Comments on: TV Ratings: Ghost Whisperer Loudest on a Quiet Friday

By: Eddie

Eddie — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:30:52 +0000

Yup CW put these two comedies on Friday nights and its a shame. I wish there was something I could do, but I cant, CW will never listen!!

By: Susan Halverson

Susan Halverson — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:55:54 +0000

Wow–gotta clean off my computer screen–lots of venom spewing going on here. After being on the “boards” with other Moonlight fans since May, I’ve found them to be mostly genuinely good, kind, caring people–much like the actors in the show, who also seem to be genuine and humane. Moonlight was definitely a cut above the rest of TV as far as the quality of the show, the caliber of the cast, and the type of viewer it attracted. I realize that the networks would rather have cheese-puff munching, non-working folks with no disposable income but what the government sends them every month, watching their TV shows! Hey–as long as they fit the “demo,” who cares if their houses have wheels? I’ll never understand the demo thing; as a Baby Boomer with lots of cash to buy everything the advertisers show me, I don’t get that I’m 50 and don’t count in the demo! Why is it better to have 18-year-old viewers who have to borrow mascara money from Mom? I can buy a Lexus, and I even buy Pampers for the grandkids. But I digress.
–

Moonlight was, simply put, the most addictive show I have ever watched in my long life as a TV viewer. CBS has always been my favorite network. Moonlight was trashed before it had a chance to get going, so for all kinds of reasons listed above, I don’t watch CBS anymore. I’ve seen Swingtown go down in Moonlight’s time slot, and I see Ex-List tanking as well. Who can say we “disgruntled fans” are not making life a little miserable for CBS? Are you so sure about that?–all of you wise dispensers of viper juice and snarkiness? I’m proud to be among the viewers who recognized Moonlight for what it was and always will be: a beautiful show, shot in a “noir” style that was different (!) from the other mediocre fare, with brilliant actors who meshed exactly as you want a cast to do, which had an actual HERO every week pitting himself against evil and winning! and this made it the best show on television, whether people found it or not.

By: GMC

GMC — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:12:48 +0000

I WILL NOT WATCH CBS. I LOVED JERICHO AS WELL AS MOONLIGHT AND I HAVE MISSED THEM. I BELIVE WHAT BGC SAID IN THE COMMENT ABOVE. THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO BE SAID.

GMC

By: bgc

bgc — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:13:11 +0000

Another Moonlight fan here. Do I want more Moonlight? YES! Will I watch whatever venue it is on? YES! Do I care one iota if anthing on CBS succeeds or fails? NO! I am one of many who are not going to be treated bady by anyone, including CBS, and continue to support that enterprise. Especially when said enterprise offers nothing remotely enticing to this customer! They have tanked too many good shows, I don’t trust them and won’t risk getting involved in a good show only to have it pulled in a rush. In the end its not about CBS. It is about the power of the individual to decide where to spend their time and advertising dollars. Until CBS gets their collective head on straight, I’m not buying whatever they are selling.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:42:48 +0000

Ed, stop being an idiot in public and nobody will ever call you a moron.

P.S. I thought you were done here. So you’re an idiot and a liar. So typical.

By: Ed1949

Ed1949 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:34:03 +0000

Some cross-polinating of ideas into different areas is a well-established source of breakthroughs. That’s why many teams formed by knowledge mangement savvy companies like HP and others often have one or more members from an entirely different discipline. Might even work for TV…

Nice use of hot words like “stupid”, “idiot” and “moronic”. Good job name-calling. Nice manners.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:32:01 +0000

“Swingtown” is a Summer show. Has nothing to do with the 9PM. Friday slot. That was a move by Tassler for the dull “Flashpoint” at 10PM. I don’t personally know what happened to “Moonlight” or why it wasn’t picked up by another station but “Swingtown” is going to Bravo for its first season re-airings, and apparently was picked up very quickly. Creator/producer Mike Kelley has a two year contract with CBS-Paramount. The media is still talking about “Swingtown.” CBS has not made any official statement of it being terminated or renewed as of yet.

But by all means, I’m enjoying the vampires feasting on Ex List’s slowly rotting carcass.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:02:49 +0000

To compare co-creation of software to broadcast network television is completely moronic.

Open source Wordpress with a bunch of people co-creating is awesome. That’s NOT CBS’ model, and to suggest that it is — just freaking stupid. That might not always be the case, but for now, and probably years and years to come — it will be. Perhaps you’re working too hard to think straight but that’s your problem, not mine. So, you’re an arrogant idiot and I’m rude. Life will go on.

By: Ed1949

Ed1949 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:20:27 +0000

“Co-creation is BS proliferated by dopes like you.”

Thank you, Robert. With as hard as I’m working on the academics while working a full-time job, I really appreciated the mock-out.

If you carry an iPhone, the next time you download one of the apps for your phone developed by other people than Apple, think of co-creation.

I think you’re a rude person. I’m done here.

By: byeu

byeu — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:23:53 +0000

Yes, Holly that’s true, since The Mentalist had twice the viewers as the last Moonlight, period, so that the odds of half of them being the required demo is certainly high, I would think. It still was the third demo behind its competition(Fringe-4.0, DWTS-3.7, Mentalist-3.5) but I like Simon Baker, so I hope that CBS certainly cuts the show some slack because it does have that big audience. Having said that, no judgment call CBS would make would surprise me. I believe that they made a judgement call on Moonlight, one I don’t agree with, obviosly. It’s one many of you do agree with, however, I can respect that, on the merits. There are lots of shows that other people love that I don’t give a fig about, but that’s ok, but I won’t criticize them just because I don’t like the show. However, there is a legitimate criticism of we Moonlight fans that the public venting needs to stop. I have always, personally, tried to argue the facts, as I have said, and not debate somebody because I happen to think it was a good show, and the other person didn’t. I still think the show should have had a shot, others don’t think it deserved one, so we can respectfully(I hope)agree to disagree. There still are times that referencing Moonlight can be a legitimate part of a debate.

By: angelscrest

angelscrest — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:01:58 +0000

Bill- I know that Ghost Whisperer did well this past week, but it didn’t have any competition. I am very interested in seeing how it does up against NBC’s Crusoe, (starting this Friday with a 2 hour premiere, I believe) which looks much better, has a hunky star and a classic, well-known storyline, and does not have the baggage of offending viewers that CBS has.

As I said before, GW did not interest me except as a lead in to Moonlight, and after Moonlight was cancelled, I never once felt the pull to watch it. I have watched some of their other shows, such as NCIS, Without A Trace, and CSI Miami, but don’t care enough about GW to keep watching it with no Moonlight to follow.

It will be interesting to see what happens when there is actually something worth watching on Friday nights.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:15:55 +0000

OlWolf, I rate that an 8/10 for tenuous cause and effect!

Ghost Whisperer is UP compared to last season, so your anecdotal “I abandoned CBS on Friday” isn’t exactly widespread is it?

By: OlWolf

OlWolf — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:06:27 +0000

“Disgruntled Moonlight fans, we await your tenuous cause and effect comments!”
I don’t have to explain cause and effect to folks who are supposed to be adults. The Numbers Speak for themselves. LAST YEAR, I watched Ghost Whisperer and Numbers just BECAUSE I was sitting watching Moonlight. In my opinion, it was the BEST show on TV, and when it was dropped – I left CBS cause nothing else they had was worth my time. I believe they made a huge mistake not working to keep that show. Yes, I believe their “lost viewers” are a result of this choice. Myself – I will not go back to CBS until Moonlight is returned with Munson’s & Koslow’s storyline and with it’s cast intact. MY Choice.
“Reality Bites!”

By: Rob R

Rob R — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:56:27 +0000

I cannot help but observe that last season “Friday Night Lights” averaged a 1.9 rating and a 6 share on NBC from Sept 07-Feb 08, before considering its significant DVR+3 day audience, which boosted the rating another 20 percent or so. Look at NBC’s pitiful Friday night now! 1.2/4 for “Americas Toughest Jobs,” 1.5/5 for the overexposed “Deal or No Deal,” and 1.4/4 for “Life.”

How is this an improvement? NBC has to wait until February to air “Friday Night Lights” again as its hard-core fans are already enjoying it if they subscribe to Direct TV. Who is running the show over there at NBC???

By: moonlightfan

moonlightfan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:55:41 +0000

Don’t know if nebody seen this one, but here is an over the phone conversation with the show runner that quit cbs. I knew cbs was a bad employer, never knew they were this bad??

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2008/09/sepinwall_on_tv_diane_ruggiero_2.html

Doubt the Israli version would turn out to be any better. It has to do with the premise of the show, the fact that she has to go back and revisit all these guys is what makes it seem so lame, like the character is a whore or something. Women tend to like it when they have to choose between two guys, both enamored with the female lead. But I guess this show won’t last long enough for the producers to get a clue.

By: moonlightfan

moonlightfan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:18:47 +0000

Julia, I know about the amount of viewers who watched FNL but I wonder if it is that important since it did in the 100 thousands? Maybe it is better to see how it does when it airs on NBC mid-season. Lets see if word of mouth really helps it out. A lot of sites said it was a good show, and that it was 10 more minutes longer than usual. I guess the demo would only be something to talk about once it starts airing on NBC. I hope that this would become a real trend though, maybe future shows we care about so much would not get canceled because of fabricated excuses dolled up by the execs. I believe that if Moonlight was a Universal show it would have come to this point as well, they would have found a sponsor just like they had for Eureka and FNL. Two great shows that are being given a chance to prosper and grow.

Watching Moonlight made me crave Forever Night and Beauty and the Beast from my childhood again. I would really like to check out True Blood. Sanctuary was ok, but I’m in the market for something more upbeat I guess on a Friday, and less dark. Like Moonlight. That is why I love Eureka so much, all the outside scenery, it truely captures the essence of a home town feel in the wilderness. I hope I can get hooked on True Blood like I had Moonlight. FNL premier on NBC would be something to see.

Check out Eureka Unscripted: http://eurekaunscripted.tumblr.com/

I find that it is really cool that tv show cyber stalkers such as myself can get this much material to become preoccupied with. ><

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:12:09 +0000

Holly, sorry about our spam filter. The way it’s *supposed* to work is to catch only comments with more than two links. Usually it does behave as it should, but sometimes it acts as irrationally as a spurned Moonlight fan. Sorry.

By: Holly

Holly — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:01:26 +0000

byeu, Winning the demo in a timeslot can be a factor, but it isn’t a major factor. Last year, CBS had a show that never even came close to winning the demo for its timeslot. It would have a slight edge on overall viewers, but loose by at least a full demo point. Still, there is no way CBS would have canceled it in favor of keeping Moonlight, which won in the demo even when it lost in viewers. Why? Because, despite loosing to Grey’s in the demo each week, CSI was still the highest rated show on the network. Moonlight won in the demo, but was still the lowest rated scripted show on the network, and that’s why it got canceled.

The last airing of The Mentalist got TWICE as many demo viewers as the last airing of Moonlight.

By: Julia

Julia — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:51:26 +0000

I wonder whether that’s good or bad, really. I doubt we’ll ever know what the deal was, so it will be hard to judge unless DirecTV does it again next season.

By: Holly

Holly — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:48:32 +0000

^^According to the NY Times “TV Decoder”, it was 400,000 (I don’t want to post the link since the spam filter doesn’t seem to like that).

By: Julia

Julia — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:32:20 +0000

Good for you for acknowledging what we’ve been telling you, moonlightfan. Now if only your friends could realize it, too.

I can’t recall the exactly rating for FNL, but I saw it somewhere and it was very very small. I believe it may have been 200,000? Possibly as much as 500,000. I can’t find where I saw it.

By: moonlightfan

moonlightfan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:07:16 +0000

*Humbled* thank you for the tacit acknowledgement there Bill, you have moved me a great deal.

Moving on (well sort of) two things have perked my interest. Two shows that Universal Studios produce are being sponsored more unconventionally this season, most likely due to the cause of the writers strike – That is Eureka by degree deodorant, and Friday Night Lights by Direct Tv, I realize that NBC is down ratings wise, But how do these shows match up against the overall competition so far. I mean Eureka signed up for 21 episodes with Scifi, but only 8 aired during the summer. And how did Friday Night Lights do in its timeslot. Are people really going through the trouble to switch in the States just because of FNL?

Do you see this as a real trend happening even though it is just Universal going this far at this stage, or simply a necessity of the writers strike?

Oh, and this weekend I have decided to stop watching my reruns of this series and to take a little break. I am just going to wait until Christmas eve at midnight after its a wonderful life – I’m going to watch all the episodes of Moonlight, maybe then I’ll be able to let go of the series. *Sigh* I feel as though my fanatasism has taken control of my life

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:28:12 +0000

Jack, it wouldn’t matter. Anything that has even the most tenuous connection with Moonlight including anything about CBS, Friday night, other “similar” shows (so broadly defined at times to mean almost anything) draws them out. Since it cannot be helped, I simply decided to have a bit of fun.

By: stormey3

stormey3 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:56:03 +0000

I feel the way a lot of loyal Moonlight fans feel. I don’t watch cbs any longer, because of what Nina said about the fans. I don’t want to watch a network who is so disrespectful of their fans and their opinions, and why get hooked on one of their shows when it might be cancelled before it is even given a chance. They seem to do that more than the other networks do.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:34:30 +0000

Bill, can you please never mention Moonlight in future Friday overnight reports again? These fans are completely nuts, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they arrive here by continually searching news.google for the show title. (Frankly, the show was amazingly poorly written garbage anyway. Personally I wanted it renewed just to see how incredibly bad it could get and what new depths it could plunder.)