Missing in Action
09/21/06 10:21 PM
By ED BARK
At least three new fall series already look like goners. The NBC serial drama Kidnapped had a dead-end opening Wednesday night, falling hard to a competing repeat of ABC's Grey's Anatomy and drawing less than half the viewers for CBS' frontrunning third season premiere of CSI: NY. That's a fatal blow for a series that wants to leave an audience hanging from week to week. You've got to have a big opening night crowd to do that. Otherwise you're the hang-ee.
Fox's Justice, which had an early premiere on Aug. 30, sunk to a fifth-place finish Wednesday in the network's target 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Don't expect it to be back after baseball unless the network moves it elsewhere. It is, after all, a would-be hour of power from TV potentate Jerry Bruckheimer. And the pilot episode was well-executed.
Another Fox freshman, Standoff finds itself at a ratings standstill in a plush time slot following the on-fire House. In their latest Tuesday night pairing, the not-so-good doctor was No. 1 with 18-49-year-olds, even beating the first hour of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Standoff then plunged to fourth with younger viewers opposite Dancing and the season premieres of CBS' The Unit and NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Bet on a bye-bye after baseball, with Justice maybe getting a last-chance shot after either House or Monday night's Prison Break.
At least three new fall series already look like goners. The NBC serial drama Kidnapped had a dead-end opening Wednesday night, falling hard to a competing repeat of ABC's Grey's Anatomy and drawing less than half the viewers for CBS' frontrunning third season premiere of CSI: NY. That's a fatal blow for a series that wants to leave an audience hanging from week to week. You've got to have a big opening night crowd to do that. Otherwise you're the hang-ee.
Fox's Justice, which had an early premiere on Aug. 30, sunk to a fifth-place finish Wednesday in the network's target 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Don't expect it to be back after baseball unless the network moves it elsewhere. It is, after all, a would-be hour of power from TV potentate Jerry Bruckheimer. And the pilot episode was well-executed.
Another Fox freshman, Standoff finds itself at a ratings standstill in a plush time slot following the on-fire House. In their latest Tuesday night pairing, the not-so-good doctor was No. 1 with 18-49-year-olds, even beating the first hour of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Standoff then plunged to fourth with younger viewers opposite Dancing and the season premieres of CBS' The Unit and NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Bet on a bye-bye after baseball, with Justice maybe getting a last-chance shot after either House or Monday night's Prison Break.
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