Ratings Results: ‘Terminator/Dollhouse’ Debut Fails to Score
So, how did Fox’s clever pairing of the network’s two female-led, action sci-fi dramas — Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse — fare in the ratings during the shows’ first outing together last Friday? Not so swell, unfortunately, as the following numbers demonstrate:
8pm to 9pm EST
- Ghost Whisperer (CBS) — 10.35 million total viewers
- Wife Swap (ABC) — 4.27 million total viewers
- Howie Do It (NBC) — 3.93 million total viewers
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox) — 3.71 million total viewers
- Everybody Hates Chris/The Game (The CW) — 1.45 million total viewers
9pm to 10pm EST
- Flashpoint (CBS) — 8.86 million total viewers
- Supernanny (ABC) — 6.1 million total viewers
- Dollhouse (Fox) — 4.72 million total viewers
- Friday Night Lights (NBC) — 3.46 million total viewers
- 13: Fear Is Real (The CW) — .95 million total viewers
Terminator’s midseason premiere was a disappointing fourth in the 8pm–9pm EST hour with 3.71 million total viewers, a number that’s over a fourth less than its audience of 5.29 million viewers for its last fresh episode on Monday, December 15. Where in the world have all of those people gone?! Even worse, Terminator actually dropped in the second half-hour as some 380,000 viewers decided they had better things to do.
The ratings picture is a bit better for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, which placed third in its 9pm–10pm EST time slot. With 4.72 million viewers showing up for its premiere, the rookie not only retained its lead-in’s audience and built upon it, but the show held fairly steady between the first and second half-hours, losing only about 30,000 viewers as the episode wound down. Still, Dollhouse’s debut has the distinction of being the lowest-rated premiere this season for a scripted, broadcast-network series, with the lone exception of NBC’s infinitely more boring Crusoe.
Together, Terminator and Dollhouse made Fox the third highest rated network for the night, surely not what Fox was hoping for. To the credit of both shows, however, they provided solid entertainment for savvy viewers who recognize and appreciate good TV when they see it. Too bad there are apparently so few of us.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse air Fridays on Fox at 8pm and 9pm EST, respectively.
2 Comments
They keep moving Terminator’s time and so what do they expect. That said, how can two sci-fi shows be so bland and boring? The old Battlestar Galactica and “V” were more interesting.
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