Ratings results from TV’s premiere week suggest viewers are embracing offbeat comedy, including those edgy, indie types better known for stand-up, and wisely shunning some of the worst new shows.
Score solid wins for comedy and a decline for “reality” shows in the early going.
Here’s what we know so far:
Ashton Kutcher in “Two and a Half Men” scored a whopping 27.7 million viewers for CBS, an all-time high for the series and the best premiere of the new season. Charlie who?
“2 Broke Girls,” also on CBS, had a huge opening, scoring 19.1 million viewers. The indie darling Zooey Deschanel also drew a healthy crowd for “New Girl” on Fox, drawing 10 million viewers, even despite a weaker than normal lead-in from “Glee.”
Judging by early returns, comedy is reviving, led by these newcomers plus the best ratings performance for a “Modern Family” premiere in the show’s history, even though the double-episode premiere didn’t showcase the series’ best material. Still, winning those Emmy Awards seems to have translated to new attention for “ModFam,” and may help carry comedy in general back to prominence.
ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” drew 18.6 million, a sharp drop from last fall, but the buzz factor is up this year (thanks mostly to the inclusion of Chaz Bono).
Fox’s much-hyped “X Factor” debuted with a solid 12.5 million viewers, which would be good except that Simon Cowell had boasted ahead of time that he expected 20 million.
“The Good Wife” took up residence on Sunday night with 10.5 million viewers witnessing what might have been the sexiest tryst ever depicted in prime time — certainly on CBS! — between Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) and Will Gardner (Josh Charles).
“Revenge,” an engrossing soap about vengeance on the super rich, loosely based on “The Count of Monte Cristo,” is off to a solid start. Hurray for Madeleine Stowe and Emily VanCamp.
“Pan Am” on ABC took off with 10.8 million viewers (beaten only by football).
Conversely, “The Playboy Club” on NBC bombed with 5 million attendees.
Also on the downside, viewers wisely steered clear of the horrid “H8R” on CW, with a meager 1.3 million giving it a look.
Which other new series will vie for first cancellation? I’d bet on “Free Agents.” Other front-runners on the doomed list include “Charlie’s Angels” and “Whitney,” although “A Gifted Man,” a pseudo-spiritual case of dead people talking, already occupies the Friday night death slot and is a contender for an early demise.
The fall rollouts continue (see online TV Previews for each series.)
CPR’s new music
Colorado Public Radio’s new music station has a new name: “Open Air” debuts at 1340 AM in Denver on Oct. 31. This is the outlet led by Mike Flanaghan, featuring “new music of the past 15 years with a Colorado perspective.”
Attention Gleeks
Online auditions kicked off this week for the next season of Oxygen’s “The Glee Project.” They’re seeking “singularly talented young men and women with strong vocal, acting and dancing abilities with big, oversized personalities. Musical theater experience is a plus, but not required.” Check out Oxygen’s website.
Breaking in on “Breaking Bad”
Not a bad way to launch a TV career: Denver native JT Richardson will appear in two episodes of AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” on Oct. 2 and 9, as a DEA agent.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
