Posted on 01/17/2006 2:31:20 PM PST by LdSentinal
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Jack Bauer‘s latest marathon workday got off to a good start Sunday, ratings-wise.
The Fox drama "24" notched its most-watched episode ever with its fifth-season premiere as the first of two back-to-back episodes got a boost from a primetime overrun (in East Coast and Midwestern markets) of the NFL‘s NFC divisional playoff game between the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears.
Airing from about 8:13-9:11 p.m. EST, the first episode of "24" averaged 17 million viewers and a 7.3 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic (demographic share data for Sunday were not available Monday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday), according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. The second hour of "24," which ended at about 10:13 p.m. EST, held onto the majority of its lead-in to finish out with 15.5 million viewers and a 6.7 rating in adults 18-49.
According to Fox, Sunday‘s episodes marked the two most-watched installments of the Emmy-winning real-time drama series since the clock began ticking on "24" in fall 2001. Last year, Fox shifted the series to a January premiere date in part to allow the show to run original episodes in its regular Monday 9 p.m. slot through the end of the season without taking any weeks off for repeats.
The first hour of Sunday‘s season opener improved on last year‘s "24" premiere episode (which also had a special Sunday kickoff) by 16% in adults 18-49 and 11% in total viewers. ABC‘s 9 p.m. dynamo "Desperate Housewives" (22.5 million, 9.5/20) held onto its No. 1 ranking by a comfortable margin, though the presence of "24" probably helped drive the soap to its lowest marks of the season to date for an original episode. At 10 p.m., ABC‘s "Grey‘s Anatomy" (19.1 million, 8.6/20) hung tough and registered its best-ever retention of an original "Housewives" lead-in.
But the combination of the NFL overrun and double dose of "24" gave Fox the clear victory for the night (22 million viewers, 9.2 in adults 18-49) and its highest-rated Sunday since last year‘s Super Bowl telecast on February 6.
In other weekend ratings news, ABC had a good turnout Friday for the second week of its "Dancing With the Stars Results Show" (13.7 million, 3.4/11), which kept the network at No. 1 in both key measures in the 8 p.m. hour, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen. The news was not so good on Friday for NBC‘s limited-run 10 p.m. drama "The Book of Daniel" (7 million, 2.2/6), which lost Nielsen ground from the previous week‘s underwhelming two-hour premiere. CBS wound up taking Friday honors overall on the strength of the 10 p.m. drama "Numbers" (12.8 million, 3.8/11).
On Thursday, NBC‘s new comedy lineup, anchored by 9-10 p.m.‘s "My Name Is Earl" (12.5 million, 5.9/14) and "The Office" (10.3 million, 5.1/12), made hay in the adults 18-49 demo derby against a repeat of CBS‘ "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (17.8 million, 5.4/13). A good showing from NBC‘s 10 p.m. stalwart "ER" (15.4 million, 6.7/17) gave NBC the nightly win in adults 18-49 (5.6/14) and its highest-rated Thursday since May.
ABC was a player from 8-9:30 p.m. with the second week of its 90-minute performance edition of "Dancing With the Stars" (17.4 million, 4.6/12). The network‘s momentum ebbed at 9:30 p.m., however, with the debut of the sitcom "Crumbs" (11.8 million, 3.6/9).
WB Network also had some good news Thursday with the 9 p.m. second-season premiere of "Beauty and the Geek" (5 million, 2.3/6). On the heels of a solid showing from 8 p.m.‘s "Smallville" (5.5 million, 2.4/6), "Geek" delivered WB‘s best numbers of the season in the time period in all key measures, particularly women 18-34 (3.2/8), female teens (4.0/12) and male teens (3.1/10).
Thanks for the ping :)
I'd like to believe that. But how could they pull that off? He was shot in the throat and there was blood all over the carpet. Plus Palmer's brother seemed VERY conviced that he was dead when he met Jack.
I think Palmer's really gone :(
Man, he was still lying on the floor with a sheet over him when Jack got to the scene.
Palmer is Histoir!
I thought the 24 eps were superior to all past eps.
The guy who played Palmer has a new show on Fox this year. The Unit
It's not a liberal show...
How so? Can you give me some examples?
TVGuide.com -- Question: Is Elisha Cuthbert really going to return as Kim Bauer for Season 5 of 24? — John Ausiello: Yes, she's back for what my 24 mole describes as a "multiepisode arc" towards the middle of the season. Suffice it to say that the distressed damsel will be as pissed as a trapped cougar when she finds out that Pops faked his death. And no, James Badge Dale will not be back as her hubby, although I'm told that Chase's fate will be explained.
I missed that. What did he say?
Don't get me started.
..but my husband and I have recently caught a few "24" episodes and we might be hooked.
The lure is quality TV...and a refreshing lack of pc.
The bad guys are bad....and the good guys are good....
..and if it's a mideast terrorist....it plays as it is!
Never mind, my bad...you were speaking of the lame CinC.
Each hour on the DVD is only about 45 minutes without the real time commercials.
Tues, 10:00, FX. The current plot actually is going back to Season 1, so if you can get the DVD from Hollywood or Blockbuster, I urge you, watch Season 1. You'll be hooked.
Ummm, yes he is. He is corrupt in a different way. He is above the law, just like Vic. The main difference is that Vic sometimes is above the law for good, but personal, objectives, while Jack is only above the law for the good of the nation.
Seems to me that if you're going to go to the trouble to seam together a DVD comprising an entire season's worth of a real-time drama, the "Previously...on 24", should be omitted.
They run a few episodes from the previous show. We just fast forward them.
The Good Guy always wins in 24. I think that is what is so appealing.
I think there are 4 shows to a disk. We watched last seasons in Dec. The dvd comes out around Dec 9.
Also, all seasons are good. You can really get into it. Some characters are just made for you to hate.
Also, I have been told (not sure if it is true) that each episode (1hour) is written by a different person. So they have to fit in the previous persons theme and develope their own. If this is true the persons at the end have to be very talented.
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