THE TV COLUMN : Mentalist, Fringe are only fall hits to be found so far
Posted on Tuesday, December 2, 2008
I wrote in Sunday’s column about how TV’s fall pink slips are beginning to be handed out.
Among the programs headed out to pasture so far are ABC’s Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone; NBC’s My Own Worst Enemy; CBS’ The Ex List; Fox’s Do Not Disturb; and The CW’s entire Sunday lineup, including Valentine and Easy Money.
There will be more. Maybe many more in this first season following the debilitating TV writers’ strike.
Does the entire season suck eggs ? Not really. Only about 25 percent of new shows ever live to see a second season anyway. If any given fall can produce two or three genuine successes, it’s regarded as passable.
There are two new series that have made the grade so far — The Mentalist on CBS and Fringe on Fox.
The former is doing quite well, thank you. Averaging a respectable 16. 5 million viewers, the detective drama is TV’s current No. 6 program.
Fringe is way down at No. 30, but its 10. 1 million viewers gives the network hope that the X-Filesish drama will continue to grow.
Why has The Mentalist stood out ?
The show’s Simon Baker is simply adorable. Women love the affable Aussie and men want to be like him. His character, former fake psychic Patrick Jane, has an easy charm. The series doesn’t make the viewer do any heavy lifting and like all the other cop shows on TV, things are neatly wrapped up in 60 minutes.
That is, the episodes are selfcontained. Some elements continue from week-to-week, but the main action usually ends with a conclusion within the hour.
Busy viewers prefer that formula as evidenced by the venerable and still No. 1 show on television, CSI. The series commands 21. 1 million viewers each week.
That ol’ CBS war horse is in its ninth season (an eternity these days ) and is undergoing a major cast change this month that could see some viewers bail out. William Petersen is leaving the show as Gil Grissom. Taking his place will be Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Raymond Langston.
It’ll be interesting to see if an actor with the stature of Fishburne can hold an audience that has grown very comfortable with Petersen.
Getting too comfortable is what was bothering Petersen. The actor needs to get out there and stretch before his acting muscles atrophy in one position.
Grissom won’t be killed off or anything and we can expect him back for sweeps episodes or the end of the series if that ever comes.
The ratings list after CSI holds few surprises.
Dancing With the Stars holds down the No. 2 spot with 19. 3 million and the DWTS results show on Wednesdays is No. 7 at 16. 4 million.
TV’s No. 3 series is CBS’ NCIS (18. 4 million ), which is simply CSI with a sexier cast.
Aside: The fetching Cote de Pablo, who portrays Mossad liaison officer Ziva David, is not Israeli at all. The 29-year-old was born in Chile and grew up (from age 10 ) in Miami.
NCIS and Fox’s House might have even higher ratings if they didn’t compete for the same audience at the same time. I always watch one and tape the other.
House is No. 15 with 13. 3 million viewers.
Grey’s Anatomy, now safely past the misguided Callie-Erica lesbian love story but stumbling through the ghost-of-Denny fiasco, clings to No. 4 with 17. 8 million.
The budding love story between Owen Hunt and Christina Yang (Kevin McKidd, Sandra Oh ) is sure to keep the fan fires burning.
Following close on Grey’s heels is ABC’s Desperate Housewives (17. 1 million ) at No. 5, which has benefited by this season’s leapfrog reboot to five years in the future. Viewers have apparently accepted the conceit without blinking.
Crime and violence kick back in with No. 8 and Criminal Minds; Sunday Night Football squeezes in at No. 9, followed by CSI: NY and CSI: Miami at No. 10 and No. 11.
We have to go all the way down to No. 12 to find our first comedy with CBS’ aging Two and a Half Men.
60 Minutes, TV’s former No. 1 show back in the day, still pulls down No. 13, which is one notch ahead of Survivor: Gabon.
Expect the ratings to be scrambled come January when behemoth American Idol stomps back upon the scene, along with Lost and 24. Network news. 60 Minutes may be holding on to No. 13, but how are the network nightly news programs faring ? NBC Nightly News leads with 8. 37 million viewers (up 1 percent over last year ); ABC’s World News has 8. 2 million (down 2 percent ); and CBS Evening News brings up the rear with 6. 1 million viewers (down 3 percent ).
According to Nielsen Media Research, 36. 7 million viewers watched the nightly news in 1991. They now manage a combined 22. 7 million. That may be a substantial drop, but network news still far outweighs any news program on cable. Marijuana special. If your cable or satellite dish gets National Geographic Channel, there is a special at 9 p. m. today dealing with marijuana. Marijuana Nation notes that the drug is “the leading cash crop in the United States, with annual profits of more than $ 65 billion.” Lisa Ling investigates. The Bad Girls Club. Likewise, if you get the Oxygen channel, the third season of The Bad Girls Club debuts at 9 p. m. today. The “hit” show has expanded to an hour. There will be 13 episodes following girls gone wild — girls with ’tude who “recognize that their outrageous behavior has hindered their relationships, careers and lives.” They all live together in a mansion and drama ensues. Yeah. It’s the same weary formula, but some viewers are addicted. The TV column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:
mstorey@arkansasonline. com
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