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Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com
PTG Episode 55 is brought to you by Friday night TV programming, a.k.a. The Dead Zone. For all the rave reviews that both the season premieres of Smallville at 8PM on the CW and Dollhouse on FOX at 9PM received during the past week, both shows generally went unwatched by the public at large. Now, of course, the numbers reported do not include those folks who might have LIVES and actually don’t stay home on Friday nights, preferring to record any Friday night TV they simply can’t live without. But you can’t ignore how damning the numbers SOUND.
Smallville scored the worst score of the night, according to TV by the Numbers, drawing 2.5 million viewers. The winner that night in the 8PM time slot? The season premiere of Ghost Whisperer drew over 8.5 million viewers. Hell, a RERUN of the series premiere of FlashForward drew more viewers at 8PM than Smallville did! Way to go, CW.
As for Dollhouse, the numbers were the worst in the show’s history:
9-9:30 p.m.: 1.0, 1.0, 2.698 million
9:30-10 p.m.: 1.0, 1.0 2.427 million
It’s a far cry from when the show debuted back in February following the now dead-and-buried Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and helping FOX to double its Friday night audience, but about even with the May finale. This is familiar territory for Eliza Dushku, whose last show, Tru Calling, suffered a similar fate in its second season. But hey, at least Dollhouse didn’t come in last in its timeslot the way that Smallville did–that “honor” went to America’s Top Model, another CW program. At least they’re consistent.
It’s a real shame too, particularly for Dollhouse, which had a VERY strong start in terms of what’s in the episode. We cover Dollhouse’s second season premiere, along with the premieres of Heroes and ABC’s new show, FlashForward, in this episode. A review of the new Bruce Willis sci-fi “thriller” Surrogates sneaks in there, as well. Enjoy!
Stumble It!
