CBS dominated Tuesday night with the season 7 premiere of NCIS, which scored its biggest audience ever according to overnight numbers, and the series debut of NCIS: Los Angeles. The spinoff held on to roughly 90 percent of its lead-in securing the shows the two top spots on the evening’s ratings chart. The Good Wife, the Eye’s well-received drama starring Julianna Margulies, debuted to 13.7 million viewers — a solid start that was good enough to take the 10 p.m hour over ABC’s Christian Slater procedural The Forgotten and NBC’s Jay Leno Show. Ladies’ night during Dancing With the Stars‘ premiere week finished second in both the 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. hours. And viewers continued to flee The CW’s Melrose Place, which was down around 360,000 from last week.
| Time | Show | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 8 p.m. | NCIS (CBS) Dancing With the Stars (ABC) The Biggest Loser (NBC) Hell’s Kitchen (Fox) 90210 (The CW) |
20.0 15.2 7.5 6.8 2.2 |
| 9 p.m. | NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) Melrose Place (The CW) |
18.3 1.5 |
| 10 p.m. | The Good Wife (CBS) The Forgotten (ABC) The Jay Leno Show (NBC) |
13.7 9.5 6.8 |
Read more:
Annie Barrett recaps Dancing With the Stars
Ken Tucker reviews The Good Wife
Darren Franich recaps The Biggest Loser
John Young recaps Hell’s Kitchen
Jennifer Armstrong recaps 90210
Wendy Mitchell recaps Melrose Place
NCIS season 7 premiere: Gibbs is still the man
NCIS: Los Angeles debut: Loving Chris O’Donnell’s Callen
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NCIS was fantastic!!!
I really enjoyed NCIS and NCIS LA. Enough that next week, when NCIS LA, SYTYCD, and DWTS are all on at the same time, DWTS is the one that got knocked out of the DVR.
Way to go NCIS! Love that show. I had to DVR the spin-off, but I’m looking forward to it, too. For a show that doesn’t generate a ton of buzz, I’m thrilled NCIS pulls in the big numbers.
the season 7 premier of NCIS made season 6 and it’s boring cases, bland unoriginal plotlines and it’s lack of cohesivness well worth it. It was the best NCIS episode I have seen in years, Bravo! I’m looking forward to next week.
As for NCIS:LA, it was better than I thought it would be but not as good as I want it to be. I see some promise but most of the characters hold little interest and the premise and set of the show seems too ridiculous to be true.
NCIS did not disappoint. NCIS-LA–not so great. The office scenes were dull, and as soon as the mother said, “it’s OK, it’s my X” I knew he was the bad guy. The Good Wife was excellent.
NCIS rawks! but LA? not so much. I was losing it as soon as I heard the theme music; after some time, I actually fell asleep.
I really, really enjoyed The Good Wife … bummed the numbers aren’t higher but glad they took the 10 pm hour. Has anyone else noticed how GOOD 90210 actually is so far this season!? (Ok, ignoring the fact that Teddy looks 35)
I was thinking that myself except Naomi bothers me. I don’t care if you’re from Beverly Hills or not she acts more like a 35 year old woman than a 16 year old girl.
Oh and I will be really bummed if they put Kelly inbetween the principal and his wife. What happened to their lovey dovey we can overcome anything relationship? When did that go sour?
It easily won the timeslot though so I’m not too worried at this point. I tend to watch serialized shows rather than episodic ones, but I am excited for a good case of the week with some really good actors. Hope it’s on for years. It seems like the type that could be too.
I never watched NCIS but I thought I’d check out NCIS:LA cause of LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell…I really enjoyed it and I also enjoyed The Good Wife. So now I have something to watch on Tuesday besides The First 48, good show but its so depressing!
Really, really liked The Good Wife. Better than I thought it was going to be. Watched Biggest Loser before that.
NCIS was great last night. It was both fan service and a great introduction to new viewers in the way they structured the flashbacks. USA’s reruns are helping do the same job A&E’s reruns of Law & Order did years back, highlighting a great show that’s still on the air which helps introduce new viewers to something they may have missed or dismissed in the past. I also enjoyed the spin-off, though it will take some getting used to the new group dynamics. Great job all around for scripted programming!
NCIS plotline was farfetched but enjoyable. NCIS LA not so much. But “The Good Wife” is outstanding. I just hope word-of-mouth builds for this show. I never thought it would be this good.
NCIS premiered with an absolutely stunning episode. Loved every minute of it, and special kudos to Michael Weatherly for his award-worthy performance!
I agree, it was a great season opener, one of the best they’ve had. It worked well, was fast paced, got all the newbies up to speed. Michael Weatherly just kicked it. And of course, the rest of the cast was excellent as well. Even the previews from next week looked great. I had been afraid after the rather uneven season finale there was trouble afoot, (although having read Ausiellos blind item, it looks like the network screwed with them a bit) But the writers came back in a very good way.
Totally agree. In my opinion, best episode so far. As were you, I was worried how the episode would turn out, considering everything that happened. I must say, i was extremely surprised at things, and Shane Brennan is officially my hero
D next week looks just as good!
Naomi, needs to be on Melrose Place not 90210. She would be good on there. And yes, Teddy looks very old! He makes Gabrielle Carteris/Andrea look like she was only 22 when she was on 90210.
When will the networks realize that until American Idol starts in January, Tuesday night is a wasteland which allows boring clones like NCIS to get the numbers they do only because of a lack of competition?
Shut Up
oh please NCIS is no contest against Idol I think people are starting to look for greener grass now that Idol is fast losing steam
With American Idol getting more and more ridiculous and the addition of Ellen at the expense of Paula, I have a feeling NCIS will be blowing those singers out of the water (no pun intended) NCIS was already holding more than it’s own last year and with the numbers right now they’ll only continue to best Idol
Actually, if you take a look at last year, despite having AI as a competition, NCIS averaged 15-17 mil. viewers and around 3.5 demo.
Wow TJ, that is so uninformed of you. NCIS is actually one of the only shows that ISN’T affected by AI. Hopefully V will be immune to AI also, but that’s another story.
LOL..wow, Looks like an AI fan is feeling really threatened! It’s OK Sweetie, people are just dying to see the Paula-less AI next year. And goodness knows that Kara was such a big hit with the fans there’s no cause to worry….really.
Really? go back and look at previous seasons of NCIS and you’ll see that it rated very high durin AI. YEA NCIS
So-my comment was to TJ
I have never watched American Idol and will never watch American Idol. NCIS ALL THE WAY!
Actually, NCIS was pulling in 16 million plus viewers last year even while being in competition with American Idol.
I am calling the GOOD WIFE, the best lawyer show i have seen since seasons 1 and 2 of the Practice. OH MY GOD, i was timing it and in the first 7 minutes all the characters were introduced, it moved so fast, so wonderfully written, so sharply observed, and Julianna is next years top Emmy Contender. By minute 27, I had seen enough plot twists to make the show almost hitchcockian in nature. I have not been this excited about a TV pilot since the Pilot episode of LOST. The casting, well, i ran to IMDB the minute the show was over. Sorry i’m over-posting. But, WOW, WOW, WOW… my sister even called me on the phone and said, “are you watching the Good Wife?” and we decided, this is Appointment Television. No waiting on it for HULU. Tuesday nights, you see, Television is not dead, it just needs to be THIS GOOD.
I fully agree. Juliana Margulies blew me away with her performance. It’s been so long since her ER days that I had not realized how much I missed her acting talent. After last night, I think she needs to start making place in her mantle for next year’s Emmy. She was fantastic! Welcome back, lady. That said, I would choose NCIS over American Idol any day. Love it!
NCIS for nr 1 spot!!!! Idol without Paula is going DOWN. seriously, she was the main reason it was still nr 1, the format is old and boring at this point and simon looks like he cannot wait until he also can leave
I loved NCIS, the show is finally getting the ratings it deserves. Thought I would like NCIS LA because I like the original but kinda got bored with it, didn’t finish whole episode. Loved The Good Wife it has potential to become a great show and hope it can get better ratings in the future.
I have to agree Lisa! figured the entire episode out in 5 minutes, and they shot up a perfectly good car, poor challenger
Youre not the only one. I figured out the entire plot before they did. That’s mostly a testament to me watching dramas a lot and part of it being really slow and predictable. But it was still a good show. I look forward to NCIS:LA getting better in the coming weeks.