Posted on 01/17/2006 2:31:20 PM PST by LdSentinal
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Jack Bauers 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 NFLs 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, Sundays 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 Sundays season opener improved on last years "24" premiere episode (which also had a special Sunday kickoff) by 16% in adults 18-49 and 11% in total viewers. ABCs 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., ABCs "Greys 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 years 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 NBCs limited-run 10 p.m. drama "The Book of Daniel" (7 million, 2.2/6), which lost Nielsen ground from the previous weeks 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, NBCs 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 NBCs 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 networks 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 WBs 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).
In fact, I think that is what happened.
I watched the show for 3-4 weeks and, even though the "Get Out the Vote for Hillary" propaganda was obvious, it was still an interesting show. For whatever reason they decided after a few episodes to start emphasizing the family difficulties instead of the political intrigue. That might work on your average teenager but it didn't work for me.
not according to the IMDB
I watched the first 2 seasons then stopped as well. But I started watching Sunday's premiere and got hooked again.
I don't think that's true. Carlos Bernard is married to someone else and has a daughter.
I got the info from here:
http://www.tv.com/reiko-aylesworth/person/25642/summary.html
Flushed and forgotten? Jeez, you really should get out more often. 24 RULEZ!!!
Yes, I was very impressed on Sunday with the way she stitched that guy three times in the gut. I've never watched this program before. I thought she was the typical heroine that Jack has to bail out all the time, but she has a very fresh way about her, and it's not Olive Oylish if the girl blows the bad guy away at the end.
I would hit it.
Major bad BIO
When he was pointing the gun at the Palmer brother's head and they showed the POV from both ends of the gun at the same time... I have NEVER seen that done before. Never seen split screen used to enhance the action the way they do it. It is rather addictive, to say the least. They better have a good season planned because I think they're getting a big wave of people like me jumping on the bandwagon.
I think the movie The Hulk stold that for their movie.
That's because she is supposed to be waiting for ME and she felt guilty. No, seriously, I think the character has "isshas".
stold = stole
The new First Lady is a hoot, with far more cajones than her wimpy husband.
President Logan is wishy-washy, idealistic and somewhat naive...modeled after Jimmah Cahtah?
What I like about the show is that, like JAG, it is unabashadly patriotic and has characters who aren't afraid to kick some ass for their country. Jack is a welcome change from the meterosexuals who have come to dominate prime time.
"I had never seen it before Sunday night. It was the fastest 2 hours I've had. Monday was the same. I'm hooked now!"
That's EXACTLY what happened with me! I'm hooked and can't wait for the next episode. It's been a long time since I liked a TV show so much.
Plus - NBC's newest - the Book of Daniel - has flopped BIG TIME and cost the network millions of dollars.
What great news! The media continues to show it's contempt for Christians and the Christians keep tuning out! What sweet revenge.
I like the latest stats showing 70% of Americans think there should be more restrictions against abortions.
We're making progress!
I told a friend last night that President Logan's wife has more balls than he does. He is so worried about his legacy (who else does that remind us of)?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.