JustTV 2004/05 TV Review: Thursday2004/2005
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8:00pm
What happens when the last big sitcom leaves? (Yes, "Raymond" is big, but unlike "Friends," it rarely peaked at more than 22 million viewers) Well, NBC found out and the result was not pretty. "Joey" (41, 32), despite a promising start, slid down the ratings chart all season long, losing more than half of "Friends" 10th season audience, which was the lowest numbers that "Friends" ever recorded. 8:30 was even worse, where "Will & Grace" (42, 27) slipped to in viewers and in adults, its worst ratings ever. Both were picked up for another season, but it that will likely be it unless ratings really improve. Over on CBS, two editions of "Survivor" (6, 9), (5, 7) went from struggling for first place to taking it fully, doubling the competition, while Fox's "The OC" (91, 63) was okay, though it did lose a troubling 30% of it's audience and all of its hype. Over on the UPN, "Smackdown" (121, 137) was good for fourth and was fairly consistant all season long, while ABC was an utter disaster. It started out with the deadly "Extreme Makeover" (108, 120), moved to the even worse "life as we know it" (145, 143), and finished with the just slightly better "Jake In Progress" (116, 140 at 8pm), (115, 129 at 8:30pm). But it was the WB which pulled up the rear with the promising "Blue Collar TV" (151, 152), the quickly cancelled "Drew Carey's Green Screen" (165, 165), and a movie (171, 170) to top it all off. Yes, it's back to the drawing board for at least two networks in the hour.
9:00pm
Remember last season when "The Apprentice" was the Next Big Thing? Well, it lost all of that this season when the second edition premiered (13, 6), and lost even more audience with the third edition (18, 12). It wasn't even close to "CSI" (2, 4), which was basically flat over last season, but when you can draw 30 million viewers, who cares, right? Outside of those two networks, it was a race to the bottom for the rest. "Extreme Makeover" averaged a third place finish, but was frequently beaten by "Smackdown" later in the season, Fox was a huge loser a slew of crappy dramas, including "North Shore" (141, 137), "Point Pleasant" (141, 129), "Tru Calling" (139, 120), and finally, "The Simple Life," whose move to Thursdays effectively killed the show. The numbers for that show include ratings for Wednesday, so don't be fooled. In total, the spolied brats held 5 timeslots this season- for just one edition! Is Fox trying to kill this show? Meanwhile, the WB gave up in the hour, airing repeats of just about everything but only of "The Starlet" (183, 183) consistantly, which managed a great feat- it was the lowest rated series of the season. Bottoms up!
10:00pm
Unlike last season, when "ER" (16, 8) was riding on fumes and then got a big boost from The Donald, it did not have that luxury this season and was completely whupped by "Without A Trace" (7, 14). It's the first time that "ER" has ever lost its timeslot on the season, and fell to its lowest ranking ever, losing a fifth of its viewers. After being TV's highest rated drama for each of its first 8 seasons and number 2 last season, it slid to 7th this season. Ugh. Well, at least it still beat out "PrimeTime" (94, 105), which is the lowest rated newsmag on the air.