream for me.

[GiantsFanatic]

I watched the entire first and second seasons of Lost in 2 weeks. DVD is the way to go man. (just sucks for discussion threads, cuz you have to steer way clear of them)

yup same here, im always busy with work and school so i either DL and burn'em or i just end up buying them.