CBS’s Person of Interest has returned this season to lower ratings than its previous two, but I attribute that mostly to its new Tuesday 10 PM EST timeslot where it was expected to see a drop in its numbers. But the show experienced a notable dip this last Wednesday as it sunk to a series low of a 1.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic with twelve million total viewers (based on the final numbers). That’s not a disastrous drop and it should still land in the Top 15 shows for the week based on total viewers (which holds more weight on older-skewing CBS), but it was a somewhat surprising turn seeing as the show has been edging up the past few weeks and holding in the 2.2 range. NBC’s The Voice did run two hours on Tuesday and into the 10 PM timeslot, so perhaps that was a factor and we’ll see next week if this is just a blip. In any case, the show is already in its third season which means that a fourth year is practically a given short of a ratings collapse. This doesn’t count as a collapse yet, but it’s worth watching the show’s numbers closely over the coming weeks.
Also on Tuesday, Agents of SHIELD was a repeat (what’s with all these early season reruns?) and CW shows The Originals and Supernatural continued to do well for their network. The former edged up to a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demo with 2.1 million total viewers while the latter held steady at a 1.1 score with 2.2 million total viewers. The CW is now enjoying its best numbers in years on Tuesdays with these two shows.
That network was not as lucky on Wednesday night, though, as both Arrow and The Tomorrow People experienced notable drops. The former slipped to a series low of a 0.8 rating with 2.4 million total viewers (based on the final numbers) and the latter dropped for a third week in a row to a 0.6 rating with 1.7 million total viewers. Arrow now counts as only The CW’s fourth highest rated show (behind Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, and The Originals) after being in second place last year. That seems odd seeing as how it is moving closer to the Green Arrow we know from the comics and also bringing in multiple characters from the DC Universe. It still has more guest appearances to come, including the Flash, so that may bolster its ratings down the line. The Tomorrow People is on a dubious course as it drops each week, and right now it has only barely passable numbers for its network. Fans of that show should keep a close eye on its numbers in the coming weeks to see if it turns around the decline.
Over on FX, American Horror Story: Coven slipped again, this time to a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 demo with 3.7 million total viewers. That one is still outperforming its first two seasons, though, so there are no worries with it for the time being. The only show that did not drop on Wednesday was Revolution (and NBC jumped on that with their spin department), but it was still at a dangerously low level for its network. It pulled another 1.4 rating with 4.9 million total viewers. I’m still thinking the best chance this show has at surviving is if the network moves it to Fridays to team up with genre entries Grimm and Dracula which both debuted well for that night last week. It is also worth noting that the final game of the World Series aired on Wednesday and that could have impacted the numbers for that night’s shows. We will see if they edge back up next week against the regular competition.
The preliminary numbers for the Thursday night shows will be available later this morning, so keep an eye on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for those and other ratings-related news. You can see the current status for all this season’s genre show at this link. And for more information on the ratings numbers and how I determine the Cancellation Alert status of a show, see the Cancellation Watch FAQ.
25 Must-Watch Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies
So many science fiction and fantasy movies and so little time. Metropolis, King Kong, War of the Worlds, Fantastic Voyage, Star Wars, The Terminator, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Inception . . . Plan 9 From Outer Space . . . and so many, many more. Where to start and which ones to watch? Well that’s what this book is here to help you with. It may not cover all science fiction movies, and not even all of those mentioned above, but it gives you a heck of a good start starting point. This book begins with 1927’s Metropolis and then treks through 24 more genre films ending with 2009’s Moon to give you an extensive look at some of the best of the best of science fiction and fantasy cinema. Each entry includes a synopsis, review/commentary, cast and crew information, as well as a few nuggets of tidbits and trivia relating to the films. Whether you are new to the genre and trying to figure out where to get started or a grizzled veteran who has logged many hours in the cinema watching sci fi, 25 Must Watch Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies is sure to entertain. And even if you have already seen the movies covered in the book, there’s a good chance you could walk away knowing a little bit (or maybe even a lot) more about these films than you did previously.
A great primer for science fiction and fantasy cinema and a fun read as well!
