Comments on: USA’s Burn Notice Delivers Series High 6.7 Million Viewers, Royal Pains Draws 6.2 Million

By: R

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:39:18 +0000

Burn Notice should be #1, so I’m happy

By: Katy

Katy — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:53:43 +0000

@ Bill: I could very wrong. I thought I read somewhere that Season 8 was doing better than season 7. Don’t quote me on anything and please don’t go to the trouble of digging through weeks.

By: Nightstar

Nightstar — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:45:03 +0000

Josh: Yep, I did. Apparently he almost played an impromptu game of bumper cars — with a police cruiser, no less. Almost as smart as the fellow in Iowa who took his motorcycle out for a spin at 123 mph in 30 mph zones Saturday night (reported today, though, in some news outlets). Let’s hope that Mr. Donovan’s misadventure was a one-time fluke, that he does appropriate penance, and that it doesn’t happen again.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:27:29 +0000

That was the best Burn Notice I’ve seen in a while. High standards..by the way did anyone see how the star was being stupid and now has a DWI charge..ding dong.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:29:59 +0000

Lisa dear I doubt you wasted any time this summer on new episodes of Psych… as it is yet to premiere

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:54:14 +0000

Katy, unfortunately we don’t get season to date numbers on cable shows, and my memory is always prone to error, but my recollection is that Law & Order: CI isn’t doing as well in 2009 as it did in 2008.

Last season’s the Goren/Eames episodes typically did between 4-5 million viewers and the Logan/Wheeler episodes about a million less. It seems like this season even the Goren/Eames episodes aren’t doing 4 million viewers. If I am motivated to dig through individual weeks, I will post the numbers, but don’t hold your breath.

By: Kara

Kara — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:49:55 +0000

@Katy: My bad – for some reason I thought the numbers were higher last season. That is good news then, and even though CI doesn’t get Burn Notice numbers, it certainly isn’t doing badly.

By: Katy

Katy — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:28:41 +0000

@ Kara: I disagree with you about CI slipping. The numbers for this season have been much better than last season (partially I think because of Goldblum’s entrance). This season has been a viewership uptick, not downturn.

Personally, I kind of wish CI and IPS were on a different night. However, I’m not exactly sure what night that would be and have no influence with USA Network at all. A girl can dream, right?

By: shelly

shelly — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:53:15 +0000

Save for the second and third episodes, I find Royal Pains to be getting stronger each week. I love how they addressed Divya’s personal life and, of course, brought Evan into that mix since I’m pretty firmly convinced those two are going to get together. But what I’m really looking forward to is this week’s episode because it looks like they’re finally going to address what’s going on with Boris, yay!

By: Kara

Kara — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:30:13 +0000

I am getting a little bit of pleasure over BN getting higher numbers than RP last week, because I do think it is the better show. But both of them are doing great.

USA really has a strong line-up. IPS and CI are a bit lower, but overall they post numbers that most cable networks would be very happy with. CI seems to be slipping a bit, but IPS is almost always the highest rated series and/or telecast for Sunday nights, which is pretty good considering it actually has some competition on Sunday nights from Lifetime, HBO, and the various award shows and movies that usually pop up on Sunday nights. USA’s Thursday shows are usually up against only repeats. That’s not to say that IPS and CI would suddenly get BN-type ratings if they were to move to a different night, because they probably wouldn’t. Just that they seem to be holding their own.

I think USA should hold onto this line up and just expand. I was kinda surprised that White Collar was debuting in the fall, but it might be a smart move to have original programming year-round, instead of just in the summer and a small block in the winter.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:02:47 +0000

Wow

Burn Notice, Royal Pains, and WWE RAW’s two hours are always around 6 million. USA and these three tv shows are the King of Cable and i dont think anybody can dispute that

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:03:43 +0000

I am so glad to hear that Burn Notice is back on top. I too watch Royal Pains each week, but goodness, it is nowhere near the quality of Burn Notice. The plots, acting, relationships, and dialogue all go to Burn Notice in my opinion.

I believe someone mentioned how Michael’s life doesn’t seem harder now that he has lost the protection of the company (or whatever the group’s name was that the dad from Frasier worked for), I thought this past weeks episode showed that it did. He was kidnapped and then hunted for goodness sake! Maybe I am missing something though (I watch a lot of tv and it is difficult to remember all the points of the different plots).

By: shea

shea — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:53:26 +0000

I’m glad that the shows I watch are doing well this summer. Its so exciting to hear about Burn Notice’s series high than Heroes series low week after week this year…

It seems so much better in the summer because shows don’t have to worry as much because cable is on the rise. It’s so much more nerve-racking to follow broadcast ratings because EVERYTHING is trending downwards…some more-so than others.

I hope that serial drama hits a high note this fall…i cannot stand episodic crap that CBS decides to put out each year…

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:45:59 +0000

I find it pretty funny that USA is doing better than it’s parent channel, NBC.

By: megazzoid

megazzoid — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:34:44 +0000

Good bye House MD
Hello Royal Pains !!!

By: Chloe

Chloe — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:59:46 +0000

To those of you who demand something more serious, more edgy, more brilliant than BN in the context of a one hour episode, I have one thing to say–Touching Evil–cancelled after one season. Too dark for the American audience the Execs said. I also loved La Femme Nakita, but dimissing the Burn as fluff is a mistake. Each episode uses some very clever writing to wrap up a main plot, dangle the thread of a subplot and keep you entertained by the banter and psychological dilemnas of a few very dysfunctional characters, not to mention the spycraft(love the voiceovers), some movie caliber stunts, and some solid performances by the cast–all within a 45 minute time span. The problem is they make it look too easy. Apparently, the Execs are right. Some really can’t see past the eye candy, which is why it’s there.

By: ljo

ljo — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:10:56 +0000

Well said, pink. Truly intelligent people don’t find it necessary to build themselves up by trying to bring others down.

By: pink

pink — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:58:42 +0000

I LOVE Burn Notice.
I think if people like Lisa are as “smart” as they claim to be then they would not be wasting their time on message boards criticizing other people.
They would be reading a book,that is if they even know how to read.
Seriously,i doubt she is as smart as she thinks she is!

By: Holly

Holly — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:02:50 +0000

@jay, So…It’s perfectly fine for Lisa to make an ad hominem attack on our intelligence for enjoying a TV show, but not OK for people to mock her for that attack? If we should be able to take criticism for our TV choices, you and Lisa should be able to take criticism for your sophomoric, condescending attitudes.

By: jay

jay — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:01:05 +0000

I have to go to bat for Lisa,(not that she needs any help from me, obviously.) USA has a lot of fans, and you can ruffle feathers for daring to suggest their shows are fluff – get over it. They’re fluff. Fluff is not always bad, or at least, since on TV its like death and taxes, its inevitable. Should people like Lisa just be fatalistic like people were before Gilligan’s Island and Hogan’s Heroes and Bonanza were replaced by MASH and All in the Family, or Cannon and Barnaby Jones were replaced by Hill St Blues and Marcus Welby by St Elsewhere? I read a hundred books a year, but I work part-time and at home,and I enjoy such elitist effete shows sometimes as Married with Children, Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force -I am lucky I have managed to struggle through life to indulge both serious and crazy stupid interests. Twenty years ago I sort of liked Silk Stalkings – and probably Burn Notice is a cut above that ( though I insist on their rough equivalence as far as theme,tone, depth of feeling,etc. If it was an SAT I’d say Sopranoes analagous to Hill St, Burn Notice analagous to Silk Stalkings. I say tho: why even call what you like a guilty pleasure? If you like Harlequin Romances, you need to be able to take some criticism in a public forum, but also fight for your right to what you like. Same with soft core porn, hardcore, spy movies, romantic comedies, etc. But its sort of a low blow to mock somebody for saying ” Read a Book” Haven’t Chuck and Sarah Connor fans used much blunter instruments often enough in THEIR brilliant tirades?

By: Richard Steven Hack

Richard Steven Hack — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:51:28 +0000

They do need to pick up the pace on Burn Notice in terms of where he stands vis-a-vis his burn because he still wants to know why and by whom (”Management” isn’t an answer, he doesn’t even know who they are), but I expect they will.

I still think his helping Paxson out with one of her cases sets the stage for both of them to get a bit friendlier and set up Paxson as a potential romantic problem for Fiona. I just hope they don’t take too long to do that, a la the “Josh Friedman wait until the last episode to do anything” approach.

By: Moose

Moose — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:40:07 +0000

I must be out of the loop. I find this season of Burn Notice flat, boring, and redundant. Last seasons season ending episode led me to so much promise for this season. Unfortunately, this season IMO, has been an absolute creative failure. Michael no longer has Management backing him, he was supposed to have a more difficult and dangerous time without them. So far this season, it hasn’t been the case. He has yet to find and advisory that is his intellectual equal. I am sick of the cat and mouse relationship game that Michael and Fiona are playing.

I refuse to watch Royal Pains until they drop that stupid “system is broken” commercial. They over promoted the show to the point where I refuse to watch.

By: Holly

Holly — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 03:32:50 +0000

Hey! Don’t knock PBS and Discovery. PBS has some useful cooking shows and the Masterpiece mini-series, and Discovery has Mythbusters

By: clutz

clutz — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 03:28:15 +0000

Oh, and I suppose my repeated viewing of “Strange Brew” on DVR negates any claim of intelligence. Then again, it is based on Shakespearean drama; doesn’t that count for something?

By: clutz

clutz — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 03:25:56 +0000

@Bill, the intelligent elites of this world sometimes permit themselves to watch PBS; History channel; National Geographic channel; and Discovery channel.

I watched Burn Notice this week and loved it! Sharon Gless was wonderful. In a vain attempt to offset the lost brain cells, I made sure to watch a few History series this week regarding theoretical physics, relativity, parallel universes, antimatter, yadda yadda yadda. I’ll check out The Naked Arhaeologist tomorrow sometime – does he count as intelligent? Still haven’t read a book this week though.