As a huge Burn Notice fan, I confess I am not surprised by its numbers, but I am surprised by just how well Royal Pains is doing. While Burn Notice did rebound a bit from last week’s numbers when it faced the NBA finals directly, Royal Pains increased as well, and continues to outpace Burn Notice and hit another new high with each episode doing better than the previous (ok, so it’s only 3 episodes so far, but still!). Last night Burn Notice had 5.8 million and a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating, but it’s Royal Pains‘ 6.5 million and 2.1 adults 18-49 rating that are being celebrated in the press release!
via USA Net press release:
USA NETWORK’s ROYAL PAINS CONTINUES TO GROW!
ROYAL PAINS GAINING VIEWERS
#1 SCRIPTED SHOW IN P18-49 ON TV LAST NIGHT
The new USA original series ROYAL PAINS is fast establishing itself as the runaway hit this year growing its viewership again in its third week. ROYAL PAINS delivered 3 million in P25-54, 2.8 million in P18-49, 1.4 million in P18-34, 6.5 million total viewers and a household rating of 4.59.
These numbers represent outstanding growth for the series. In just three weeks ROYAL PAINS has grown +18% in P25-54, +23% in P18-49, +31% in P18-34, +17% in total viewers and +10% in households.
The delivery of 6.5 million live viewers was the 3rd best original series total viewers result ever for USA Network . USAs dominance over broadcast continues with ROYAL PAINS being the top scripted show on all TV last night for P18-49.
That’s really impressive! They beat all but one show on broadcast last night (granted, most of that was repeats, but still). I’m excited about Burn Notice and a little bewildered about Royal Pains, which I think is still finding its direction.
I’m glad. I love Burn Notice, and I am really loving Royal Pains. It’s a very good show. Leave it to USA to make hit after hit after hit!
great to hear about royal pains again, not that great of an episode last night, but still, I like the potential this show has
As a huge Burn Notice fan, I confess to being not shocked, but definitely surprised. I’m really starting to wonder if that time switch had an adverse effect on the show just when it was really looking like a runaway train with viewers at the end of season two.
Don’t get me wrong, because I like Royal Pains. Yet, I have watched both programs for the last three weeks believing one was getting better (Burn Notice) and the other sort of treading water. (In other words, one feels like appointment viewing, and the other like something I’d watch for the sake of killing time. I enjoyed the RP pilot immensely, but the last few weeks… not so much). The uptick in viewers is just truly surprising.
I’m liking both shows. I’ve been a BN viewer from the beginning and have seen the 3 x RP shows. BN is still solid and, i agree with a post from above, RP has room to grow because it shows potential. USA has become my Thursday home for TV viewing.
I’m in the same space as Stephanie mostly. I’m not surprised by Burn Notice’s numbers (but also wonder what impact the time change had) and I am not surprised Royal Pains is doing well, but… consecutively growing every week and being the #1 scripted show of the entire night in its 3rd week is definitely impressive.
I thought last night’s episode of Royal Pains was OK (though I thought last week’s a bit better) so it will be interesting to see what happens next week. For me, last night’s episode of Burn Notice was one of the best episodes of the entire series. Jay Karnes completely rocked as arms dealer w/a grudge/sociopath.
But when Burn Notice was an hour later, it wasn’t getting Royal Pains’ numbers. So I’m not so sure it’s just timeslot that’s the cause of this. But I’m definitely shocked about Royal Pains’ numbers. I wouldn’t have guessed it would be beating Burn Notice.
Last night’s Burn Notice was definitely an improvement over the horrible episode last week. Royal Pains just keeps getting better and better. (I hope they kill off the cop hounding Micheal sooner rather than later as the actress absolutely sucks)
both shows are good my new home for Thursday nights
In Plain Sight, Law and Oder Ci, Burn Notice and Royal Pains i watch On USA know i am wating for White Coller know
i like burn notice and my friend has been trying to get my to watch royal pains since it first started but i never rememeber to watch it cause i can never tell what day it is in the summer and my friend has been trying to get my to watch royal pains since it first started but i never rememeber
Have been a big fan of BN since it started but this season it feels like its missing something, not sure what yet…. I definitely agree that whats her name that plays the cop just is nt doing it for me. That role, with someone else in her place, could be a good cat-and-mouse storyline for Michael and someone for Fi to become jealous over. At the moment the storyline feels flat… Loved the Royal Pains pilot. It was quite obvious that they swapped the 2nd and 3rd episodes. The storyline would flow a lot better if they had left them alone. That been said its definitely on my list of shows to watch. I am surprised that its ratings have increased as much as they have…
My guess is that Royal Pains has already gained a core audience which is there and keeps watching whether the episode is good or not.
Things I like and want to see more of:
1. the buddy chemistry between the brothers
2. the actors who played Tucker, his girlfriend, their characters are funny
3. the Boris character and what his whole deal is and why he really wanted to have Hank stay at his place…I get shady vibes from him so I’m sure we’re going to get some type of nefarious reveal on who he is and what he is really up to
4. the breezy tone and pop culture quips that we got in the pilot
Things I can easily do less of or entirely without:
1. tone down the Hank/hospital adminstrator romance and the eventual love triangle that’ll result when the shrewish ex-fiance hears of Hank tending to the rich and comes begging for him to take her back
2. the preachiness…this isn’t 7th Heaven, I really don’t want Hank turning into anyone’s conscience or therapist, I could understand trying to talk to Tucker’s father last week but trying to get the rich parents to pay more attention to their poor little neglected rich kids every week is going to get old
3. the medical mystery formula – besides the fact that there’s already a medical mystery show on tv right now, it just drags the show down and I wish there were a better way to incorporate the medicine into the show (come on, yesterday’s mysterious ailment was literally taken from a season 2 episode of House!)
So, how many weeks of increase for Royal Pains will it take before the broadcast networks start wishing they had those type of numbers?;)
I have to disagree with you Una, last night’s episodes of Burn Notice was one of the best of the entire series, love the whole thing. Royal Pains is OK, Its not Burn Notice but its better than i thought it would be.
Royal Pains is growing on me. I’m not a big USA fan but I admit to loving Monk, Burn Notice and Royal Pains. Everything else just annoys me.
Last nights episode was amazing. I love Jay Karnes anyway, but I really love him in the evil role rather than playing the good guy Dutch on “The Shield”.
And I agree with you 0megapart!cle, that actress is really bad. She made me laugh last night in that last scene.
Royal Pains is doing extremely well outrating Burn Notice, it’s similar to Law & Order:CI/In Plain Sight where In Plain Sight builds on CI and I think a similar thing will happen to The Mentalist behind CSI in the fall.
USA has done well with their originals with only a few flops like The Starter Wife and Kojak.
Burn Notice is one of if not my favorite show on television period. There are about three shows on broadcast TV I don’t miss and about the same number on cable. The pairing of Burn Notice with Royal Pains makes USA a destination for Thursday night viewing much like their pairing of Law and Order: Criminal Intent and In Plain Sight on Sunday. I think both USA Network and TNT have got their acts together when it comes to programming in general. We’ll see if this trend continues with Leverage and Dark Blue on TNT later this summer. Lizard
It really surprises me that Royal Pains is growing, the Pilot was great but the next 2 eps have been significantly less appealing, the brother annoys me as much as the medical mystery drama not to mention the weak premise of the medical ailments of the rich Hampton elite. But atleast its new and not reality so it does for a decent watch, but it won’t last. In Plain Sight was great last season but its wandering a bit. I look forward to Leverages return, in the same vein as Burn Notice, the modern day robin hoods, hmmm guess Dexter falls into that too in a dark sort of way.
Mike the Canadian,
I agree about the brother. I actually stated that in a review I wrote. Unfortunately I think they are looking at his character as a plot driven character like Jinx and Brandi on In Plain Sight. They can all be annoying at times but without them Hank and Mary would both have idyllic lives in general. I also agree that In Plain Sight has been wandering. Hopefully last weeks show and this weeks will get it back on track. Lizard
that is great between royal pains ,burn notice law and order criminal intent and in plain sight.USA is number 1 ps jeff goldblum is great on loci my fav!!!
Shelly,
Your post fairly well summarizes my thoughts. However, I do have one disagreement. I don’t want to see a shady, or even nefarious, Boris. There have to be other characters in the Hamptons who could be written in to fill that void. I’d like for Boris to just be someone who gives a f*ck.
ihate2fly, I don’t necessarily want Boris to be up to something shady, but I do think the writers seem to have it be heading that way. I certainly doubt that he’s completely goody-goody; he just doesn’t seem the altruistic type to me, and there was that ominous warning from the former concierge doctor to Hank to watch his back (not exact words). I guess we’ll find out eventually what’s going on with him.
I forgot to add something else I do want to see more of: more Divvya.
0megapart!cle: “(I hope they kill off the cop hounding Micheal sooner rather than later as the actress absolutely sucks)”
Oh, hell, no! That’s Moon Bloodgood! She needs to STAY!
I watched the first two episodes of this season of Burn Notice on Hulu last night and I can’t see how you can tell she sucks when she’s uttered, what, all of maybe ten lines so far? It’s obvious to me that the writers are planning some sort of relationship between her and Michael that will tick off Fiona. So they start off antagonistic, then Michael starts winning her over as she finds out how he’s helping people. Pretty obvious plot development.
I’ve downloaded four episodes of season one of Burn Notice, and I think the show is great. I’ll be getting the rest over time. Besides Gabrielle Anwar, I love the show because it’s great getting all those tradecraft tips and watching Michael play “MacGiver” putting together all these gadgets. LOL! Not to mention “the chin”… Fiona of course is my favorite character – besides being incredibly hot, she’s the toughest one of the three of them.
I mean, check this out!
http://img105.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=59192_GabrielleAnwar_BurnNoticeS02promo01_122_491lo.jpg
Not a raven-tressed brunet or redhead, but not bad. A little of a Liv Tyler thing going on? A little of a waifisn charm thing going on here? ( That’s supposed to be Stewie from Family Guiy, maybe.) Not enough to get me to watch the show. Royal Pains ( and for that matter Burn Notice,) has the kind of premise which works well with audiences – think Michael J Fox in the Doc movie, think one of my alltime faves, Northern Exposure even more. W/O seeing it yet, I may check out Royal Pains because of said premise – fish out of water doctor. Doctors,like cops and lawyers, are staples of post-western, post rural-comedy TV, and have been staples even from TV’s inception. Put a cop, lawyer or doc protagonist in a drama with a ” fresh ” ( by tv standards ) premise, and you probably have a hit on your hands.
I LOVE BURN NOTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But I agree with other posts – the cop lady blows!!!! She doesn’t gel well with the rest of the cast, and she every scene she’s in she looks like she wants to jump his bones…even when she’s supposed to hate him. Maybe Fi could kick her ass a little.
I care nothing for a show about rich spoiled asses that life in a phony world of the kennedy’s, clintons, etc. Burn Notice rocks and should be #1!!!!!!!!!! royal pain is just that – take a laxative and get rid of it!!!!!!!!!!
Eryn, I think that’s the whole point of Moon’s character, as I indicated above. She’s intended to jump his bones at some point. How can you say she “doesn’t get well with the rest of the cast” when she hasn’t had any interaction with anybody except Michael (as of the first two episodes I’ve seen anyway)? They haven’t even started using her character yet.
And obviously they intend to have a conflict between her and Fiona. They’d be nuts not to.
So far the only reason she’s there is because she was in Terminator: Salvation. If they actually start using her, it should get interesting. And I’m sure they will, since otherwise just having the cops harass him is just a distraction and filler.
It was also unrealistic to have him running around for two seasons without being bothered by cops – that was a problem TSCC had as well. He may be a great spy, but if you’re blowing stuff up, kidnapping people off the street, burning up cars, sooner or later the cops want to know who the hell you are and they will go to some lengths to find out. And it’s not like they can’t find him given his circumstances. It will be even less realistic if he continues to operate all season without getting in trouble with the cops now that they know who he is – unless of course he has a romantic ally on the force!
Could it simply be that Royal Pains is benefiting from the Burn Notice lead in more than Burn Notice benefited from its lead in (can’t remember what it was) when it was in the later time slot? I haven’t actually watched RP yet (DVR’d for later), but from what I understand of the premise BN is the perfect lead in for it. Not knocking RP at all, as it must be doing something right to be gaining viewers week to week. Just saying I think the BN lead in highly contributes to it’s numbers being as high as they are.
@ RSH – Isn’t that one of the premises of this season. The parting words of “management” in last season’s finale was just who did Michael Westin think was keeping everyone off his back the first two seasons. And if he didn’t stick with “management” it could get rather dicey for Michael in Season 3.
In fact, MW has already gotten a note from “Management” asking him if he’s had enough already.
usa is making a killing with this lineup. plus the powerhouses Monk and Psych returning this summer. USA has there machine running smooth.
I am a huge BN fan. I watched the RP premiere with great anticipation, and agree with many here that it was good. But I am surprised by the increasing numbers of viewers. Frankly, it is NO Burn Notice. Mimicks the same formula, and gosh forbid, some are talking about a crossover which would make me sick. I watched the 2nd ep, and some of the 3rd of RP, then lost interest. The characters are no where near as deep as those in BN, and the show itself is soooo predictable. I can’t wrap my arms around it, much as I like to support USA Network. If you think Moon Bloodgood was annoying, try Hank’s assistant, his brother, and his love interest. All annoying in my opinion….