Fox may have expected a ratings bump for Lie To Me, having made the decision to air original programming instead of Pres. Barack Obama's press conference, but Lie To Me's total viewership was consistent with last week's episode. Meanwhile, the American Idol results show audience was down about two million from its past two Wednesday airings, but still blew away the rest of the 9 p.m. hour. ABC's struggling new cop series The Unusuals saw a small increase in viewership this week.
| Time |
Show |
Viewers (in millions) |
| 8:00 p.m. |
Lie To Me (Fox)
Obama Press Conference (NBC)
Obama Press Conference (ABC)
Obama Press Conference (CBS)
America's Next Top Model (The CW) |
7.9
6.7
6.1
6.0
4.0 |
| 9:00 |
American Idol (Fox)
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Lost (ABC)
Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
90210 (The CW) |
21.9
13.3
8.8
4.8 (repeat)
1.3 (repeat) |
| 10:00 |
CSI: NY (CBS)
Law & Order (NBC)
The Unusuals (ABC) |
12.5
7.7
5.1 |
More on Wednesday night's TV:
Michael Slezak recaps 'American Idol'
Adam Vary's on-the-scene 'Idol' report
Jeff Jensen recaps 'Lost'
Fox won Wednesday night easily, this time thanks to the powerhouse combination of Bones (up 17 percent from last week) and the American Idol results show. The second episode of ABC's new quirky-cop series The Unusuals lost only 8 percent of last week's debut audience -- not bad! (A 10-15 percent drop is considered normal.) Meanwhile, ABC's new comedy Better Off Ted, which had dipped a little last week, upped its total viewership by 8 percent. Scrubs' viewership was up from last week, too, by 15 percent.
| Time |
Show |
Viewers (in millions) |
| 8:00 p.m. |
Bones (Fox)
The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)
Law & Order (NBC)
Scrubs (ABC)
America's Next Top Model (The CW) |
10.8
5.7 (repeat)
5.6 (repeat)
5.3
3.8 |
| 8:30 |
Gary Unmarried (CBS)
Better Off Ted (ABC) |
5.9 (repeat)
4.7 |
| 9:00 |
American Idol (Fox)
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Lost (ABC)
Law & Order: SVU (CBS)
90210 (The CW) |
23.5
10.5 (repeat)
9.0
5.5 (repeat)
0.9 (repeat) |
| 10:00 |
CSI: NY (CBS)
The Unusuals (ABC)
Law & Order (NBC) |
12.0 (repeat)
6.2
6.0 (repeat) |
Read more: Wednesday night's TV
'American Idol' recap: Better safe than sorry!
PopWatch: On the Scene at 'Idol''s Top 7 results show
'Lost' recap: Rewriting his story
'Bones' recap: Bridezilla and Dr. Burn in Hell
The American Idol results show dominated Wednesday night's ratings, as usual, and the CBS lineup put in some typically solid results. But there was little good news for ABC, whose sitcoms Scrubs and Better Off Ted lost half a million viewers from last week. Lost, too, was down 14 percent from last week, and the debut of the cop series The Unusuals drew a mediocre 6.8 million viewers (88 percent of its lead-in audience from 9 p.m.'s Lost). Fox's Lie To Me hit another all-time low in total viewership, while NBC's Life was down 25 percent from last week's new episode.
| Time |
Show |
Viewers (in millions) |
| 8:00 p.m. |
Lie To Me (Fox)
The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)
Law & Order (NBC)
Scrubs (ABC)
America's Next Top Model (The CW) |
8.4
7.3
5.4 (repeat)
4.4
3.7 |
| 8:30 |
Gary Unmarried (CBS)
Better Off Ted (ABC) |
7.3
4.2 |
| 9:00 |
American Idol (Fox)
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Lost (ABC)
Life (NBC)
Top Model Clip Show (The CW) |
22.4
13.3
8.3
4.5
2.0 |
| 10:00 |
CSI: NY (CBS)
The Unusuals (ABC)
Law & Order (NBC) |
12.5
6.8
4.7 (repeat) |
More TV News:
Mandi Bierly snap-judges The Unusuals
Michael Slezak recaps American Idol
Jeff Jensen recaps Lost
Fox's American Idol results show dominated Wednesday night as usual, but good news for NBC's Life, which aired in the same time slot as Idol: Total viewership was up 22 percent from last week. ABC's Better Off Ted
also has reason to celebrate, as viewership was up slightly from last
week; that's terrific news for a new series, and especially a new
sitcom. CBS' celebrities-undercover April Fool's Day special, I Get That a Lot, won the 8-9 p.m. hour, pushing Fox's Lie To Me to its lowest ratings all season. The CW's America's Next Top Model gained back the million viewers it had lost last week (likely thanks to last week's Idol performance night occurring on Wednesday instead of Tuesday). The series finale of ABC's recently canceled Life on Mars drew in about a half million more pairs of eyes than it had over the last few weeks. R.I.P., Michael Imperioli's 'stache.
| Time |
Show |
Viewers (in millions) |
| 8:00 p.m. |
I Get That a Lot (CBS)
Lie To Me (Fox)
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC)
Scrubs (ABC)
America's Next Top Model (The CW) |
10.3
9.0
5.1 (repeat)
4.9
3.9 |
| 8:30 |
Better Off Ted (ABC) |
4.7 |
| 9:00 |
American Idol (Fox)
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Lost (ABC)
Life (NBC)
90210 (The CW) |
23.7
10.0 (repeat)
9.3
5.6
1.2 (repeat) |
| 10:00 |
CSI: NY (CBS)
Law & Order (NBC)
Life On Mars (ABC) |
10.0 (repeat)
6.3 (repeat)
5.9 |
.
The Mo(Town), the Merrier: Fox's two-hour American Idol performance show trounced the competition Wednesday night, upping its audience by 18 percent from its first half hour to the fourth. Idol's overall 25.6 million-viewer average was 7 percent higher than last week's performance-night average. Meanwhile, a Survivor recap special on CBS may have drawn viewers away from the other networks' new offerings: The CW's America's Next Top Model lost a whopping 16 percent of its audience from last week, while NBC's Chopping Block continues to tank. The cooking reality show lost 13 percent of last week's viewership and is down 35 percent since its March 11 series premiere. The second ep of ABC's new comedy Better Off Ted is down 15 percent since last week's debut, and Lost is down slightly from last week's showing.
| Time |
Show |
Viewers (in millions) |
| 8:00 p.m. |
American Idol (Fox)
Survivor special (CBS)
Scrubs (ABC)
America's Next Top Model (The CW)
Chopping Block (NBC) |
24.3
8.2
5.3
2.8
2.6 |
| 8:30 |
Better Off Ted (ABC) |
4.7 |
| 9:00 |
American Idol (Fox)
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Lost (ABC)
Life (NBC)
90210 (The CW) |
26.9 (continued)
14.0
8.8
4.3
0.8 (repeat) |
| 10:00 |
CSI: NY (CBS)
Law & Order (NBC)
Life On Mars (ABC) |
12.6
7.2
5.7 |
Read more:
Michael Slezak's 'Idol' recap: The Mo(Town), the Merrier
'American Idol': On the scene for Top 10 Performance Night
Doc Jensen's 'Lost' recap: A will of their own
EW.com's 'Survivor Talk' video series -- interviews with the castoffs
Last night's American Idol elimination performed its usual feat of sweeping Wednesday night. Meanwhile, ABC's new Portia de Rossi comedy Better Off Ted debuted to a decent 5.6 million, but the net's hour-longs took a dip: Life lost 20 percent of last week's audience, while Lost's total viewership for last night's episode was down 14 percent from its previous new episode and down 20 percent from its season 5 premiere. The CW's Top Model lost 20 percent from last week as well.
| Time |
Show |
Viewers (in millions) |
| 8:00 p.m. |
Lie to Me (Fox)
The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)
Scrubs (ABC)
America's Next Top Model (The CW)
Chopping Block (NBC) |
10.0
7.4
5.7
3.6
3.5 |
| 8:30 |
Gary Unmarried (CBS)
Better Off Ted (ABC) |
7.6
5.6 |
| 9:00 |
American Idol (Fox)
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Lost (ABC)
Life (NBC)
90210 (The CW) |
23.1
13.5
9.1
4.2
0.9 (repeat) |
| 10:00 |
CSI: NY (CBS)
Law & Order (NBC)
Life On Mars (ABC) |
12.7
7.1
5.3 |
Read more:
'American Idol' recap: No safe passage
'Lost' recap: It pays to have a plan
'Better Off Ted': Snap Judgment
Fox went with two hours of ratings-winner American Idol last night, and the 9 p.m. hour's scripted shows took the hit. NBC's Life lost 30 percent of last week's audience, while the viewership for ABC's Lost dipped 10 percent. But it's not like the time-travel drama's all washed up ashore like waterloggy Jin. Lost did post its fourth week in a row as Wednesday night's top-scripted program among Adults 18-49.
| Time |
Show |
Viewers (in millions) |
| 8:00 p.m. |
American Idol (Fox)
Old Christine (CBS)
Knight Rider (NBC)
Lost (ABC)
Privileged (The CW) |
24.3
7.0
5.4
4.4 (repeat)
1.1 (repeat) |
| 8:30 |
Gary Unmarried (CBS) |
6.9 |
| 9:00 |
American Idol (Fox)
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Lost (ABC)
Life (NBC)
90210 (The CW) |
25.0 (cont.)
13.3
9.8
4.7
0.9 (repeat) |
| 10:00 |
CSI: NY (CBS)
Law & Order (NBC)
Life On Mars (ABC) |
12.8
7.5
5.1 |
The second episode of Fox's new psychodrama Lie To Me stayed mentally tough, losing just 8 percent of its healthy debut audience from last week. Add Lie's 9 p.m. win over ABC's Lost to good numbers for everyone's favorite karaoke show American Idol, and Fox ended Wednesday night with more viewers than any other two networks combined. Not bad for a net that airs its news at 10. CBS' repeats performed well, particularly CSI: NY, which won the 10 p.m. hour against new offerings from NBC and ABC.
| Time |
Show |
Viewers (in millions) |
| 8:00 p.m. |
American Idol (Fox)
Katie Couric News Special (CBS)
Knight Rider (NBC)
Lost (ABC)
Privileged (The CW) |
27.0
6.5
6.1
5.3 (repeat)
1.1 (repeat) |
| 8:30 |
The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) |
5.0 (repeat) |
| 9:00 |
Lie To Me (Fox)
Lost (ABC)
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
90210 (The CW) |
12.1
11.1
10.6 (repeat)
6.4 (repeat)
1.0 (repeat) |
| 10:00 |
CSI: NY (CBS)
Law & Order (NBC)
Life On Mars (ABC) |
9.5 (repeat)
8.9
6.5 |
Read more:
Last night's 'Lost' recap: Time after time
'Lost': Doc Jensen's 'Jughead' take
'American Idol' recap: Big Love-fest
Last Wednesday's ratings: 'Lost,' 'Lie To Me' premieres face off
The long-anticipated season 5 premiere of ABC's Lost drew 11.4 million viewers over two hours. That number's a 30 percent drop from last January's season 4 premiere, but about on par with Lost's season 4 average. Benjamin Linus would certainly approve of the title Lie To Me, but he'd hate to hear this: The series debut of Fox's psychological drama -- nestled in a sweet time slot right after American Idol, attracted an impressive 13.2 million viewers to beat out Lost. Meanwhile, Idol's viewership was up 3 million from its inauguration-night audience on Tuesday. Behold the chart!
| Time |
Show |
Viewers (in millions) |
| 8 p.m. |
American Idol (Fox)
Lost: Destiny Calls (ABC)
Old Christine (CBS)
Knight Rider (NBC)
13 - Fear is Real (The CW) |
25.4
8.5
7.4
5.0
1.4 |
| 8:30 |
Gary Unmarried (CBS) |
7.1 |
| 9:00 |
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Lie To Me (Fox)
Lost (ABC)
Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
90210 (The CW) |
13.9
13.2
11.4
5.6 (repeat)
0.8 (repeat) |
| 10:00 |
CSI: NY (CBS)
Law & Order (NBC) |
11.8
8.5 |
Hungry for an appetizer of Lost scoop as you impatiently starve for the start of season 5, which bows in early ’09? Then feast on this: Executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof tell EW they’ve just completed casting of two major new characters joining their saga next year. Last week, Michael Ausiello reported the addition of New Amsterdam alum Zuleikha Robinson. This week, we’d like to introduce you to Saïd Taghmaoui, a French thesp most recently seen in the Don Cheadle thriller Traitor. He’ll play Caesar, a mystery man who...um...well, that’s all we got. But the producers say the actor’s skill set fits the part. “He has an innate intelligence, intensity, and danger we really responded to,” says Lindelof, who declined to specify whether Caesar is good or bad. However, Cuse teases that the character will be playing “an important part of the setup for the final act of the show in season 6." He also confirms that Robinson’s Ilana is associated with Caesar, and likens her to Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight. “There was something very unsettling about the way the Joker kept telling different stories about his background -- something very similar to what we had planned for Ilana,” he says.
