Ratings Report: ‘Dollhouse’ Season Finale Lower Than ‘Sarah Connor’
It seems May 8th’s Dollhouse first-season finale “Omega” was indeed too little, too late. The show scored its lowest overnight ratings yet, giving the sci-fi drama a third-place finish in the 9–10pm ET hour, behind CBS’ Canadian crime procedural Flashpoint and NBC’s long-running primetime newsmagazine Dateline.
Overall, Team Whedon & Dushku brought in 2.75 million total viewers and a 1.0 rating/4 share among viewers aged 18–49, which is down an entire rating point and almost two million viewers from the February 13th series premiere “Ghost.” That initial episode attracted 4.72 million viewers and earned a 2.0/6.
To compare with the competition, the fresh Ghost Whisperer episode “Endless Love” scored a low-ish — at least for that series — 9.35 million total viewers and a 2.28/8 in the same demographic, while the April 10th Sarah Connor Chronicles second-season finale “Born to Run” drew 3.56 million viewers and a 1.3/5.
Needless to say — but let’s do it anyway — unimpressive, tanking Nielsen numbers like that don’t bode well for the Actives’ future on Fox. Perhaps fans can blame the low turnout this time around on the highly anticipated same-day opening of J.J. Abrams’ successful Star Trek film-franchise reboot.
Review all of Dollhouse’s ratings for its twelve-episode first season in the handy chart below, which also includes the numbers for its former lead-in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, as well as CBS’ hit paranormal drama Ghost Whisperer.
And, if you’re wondering, Prison Break, the aging jailbird drama that led into Dollhouse for its final three episodes, performed even worse than TSCC, with an average of 3.09 million total viewers and a 1.0/4. Thanks a lot, Fox!
As unbelievable as it sounds with the convenience of hindsight, not too long ago, people were actually blaming Break’s long overdue demise on Terminator. Puh-leeze.
| Ghost Whisperer | Terminator | Dollhouse | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers in Millions * Repeat Episode |
|||
| Feb 13 | 10.35 2.4/8 |
3.71 1.4/5 |
4.72 2.0/6 |
| Feb 20 | 8.35* 1.9/6 |
3.84 1.3/5 |
4.22 1.7/5 |
| Feb 27 | 11.57 2.8/9 |
3.42 1.2/4 |
4.13 1.6/5 |
| Mar 6 | 11.13 2.6/9 |
3.0 1.0/4 |
3.55 1.5/5 |
| Mar 13 | 11.11 2.6/9 |
3.53 1.2/4 |
4.33 1.6/5 |
| Mar 20 | OFF | 3.65 1.3/5 |
4.13 1.5/5 |
| Mar 27 | OFF | 3.83 1.3/5 |
3.87 1.3/4 |
| Apr 3 | 7.3* 1.6/6 |
3.35 1.3/5 |
3.49 1.4/5 |
| Apr 10 | 10.23 2.5/9 |
3.56 1.3/5 |
3.56 1.4/4 |
| Apr 24 | 9.15 2.1/8 |
N/A | 2.99 1.2/4 |
| May 1 | 9.67 2.3/9 |
N/A | 3.09 1.1/4 |
| May 8 | 9.35 2.2/8 |
N/A | 2.75 1.0/4 |
Ghost Whisperer airs Fridays on CBS at 8pm ET, while both Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse have completed their respective seasons on Fox.
Nielsen Data © 2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
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[...] the ratings for Joss Whedon’s latest fantasy series Dollhouse were pitiful, but ardent fans are starting [...]
[...] Cellar-level ratings be damned, Fox has reportedly done the unthinkable — at least in many numbers watchers’ eyes — and renewed Joss Whedon’s sci-fi series Dollhouse for a second season of 13 episodes, reportedly to air on the show’s original day of Fridays in the fall. [...]