Popularity / Ratings News (Page 2)

It's Thursday night and 170 people are sitting in a Colleyville, Texas, movie theater, wondering whether Meredith Grey just might be dead.

It doesn't look good for Mer.

She nearly drowned. She's hypothermic. Her skin is blue. She's having an afterlife experience.

During commercial breaks, the hushed crowd at the Metro Cinema breaks into chatter.

She's not gonna die, right?

But it's Grey's Anatomy, and anything can happen.

But they can't kill her off because the show's named after her, right?

But she could die and stick around, couldn't she, like that dead woman who narrates Desperate Housewives?

And hey, do you want that last slice of pizza?

Once more: This is at a movie theater, where big-screen showings of Grey's Anatomy have become such a hit that this particular theater had to open a second auditorium to accommodate the overflow crowd there to the climax of the three-part ferry-disaster story, "Some Kind of Miracle."

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, it's a Thursday-night ritual for some fans, who also chow down on offerings from the full-service, in-theater restaurant and bar.

"It started with, like, four girls; now we come with, like, 14 people," says Kelsey Sherck, a 14-year-old Colleyville Heritage High School student who, on her fifth visit, has become a Metro Cinema regular.

"The first time I came, it was a half-full theater, and now you have to get here an hour early to be able to get a seat."

Sherck, who keeps busy with school and tennis, says she watches only one hour of TV a week, and seeing it on the big screen makes it "more special."

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Cheer up, Alex. A huge audience for the gripping conclusion of Grey's Anatomy's three-part extravaganza gave ABC a ratings win Thursday, despite the presence of American Idol on FOX.

ABC averaged an 11.4 rating/18 share for the night. CBS took second with a 10.0/15, while FOX came in third with a 9.1/14. NBC, at 5.1/8, took fourth, while The CW was well back of the pack at 1.5/2.

Among adults 18-49, ABC's 7.0 rating led the way. FOX finished second in the key advertising demographic with a 5.9, beating out CBS' 5.1. NBC averaged 3.5 and The CW only 0.9.

The American Idol results show easily won the 8 pm hour with a 14.0/21 share, while Survivor: Fiji put CBS in second with a 7.9/12.

A repeat of last week's Grey's Anatomy episode, "Drowning On Dry Land," was good enough for 6.7/10, and third place for ABC in the 8 pm time slot.

NBC went with My Name Is Earl, 5.5/8, and The Office, 5.0/7. Smallville came in fifth for The CW.

This Thursday's new episode of Grey's Anatomy, "Some Kind of Miracle," came through with ratings almost befitting of that title, scoring a 17.0/25 to make it the night's most-watched show.

CBS stayed in second with CSI, at 13.0/19. The OC went out quietly in its series finale, dropping way off from its lead-in to average 4.3/6 for FOX. Scrubs, 3.7/6, and 30 Rock, 3.1/5, kept NBC in a distant fourth, ahead of Supernatural on The WB.

Wins at the Golden Globe Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards helped lift ABC's Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy to their highest ratings since both dramas bowed in September.

ABC overwhelmingly won Thursday night, although CBS did respectably with new episodes of CSI and Shark, and NBC saw success with both My Name Is Earl and The Office, while ER was down slightly from its fall average, Reuters reports.

ABC started the night with a win in viewers at 8 p.m. with Ugly Betty (14 million, 4.7/12), tying in the demo with My Name Is Earl (10.6 million, 4.7/12) and The Office (10.1 million, 5.0/12).

It was the second-highest measure of the season for Earl and was the highest demo rating for The Office since January 12, 2006.

NBC has double-digit increases in the demo during the time period compared with the same period a year ago. It was also the highest adults 18-34 ratings ever for The Office. CBS put in a repeat CSI (12.2 million, 3.4/9).

CBS came roaring back at 9 p.m. with a new CSI (21.3 million, 6.8/16), but it wasn't anywhere near enough to topple Grey's Anatomy (23.9 million, 10.2/23), which also had its highest ratings since its September premiere. Grey's and CSI continue to both achieve great success in their much-anticipated ratings battle.

It was also down 28 percent compared with CSI a year ago. NBC's Scrubs (6.9 million, 3.4/8) was up 17 percent compared with its last original episode on January 18 with an Iraq-war themed episode. NBC's 30 Rock (5.6 million, 2.9/7) scored average numbers.

The ratings pendulum swung away from ABC after 10 p.m., when CBS' Shark (14.1 million, 3.9/10) won in viewers and NBC's ER (11.8 million, 5.1/13) won in the demo. Experts believe Men in Trees (10.6 million, 3.9/10) benefited from a spillover of Grey's Anatomy.

Are there spiritual lessons to be learned from Cristina Yang et al?

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports today that this and other questions linked to Grey's Anatomy will be explored during a series of five weekly sermons beginning Sunday at Snellville United Methodist Church in Gwinnett County, Ga.

The show was not chosen because its overworked, sometimes oversexed, young hospital interns are great role models, said Dr. Richard Hunter, the pastor. In fact, Hunter is not necessarily a fan.

However, the show has captivated the young-adult demographic, and Hunter would like to see more representation of that age bracket in his pews.

"Even though I don't like the show and don't agree with the morals of some of the characters, it is the No. 1 show in that age group," Hunter said. "And if that many young people are watching it, I should be talking about the issues raised on the show."

Fowler said there have been special mailings to young people around the county, inviting them especially to the services. Also, the added emphasis on visual accompaniments and faster pace are meant to appeal to young adults.

It isn't unusual for a church to use popular culture for inspiration for sermons. In this case, though, the church is attempting to repeat the mass media's success with a specific demographic group.

At a 9:30 a.m. contemporary service, clips and stills from the series will be part of the presentation, along with dialogue and some role-playing based on the show's themes.

At the regular service at the same time in the church's main sanctuary, the sermon will deal with the same general issues, with less emphasis on the TV show.

Associate pastor Bryan Fowler said the sermons will take conflicts from the show and pose the question, "How can we deal with that in a Christian way?"

The presentation of the sermons will also be non-tradional, Fowler said. He and another assistant pastor will take on the roles of hospital chaplains, talking about how they might approach Cristina Yang and help her deal with some of her issues.

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Our collection of Grey's Anatomy quotes is so extensive, it would be hard for us to pick our favorite - even if we were limited to just one episode.

Entertainment Weekly doesn't have that problem. In fact, they are holding a poll of funniest lines uttered on TV between the dates of November 20-27, and a memorable one-liner from a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy is in the running.

Fans certainly recall when, on Thanksgiving's "From a Whisper to a Scream," Dr. Burke was first greeted by visiting Seattle Presbyterian surgeon - and medical school rival - Dr. Erica Hahn:

"So how have you been, Preston? Last time I saw you, you stole my patient's heart. Then you got shot. Karma rocks."

Dr. Hahn (played by Brooke Smith) definitely got Burke good with that one. Though his reply about enjoying her visits, but not as much as when she leaves was pretty good, too. Really, Grey's Anatomy could occupy all the spots on this list - not to take away from the other shows, of course.

Others lines in the competition came from Medium, Studio 60, The Soup, Ugly Betty, The Simpsons and House. You can VOTE HERE.

ABC's Grey's Anatomy took back its dominant lead over CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, almost doubling its adult 18-49 rating - a Nielsen 9.5 rating / 23 share over CSI's 5.0/12. That said, CBS put CSI into rerun mode, while Grey's featured the new "Don't Stand So Close to Me."

For the night, ABC easily took top honors with 5.8/14 - almost one and a half points better than second-place finishers CBS and NBC.

For the first time, NBC was able to show off its new four-show Thursday comedy block: My Name is Earl, The Office, Scrubs, and 30 Rock. Rock, the struggling rookie show, was able to make slight gains to a 2.7/7, rising above its season average.

This put NBC into a tie for the night with CBS, with a 4.4 rating. CBS did a smidge better in terms of share, grabbing an 11.2 number.

NBC continued to dominate the 10 p.m. time period, with ER posting 5.8/15 numbers. That bested Men in Trees, the low-rated Anne Heche-starring drama, which soared to new heights sitting behind the Grey's Anatomy audience, with a 3.8/10. Trees had been a poor player on Friday nights.

Fox, however, continues to suffer on Thursday, finishing well behind the other three networks with a 1.8/4 number for the night. A double run of Fox's first-year comedy 'Til Death posted a slightly better 2.0/5 rating and share numbers among 18-49 viewers, while The O.C. continued its ratings-challenged life this season with a 1.6/4.

This is the story of Grey's Anatomy and ER, both of which air tonight.

Grey's Anatomy has been watched by an average of 24 million viewers this season, garnering the highest ratings on TV. Before this, ABC hadn't had a No. 1 hit on Thursday in nearly 30 years. ER was TV's big dog from 1995-1998, and a top-10 staple for the better part of 13 seasons.

In terms of commercial potency, this has been one of the stellar hits in network history -- and remained so until senescence struck. With all of the original cast gone, ratings way down in 2005 and a prevailing sense that the show's creative arteries were sclerotic, this was expected to be the last season.

Now, take another look.

So far this season, ER is NBC's most-viewed scripted series (averaging 15 million viewers) and virtually tied with the network's hot Monday newcomer Heroes among younger viewers (both get 6.5 percent of adults ages of 18-49).

Once again, ER is winning its time period. Besides the fact that aging hits almost never reverse downward spirals, why is this unusual?

There are a couple of reasons. First, many believe ER is actually the best of the two Thursday hospital shows. Gone are last season's histrionics and violent nuttiness. The show has gotten back to doing what it always did best -- telling the stories of average people in extreme peril. The recent "Ames v. Kovac" episode with guest star Forest Whitaker was superb.

While the drama seems richer and sturdier than in recent seasons, the show has shrewdly added a stubble-faced counterpart to Grey's Anatomy's "Dr. McDreamy," played by Patrick Dempsey -- John Stamos (above) as Dr. Tony Gates. Stamos is the same vintage (43) as Dempsey (40), and both were late-'80s teen icons. Curiously, Grey's Anatomy is probably the key reason that ER is back on top.

"I didn't anticipate this. I was afraid that what the audience would feel is that if they saw one (hospital) show at 9, then they might not want to see another one at 10. I'm happy to say I was wrong," ER's executive producer, David Zabel, said.

What's happening is called "drafting" an audience from one show to another. If a program (Grey's Anatomy) on one network is a huge hit, then another following on a competing network gets viewers in its draft. ER appears to be as much a beneficiary as the ABC show that should be getting the assist, Six Degrees, which follows Grey's Anatomy at 10.

Networks don't like the draft effect, but the TV audience is fickle and uncontrollable, so they can't entirely eliminate it.

There's nothing like Patrick Dempsey to bring two girls together.

Brooke Shields (right) is now saying she has a new TV pal, and it's the fiancée of the man who once criticized her for taking antidepressants.

Shields, 41, told ABC news that she's "absolutely" friends with 27-year-old former Dawson's Creek star Katie Holmes, who is currently planning her wedding to Tom Cruise in Italy. The two bonded over Grey's Anatomy and have gone on to be good friends.

Though separated by 14 years, the two actresses have more in common than just a fondness for hot TV doctors. Seven months ago, they gave birth on the same day at the same hospital. Shields' second daughter, Grier, and Holmes' first child, Suri, share an April 18 birthday.

"Life is really short," Shields said. "And when you see these babies … I think you never know how life is going to bring people together, and it can be absurd and it can be interesting."

Several weeks ago, however, Shields acknowledged that she and Cruise buried the hatchet, and that he had apologized to her.

Not only have they let bygones be bygones, she now confirms that she and Holmes get together to watch Grey's Anatomy.

"It's true. There were a bunch of us here and we were insane about it, and you weren't allowed to speak or talk," said Shields. "Everyone was in my living room and [I] got this new TV... I love them, the acting is so great and it's such a good soap opera -- love it, it's fun."

Amen, Brooke. Amen to that.

Bill Lawrence (right) is out to rescue NBC.

Okay, maybe not. But the Thursday night TV lineup is about to get even more crowded.

Reeling from the pounding it's taking from Grey's Anatomy and CSI on TV's biggest night, NBC announced this week that Scrubs is moving to the coveted, yet dreaded Thursday night, 9 p.m. slot.

The Emmy-nominated, quirky medical comedy series is being counted on to help the network bring back the glory days of Thursdays on NBC. But since Grey's Anatomy has won the ratings battle thus far, Scrubs' creator, Lawrence, is quick to downplay expectations.

"If NBC is counting on Scrubs then they are sh!t out of luck my friend," Lawrence joked yesterday, before throwing in a reference to Grey's Anatomy.

"First of all, I am a huge TV fan -- Thursday night on NBC should be comedy. Secondly, we're going to think of something to name Zach Braff's character like McSomething -- McWeenie or McCheesy or something."

In addition to Scrubs, Grey's Anatomy will also be going up against The OC, Fox's once-popular teen soap opera, which makes its return Thursday at 9.

A four-way fight may seem daunting, but we have a feeling Meredith & Co. will pull through just fine. We're certainly not going anywhere.

A Grey's Anatomy Insider reader sent us this article about how well Grey's Anatomy is doing in Australia -- particularly for the Seven network that carries it. It's interesting to read about the ratings and popularity of the show so far away. With 1.8 million viewers last week -- in a nation of only 21 million -- it's safe to call the show a bona fide smash. Here's the story:

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Once again on a Monday night the Nine Network has gone from leading to second place in the space of an hour on Monday nights: it just can't match Grey's Anatomy on Seven, which is now the most successful U.S. import of the year.

So much so that Seven will keep it going for four episodes of the new U.S. series (Season 3) when the present series ends in a week or two. Seven wants to make sure it continues to win Monday nights and give itself a chance at the week: who says bragging rights in ratings battle don’t matter?

Not Seven, nah!

More than 1.8 million people watched Grey's Anatomy last night and it took Seven from third place from 7.30 to 8.30 pm, to first place for the rest of the night and a clear win overall, especially as Nine and Ten fell sharply after What A Year and Idol respectively.

Seven was running third at 7.30 pm with the Great Outdoors continuing its listless passage through the latter weeks of the 2006 ratings year.
It averaged 1.020 million, well behind Nine's What's Good For You (which added 240,000 viewers to average 1.318 million) and Ten's Idol, which was way out in front averaging 1.450 million.

But when Grey's Anatomy started, the night changed.
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