Comments on: Wednesday Ratings: Better off Ted ABC’s lowest-rated comedy debut since 2005

By: Jackson

Jackson — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:22:07 +0000

Scrubs looks like it is doing well, hope they have another season, could become like ER with parts of there original cast leaving over time.

By: Bernadette

Bernadette — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:38:33 +0000

Better Off Ted is hysterical. Last night’s episode, the third one, I think, was the best one so far. If ABC moved to a more high-profile time slot, like after Dancing with the Stars, it would get more attention. It really deserves it!

By: CS

CS — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:10:10 +0000

While I was a little disappointed with the premier of Better Off Ted, I hope people will give it a chance. I have seen the dailies and know it gets better as it goes along.

By: Capnbob

Capnbob — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:32:34 +0000

Better of Ted is full of failed show cast-offs – De Rossi from Arrested Development (brilliant/critical success, ratings failure), Jay Harrington from US Coupling (which I thought just showed signs of doing like the US Office and shaking off its heritage in its last show), Andrea Anders from The Class (failed in all dimensions), Jonathan Slavin from Andy Richter (failed – shame), etc. Hopefully, they haven’t brought their bad comedy karma with them…

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:07:13 +0000

Better Off Ted stars the same actor who was miscast as the lead in the failed NBC outing for a US adaptation of the hit UK series Coupling- it is hard to get good ratings with an unknown lead and a few known supporting actors when you are up against the biggest show of the year ( AI).
As for Idol on Thursday- blame it on the president- Obama has another speech on Tuesday so Idol is shifting to Weds/Thursday- Bones fans are miffed- so much for 11 new episodes in a row!

By: Seraphim

Seraphim — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:44:42 +0000

I wonder why CW is still on this website. I mean a network that permanently even in the prime time fails to reach even 1 lousy % of the population of a country.

Actually I think it is particularly funny that there are more people watching ANTM spinoff here in Germany than there are in the states though we have far less than a thrid of your population.

GNTM has a market share of more than 22% and a 2.82 in the 18-49 share. This would be a 10.5 on your scale.

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:07:56 +0000

I watch both Lost and American Idol and there is absolutely no way I would ever consider watching American Idol over Lost. Just the thought of that idea doesn’t make any sense to me. For one thing, only about 10 minutes of American Idol is actually worth watching, the majority of the time it’s stupid filler, and after every performance, the majority of which are lame, they break for at least 3 to 4 minutes of commercials. The one or two singers that are actually good don’t even come close to the awesome story of Lost. Sorry but I fast forward through AI, after the fact, or zip through it on line the next day. Nielsen isn’t recording my 18-49 year old viewing habits. I’m probably just one of the many million viewers out there watching TV that goes unaccounted for each week by Nielsen media.

By: daniel

daniel — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 06:02:45 +0000

that’s sad NBC lost against CW, how sad they should just put repeats of SVU or The Office there instead of the Chopping block
and why has L&O been so low lately
and its too bad life will probably be canceled, i like it (its good not great) but i haven’t watched ever since Lost was put back on Wednesday but oh well

By: Matt2

Matt2 — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:05:05 +0000

Hey capnbob I dvr’ed Better Off Ted because I wasn’t sure from the previews that it was something that anyone in my house would like but it was much better than I anticipated. It definitely held its own with Scrubs, which was absolutely hilarious!!!

By: Matt2

Matt2 — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:57:51 +0000

I’m certainly no ratings expert but I would imagine any improvement in ratings in time slots that were already struggling to begin with would make ABC Happy. That 5.7 million viewer average for the first week of its comedy block certainly beats reruns of Lost in that hour. The same for their new Tuesday night lineup. A recap of DWTS performance night followed by the elimination show clearly took a huge bite out of Idol’s performance night numbers in week one and helped ABC double the ratings it was getting on Tuesdays. As the ratings grow with each elimination heading towards the finale you will probably see bigger chunks come out of Idol’s performance night numbers as long as it stays in the 9pm slot. And in comparison to previous weeks, ABC is at least scoring on the board Wednesday nights while Tuesday nights look rock solid and building. But more importantly for them they still have alot of new shows to plug in before all is said and done.

Now if NBC could just score one hit they could legitimately say they are starting to turn things around as well. Hopefully for them Parks and Recreation will be that show. I thought Kings would be the show to start a turnaround but no. Still, like ABC they will be unveiling several new lineups in the upcoming weeks. So, there’s a chance to salvage something positive from this season yet.

By: geekily

geekily — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:33:32 +0000

capnbob, glad I’m not the only one who liked Better Off Ted!

By: capnbob

capnbob — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:31:04 +0000

I quite liked BOTed. I thought it was the Office meets Testees. It has a bit more edge than most vapid US sitcoms (except 30R, BBT, HIMYM), tho none could be called edgy unlike my fave UK sitcoms (IT Crowd, Peep Show, FM etc.), and the sketch shows that the US is so dismal at. I forgot about it – barely watch ABC- and torrented it. Let’s see what the WoM is.

By: ABCFanaticSpeaks

ABCFanaticSpeaks — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:05:42 +0000

I think Better Off Ted will be cancelled, the ratings will slip down every week.

Too bad for Lost! It’s their series low! It almost hit 8 million.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:21:22 +0000

Michigan lost me the million! Lol. I have every other pick right so far. I want that 10 grand for best bracket in the nation!

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:14:34 +0000

But, Bill, Michigan is going to win it all and I’m going to be the only one who picked that.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:12:33 +0000

Bill, I am no longer responding to comments where the information is already in the post

By: Sam first of the name

Sam first of the name — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:59:58 +0000

I don’t understand why people keep bashing, hating and questioning AI success… Damn, just get over it! It’s been freaking 8 years! An it’s not going anywhere!

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:53:40 +0000

Aquat1c F1sh, we’re told that last night’s Lost was its lowest original rating ever at 9p (excluding clip shows).

And for all you standard NCAA Yahoo Tournament Pick’em players, unless you lose one of your big teams the early rounds are nearly meaningless for final scoring. All the points pile up at the end. The year that Maryland won, I went from <50 percentile in the Sweet Sixteen to 93rd percentile when they won.

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:06:41 +0000

I’M TOTALLY GOING TO WIN $1,000,000 ON YAHOO!!

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:05:20 +0000

I got Michigan wrong too!

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:13:23 +0000

I don’t know what “Jezebel James” has to do with this story, since it was on FOX and the story talks about ABC sitcom ratings.

Robert didn’t read carefully enough when first posting the ratings and thought Ted had the worst ratings on any network, but then Jezebel James was pointed out, so he thought it must be except Friday. Turns out it was ABC only.

By: the128boy

the128boy — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:52:15 +0000

Broadcast finals have Better Off Ted down a tick to 2.1 and Life On Mars down two ticks to 1.8. Lost meanwhile bounces up one to 4.3.

Gary Unmarried drops a tenth to 2.2 while Criminal Minds is up a tenth to 3.3.

American Idol was up three ticks to 8.7.

America’s Next Top Model bounced up a tenth to a 1.7.

Last, and most certainly least, The Chopping Block brings more good news to the peacock by dropping down to a 1.2 (and losing 70k more viewers to rest at 3.39 million).

Does anyone else think they should air an SVU repeat at 8pm, and ship this thing to Saturday to air at 8 leading into the Celebrity Apprentice rerun from 9-10?

By: Tego Livi

Tego Livi — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:49:19 +0000

I don’t know what “Jezebel James” has to do with this story, since it was on FOX and the story talks about ABC sitcom ratings. As for Better off Ted, I don’t know what they thought would attract viewers to it. The ads didn’t indicate anything about what the show was about. No one really famous (at least famous or popular enough to draw many viewers in) is in it, and the kind of humor isn’t easy to capture in a commercial. And they basically threw the show on the air without a lot of preparation. Since they don’t have a hammock slot to put it in, it was as if they owed the producer a favor or something. There was zero chance of the show being a hit.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:46:40 +0000

Also keep in mind that abc made a specific announcement that in these “economic hard times” they felt people would want more comedies and were going to pursue airing more of them.
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I for one don’t want more comedies. I don’t watch a single 30 minute sitcom on a regular basis. Maybe once a month I watch 30 Rock. Just because we are in the midst of “economic hard times” it doesn’t mean that people are necessarily going to change their viewing habits.

I think Better Off Ted is pretty much a goner. It’s dismal premiere numbers just means that Samantha Who? has a better chance at being renewed.

By: Aquat1c F1sh

Aquat1c F1sh — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:47:55 +0000

Is that a series low for Lost?