ChuckTV.net The CHUCK archive
Looks like Daylight Savings Time had it in for the 8PM shows last night: against weaker than usual competition, both House and Chuck dropped 17 percent in adults 18-49 versus last week. Last night’s excellent Casey-centric episode of Chuck, “Chuck vs. the Tic Tac”, was watched by approximately 5.78 million viewers and pulled a 1.9 in the 18-49 demo. TV By the Numbers cites the time change as the major factor for the drop in ratings at 8PM.
An update from TVBTN:
TV fans are all over the “Daylight Savings Time Killed My Show†meme today, but what are the numbers behind the meme (or myth)?
Last night (3/15) – Daylight Savings Time
Share of Adults 18-49 watching TV at 8pm: 33.6%
Share of Adults 18-49 watching TV at 9pm: 37%Last Monday (3/8) – Standard Time
Share of Adults 18-49 watching TV at 8pm: 37.1%
Share of Adults 18-49 watching TVÂ at 9pm:Â 39.1%Conclusions
Did overall adults 18-49 TV viewing go down at 8-9pm from 3/8 to 3/15? Yes, by ~9.5%.
Was it all Daylight Savings Time? Who knows.
Will that excuse save my show? Only time will tell.
NOTE: Please keep comments on topic, e.g. related to the ratings. We have plenty of other places where you can discuss the episode itself.
It’s probably a combination of DST and adults becoming increasingly tired of being drawn into a Gossip Girl spinoff. Hopefully this angst junk ends and the really good writing can continue. Note that last night had less angst (except for beginning and end) and a really good story, but each week’s ratings are a reflection of viewers returning from the previous couple of weeks. Leaving our Beard (which was down in ratings), the previous weeks were all angst, and I think this is part of the payoff.
Paraphrasing Rorschach:
Overnight ratings are in this morning, 17% drop. Fans no longer tune in. The storylines are extended agony and the scenes are full of Shaw and when the episode is finally over, all the so-called “shippers†will drown in their bitter tears. The accumulated plotholes and of all their angst and questions of WTWT will foam up and all of Chuck’s TPTB and Schwartz and Fedak will look up and shout “Save us!â€â€¦
And the “crazy shippers†will look down and whisper “No.â€
Bingo. I do not expect to see any such out pouring of support by the fans, as happened last year. Will a fair number still turn out? Sure. Will it be as strong and rabid as last year? Nope.
I agree, too. The major push was last year. Another push will not likely be as strong or determined. Too many viewers have pushed Chuck out of “must watch” into “maybe I’ll TiVo it” (including me) or “this is NOT what I wanted!” and simply left. Criticisms of the show’s direction and errors (real or perceived) throughout the season can be found in all manner of other places on this site and elsewhere.
Chuck’s ratings per episode for this season, on average, are running no better than last season. They might actually be a shade worse with the “Tic Tac” ratings figured in, which is not good and not why NBC renewed it. They were looking for improvement and they are not getting it.
NBC has a schedule full of shipwrecks, but Chuck can’t be considered safe with numbers like these, even if it is one of the higher-ranked shows on that network. It barely got Season 3 (and not a full one) and now…? I think if the numbers are still this bad by the Monday after Easter… well, it will get dicey for a renewal.
Either way, Chuck fans, enjoy the ride while it lasts, whether it ends this year or five years later.
Certainly, DST was a huge factor. Maybe the major one. But I also sense a growing frustration. Bordering on depression. Folks are tired of hanging in there with the C/S deal. They are beginning to doubt that the good stuff that we know is going to happen is ever going to get here.
I see it on every forum I look. I know that this will be ridiculed by a lot of folks “in the know”. And all I have is antidotal evidence. But even people who were more than just “shippers” are depressed. To deny that seems couter-productive.
Last night was a perfect example. It was an amazing episode. Yet, all I hear is that Sarah went to D.C. to be with Shaw.
JS said that we wouldn’t be exhausted. Well, what I’m hearing is that people are exactly that. And the real shame is that I’m convinced that we’re on the cusp of an amazing climax.
There is no way to spin 1.9 in any way except as a complete disaster. Hopefully, it turns around next week.
I agree that DST played a factor. What I agree more with that yes people are tired of the C/S Dynamic in the show trying to restart. Its a big part of the show thats been reworked, but it is for the best. We’re getting a lot of good stuff out of all the melodrama. Hopefully, we can convince people to watch the last couple of episodes online and regain some of the lost support.
I agree, 1.9 is a disaster. But it only fell .4 while House dropped .8 in the demo; it could be worse.
I’m hard pressed to see how viewer fatigue fits in here, though. This episode wasn’t ostensibly about Chuck & Sarah, nor was last week’s, so if the argument is that fans are tired of the angst, shouldn’t ratings have increased as a result of getting a break from that angst for the last 2 weeks?
What I’m hearing, over and over, is that people are growing weary of waiting for things to get better. That most reasonable people were willing to let the story line play out. But each week, more and more lose hope and drift off.
I agree the last two episodes were not C/S centric. But they did little to resolve the ongoing angst that was created by Mask and Fake Name.
I’m not saying (if I’m even right) that this is a reaction to any one episode. It’s just ongoing fatigue. It’s what JS said that we would not feel – exhausted.
Understand… I don’t feel exhausted. I’m upbeat. I can’t wait for the next 3 episodes. I think they promise to the the best 3 of the series. But I’m getting shouted at by lots of people that they are tired. Even people who I never would have figured would ever say that.
We can disagree over how important that is. Maybe it’s not a factor at all. But I think it is.
You could well be right, and I’m not naive enough to think a time change is the only reason the ratings fell. Just trying to make out the pattern here. We were in the same position this time last year: Beefcake aired, fans were upset, then Lethal Weapon (far superior to Beefcake, IMO) aired the Monday after the time change and we fell to our then lowest ratings of the series. This time it’s been
5 weeks since Mask and 2 since Fake Name, with a very fan friendly (both to casual and hardcore fans) episode last week. Sure, exhaustion from the relationship could be a factor for some, but DST seems to be the constant and thus the major factor. I guess we’ll see next week.
I understand your point. But I think this is different than last year. Last year, people were upset about Cole. No question. But they were upset. They were engaged. They were angry. They kept posting and watching.
What I’m seeing now is depression. It’s capitulation. It’s apathy.
So I’m not suggesting that the ratings fall is tied to the quality of any episode. Beard and Tic Tac were among the best of the series. Folks are becoming exhausted by the ongoing story line and the week after week of no resolution.
I understand that we probably disagree about this. And I respect your pov. I really, really hope I’m wrong. But I feel confident that it is some factor, however small. I’m just hearing the same thing over and over. From people who I would have never predicted before.
Apathy vs. engagement? That’s valid. And I do agree with you that it has to be a factor, even if it’s only for a small percentage of fans. The trick with the ratings is to remember that for every fan who comments here or on the NBC forums, there are another 1000 “casual” fans out there who aren’t posting and “just” watch the show. Their motivations are annoyingly difficult to ascertain, but it would seem, based on the ratings data we have from this year and last, that DST is the major factor this week (again, House dropped double the points in the demo compared to Chuck). I really, really, really hope next week’s ratings follow the pattern and bounce back. It bums me out that apathy has caused some fans to miss a couple of really good episodes, but if they’re not into the show anymore, it’s hard to blame them.
I’m still watching. I’m invested in the show. I even started eating Subway subs last year as a show of support. But, I am very tired of the constant angst. I loved the last two shows. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact we have another 2+ shows with Shaw and angst.
If the show needed me to care enough to keep it alive for another season, I would disappoint. At this point in time, I don’t care about next year. Next year would bring it’s own boat load of angst in some form or other.
I have to admit that I am one of the fans that is feeling that the relationship melodrama has been stretched out a little too far.
I loved the episode last night, and while it wont stop me from watching I am really getting sick of this secondary plot line.
I was really hoping after last week’s episode that we were back on track to having the lighter Chuck episodes that many of us enjoy so much. I did not expect Chuck and Sarah t be back as a couple, but I was expecting a somewhat more happy ending to this episode.
I hope those who say the ratings fall was due to DST, I guess we will know after next week’s episode.
While there have been some great episodes this season, I’m not sure I would take part in any fan-based movement to save the show for a S4.
I agree with Mel. Could it very well be viewer fatigue? Yes. But when other shows are taking a hit as well, DST is more of a factor, if not the major factor. Some numbers from TVBTN on this;
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/03/16/daylight-savings-time-killed-my-show-the-numbers-behind-the-meme/45161
Compared to last week, overall viewership in the 18-49 demo (people watching broadcast AND cable) dropped 9.5%. There were less people watching TV last night compared to last week. Right now, I’m more inclined to blame DST for the ratings drop among all shows.
That said, a 1.9 will not cut it. The show will surely get canceled at that level. We’ll know more next week and hopefully this is just b lip on the radar.
Thanks for that link, BMK. I’ve updated the post above with it. Also, those bingo cards are hilarious! 😀
I think both issues play a part. If people were really invested in the show and weren’t tired of the show, they would watch, inspite of DST. That’s where the fatigue comes in. Who cares if they watch or not.
Some folks who are fatigued may watch if they are home at the time, but they will not make a special effort to watch the show.
Not if folks have just stopped tuning in completely and it’s taken a week or so for the apathy to surface in the ratings.
If a lot of people had stopped tuning in because of the angst, we would have seen a significant ratings drop last episode, or after Mask for that matter.
Not necessarily. In the past, angsty (for lack of a better word) plotlines were resolved quickly. For example, Cole was only around for two episodes. It’s possible, after Mask, viewers expected the angst to be resolved within a coulpe episodes. When it wasn’t resolved in Fake Name (but rather intensified) or Beard, some viewers may have lost interest. We’ll see next week if we bounce back!
I agree that the 1.9 drop is partially due to daylight savings time, but it’s still the lowest demo for an original episode of Chuck ever. It’s still .2 points below where we were last year at this time which means not only have we not gained viewers from season to season, but that the show is starting to take a pick axe to the basement.
One more thought on the ratings. In doing some more reading, I do think a lot has to do with DST. BUT, I’m also really annoyed that JS has now called the Chuck faithful to “action” after boldly telling them to kiss off when they complained after Fake Name. His treatment of the fans is as on-again-off-again as he runs the C/S relationship. And, as BillatWork notes, I think folks are just getting tired. Last night was a GREAT episode with plenty of emotion and turmoil, but just for fun, we get Sarah off to DC. Sure…she’s there to meet with Beckman, but we were left to believe that she was also there to see Shaw. Now, next week she and Chuck almost kiss??? I stick by the Gossip Girl comment.
Stop making excuses. DST had nothing to do with it. We have to face facts and admit that our show is just not a draw. However good season 3 has been creatively (in the last three episodes anyway), we haven’t significantly grown our ratings with this new direction.
Some good news for Chuck from TVBR.com even though they thought it was a repeat.
“From its first half-hour to its second, “Chuck” increased its adult 18-49 rating by 11 percent (to a 2.0 from a 1.8). In the time period, “Chuck” ranked #2 among the major networks in men 18-34.” (http://www.rbr.com/tv-cable/tv-cable_ratings/22396.html)
Positivity never hurts 🙂
@JB_Chuckfan
Apparently, DST does have an affect on ratings. Evidently some people just don’t feel like wathcing TV at what to them feels like 7. Hopefully most will be back next week once they get used to DST.
However…I too think a lot of viewers are getting tired of this drawn out C/S storyline that, frankly, doesn’t make a lot of sense. I’m a huge Chuck fan and I’m getting tired of this. How is a casual viewer supposed to maintain an interest?
The fake relationship between C/S during the first two seasons was a lot of fun and the scenes between the two characters were terrific. It has been puzzling me all season why the writers chose to eliminate what was perhaps the best part of the show.
“The fake relationship between C/S during the first two seasons was a lot of fun and the scenes between the two characters were terrific. It has been puzzling me all season why the writers chose to eliminate what was perhaps the best part of the show.” – THANK YOU FOR THIS.
Until now this season has been bad, i can’t even find 1 good song in 10 episodes ( except the mariachi song in episode 1 ). For 2 episodes now it’s getting somewhere and the promo for episode 11 is awesome, too bad about the ratings because now it gets better…
I agree with BillAtWork…while DST has to be at play here, I know in my own heart as an avid Chuck fan, that I am really, really tired of being teased with a Shaw/Sarah relationship that has been so poorly executed, it doesn’t ring true at all. Hannah and Chuck were actually believable as a couple. While I didn’t like Chuck straying from Sarah, it still was written in a convincing way. When it comes to Sarah and Shaw, the exact opposite has been true. I would actually rather see more interaction between them that could explain why in the world Sarah would ever consider being with him. So far, we’ve seen absolutely nothing to explain that (other than the inferred fact that she was lonely and he had a pulse). As a result, Sarah comes off as a cold-hearted woman who can’t make up her mind about Chuck. That isn’t the Sarah that we know from seasons 1 and 2. When she pulled back from Chuck, the writers always revealed to us that Beckman or Casey or someone else was pressuring her to do so. I am holding out hope that some kind of clarifying explanation for her behavior is coming, but if all that happens is that Chuck tells her his feelings for the hundredth time, and this time, she actually listens and leaves Shaw, it’s all going to be way too weak dramatically.
TPTB have too many questions up in the air at the moment (i.e. is Sam her real name and if it is, why hasn’t there be a conversation between Sarah and Chuck about that…is Sarah strategically getting close to Shaw for a reason other than the fact she’s fallen for a wooden idiot who constantly puts Chuck at risk and in harm’s way…is Shaw good or is he a double agent…how is Casey going to get back in the team…the list goes on) and they’ve taken so long to explain most of these questions people are losing interest. I’m losing interest. This is hard for me to admit, when in the past, I’ve felt that the writers resolved some interesting challenges and storylines too quickly, but they’ve obviously chosen the wrong storylines to stretch out. in my opinion. Today is the first day I have really felt that we may just not make it to a fourth season. That thought depresses me. I’m just sad at the state of things. While an amazing final third of the season can fix a lot of this for me (as a loyal watcher no matter what) I fear that any new viewers will be long gone by then. I hope I’m wrong. I really do.
While it is valid, I still don’t quite buy that argument. When House drops by the same percentage (17%), that’s the most telling sign to me that DST is playing a big role in the ratings drop. If people are really tired of the wt/wt, they would’ve left after the mask.
That said, 1.9 is not good.
Yeah. Don’t misunderstand me. DST was undoubably the major factor last night. I’m simply saying that the folks that I interact with are frustrated. More than frustrated, they are fatigued. And many of these people are not what one would call a crazy shipper.
Can I quantify what the real effect is? No. But I’m convinced that it is a factor. And probably a significant one.
I agree with you that it could be a factor that people could be getting tired with the “angst”. A significant one? I don’t think so. Whatever happens on the various Chuck boards is not representative of the overall “fan base” of Chuck, meaning casual and hardcore fans. There’s only, what, a couple thousand who visit the boards? Even less people post on a regular basis. And Chuck has a base of 6-7 million. I would be more inclined to believe your theory if House or any other show on TV last night had not dropped as much as Chuck.
What I’ll be looking for is how the Tuesday-Thursday shows do, especially the 8pm hour. If we see similar drops, then we know there’s a significant impact stemming from DST. And we’ll know in the following weeks if Chuck can regain the viewers it lost last night, or if it’s people really getting tired of the show.
I know you don’t think the disaffected folks don’t amount to much. In a sense, you are right.
However, Chuck has never had the luxury of being able to drop off several hundred thousand viewers and still look good in the ratings.
House could permanently lose 500K or more viewers, and it would not be in any danger of not being renewed. If Chuck permanently loses 500k viewers, it’s on the edge of being cancelled.
Chuck’s margin of error is razor thin.
While I agree with you that Chuck cannot afford to lose viewers (for whatever reason), that’s not the point.
The point is that DST is having a measurable effect on TV viewing. Just look at last night’s ratings for the Tuesday night shows
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/03/17/tv-ratings-fox-but-lost-ncis-parenthood-and-many-other-fall/45237
So far, shows are getting hit with 10% declines compared to last week. The point is that less people are watching TV because of DST. So the drop in ratings for Chuck has more to do with DST than “quality” of the show. It’s not Chuck that’s dropping, but every other show on network TV.
Personally, I’m in for the whole season – I don’t want everything wrapped up in an episode or 2. I’m fine with having mini-arcs and one or more season-long arcs. I think Chuck’s evolution should take a loooong time – in that he deals with the physical and emotional changes and demands. It would be ridiculous if he had things figured out in a few episodes.
I’m glad that there are changes to the team right now. Do I want or expect them to be permanent? No, of course not. Breaking up Team Bartowski, long term, would be certain death to the show AND I’m very confident that the boys in charge know this as well.
The Chuck & Sarah (& Shaw) stuff could be written better at times, but, again, I’m OK with not throwing them into bed or marriage either. It *should* be difficult and thoroughly thought threw if they finally work things out to be together. If it was easy, it would have been a 1 season show.
There is so much more to this show than Chuck & Sarah. I think the many “fans” who are losing interest and fatigued are trying to imprint their own hasty expectations onto a show that is anything but hasty. TPTB have urged fans to keep the faith and stick with the season – I have no reason to do otherwise, because the ride has been a bumpy thrill.
There are plot holes galore, and I’ve grown to love the show’s characters and style to look past them with a wink. If I wanted reality, I would watch something else as I suspended my disbelief after the first 10 minutes of the pilot anyway.
It doesn’t make much sense to say the ratings are because people are tired of the angst, when last episode had almost none. And ratings actually went up after Mask, the least popular episode of the season, even with very little Olympic promotion. Really it’s only on the overwhelmingly negative NBC forums that such a large number of people are unhappy with the show.
The most telling thing to me is that House dropped EXACTLY the same amount. Is the argument then that the shippers are so frustrated with Sarah/Shaw that they heard their friends talking about House/Cuddy and killed them?
Maybe, i was looking to the last week ratings and all shows went down except Life unexpected on C.W. 😀
Exactly. I saw on TVBN that the total TV viewership for last night was down more than 10%.
Look, any way you cut it, 1.9 isn’t going to get the show renewed. I was not worried about getting a season four of Chuck until I logged on to tvbythenumbers.com today and saw the overnights. Now, I am very worried.
It was a terrific episode that we all loved. The problem is not enough people watched it for whatever reason–DST, angst, apathy, it doesn’t matter. NBC is going to look at the cold, hard facts when they make the call. Trauma got axed last night. NBC has several shows in pilot mode right now, and they’re even talking about taking on 24 if Fox drops it.
If we want another season, we have got to get the numbers back up starting next week, mo matter what.
Wow. I haven’t a clue what people want. This whole season other than the season premiere has been fantastic. The a-word hasn’t entered my mind once. I hate that word! Shut uuuuuuup! Haha. Do I get bonus points for the shortest comment?
guys i have only one thing to say……..epic 3*10 has clearly shown that sarah is having feelings for shaw.In one of the articles i read “SARAH WANTS TO EXPLORE A FUTHUR WITH SHAW IN D.C”
when sarah has feelings for Shaw if chuck would go in between and say I LOVE YOU to sarah,,,,,,,,oh man,i can’t just believe he’s fallen to a such a pathetic state….every week i eargerly wait to watch a good episode in chuck, even if the episode is good, i can’t enjoy it coz the charater SARAH WALKER is adding 100% pain to the fans week after week am so exhausted about this character totaly annoyed and disapointed.
if Schwartz and Fedak + the writers think that they want to hurt us like this every week, it’s alright we are just the audiance we can do nothing….ANY WAY AFTER WATCHING CHUCK SEASON 3 I CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD “GOODMEN LIKE CHUCK HAS NO PLACE IN THIS WORLD”
ANYWAY TANKS TO NBC FOR EXTEENDING THIS SHOW BY ANOTHER 6 MORE EPISODES.IF NOT BY NOW IT’S ALL OVER ABOUT CHUCK T,V SHOW……JUST A HINT HIGH RATINGS COZ NO SHAW IF SHAW WAS THERE,,,THESE FIGIRES WOULD HAVE HEAVILY CHANGED………am so hurt with BRANDON ROUTH for disapointing us with this wiered shaw’s character.
I’ve asked you before to please stop using all CAPS.
Once again deleted for being off-topic and inflammatory. ~Mel
Spring Break in the South is this week. Keep that in mind. A lot of families are on vacation.
Add to that the entire Northeast was underwater… People were pumping out basements, or too tired to watch ANY tv.
And there are any number of areas in the NYC metro area that were without power on Monday night, too.
The only saving grace last night was House was off by a good margin, too, so
DST can be a good excuse but that can be used for 1 week only. If the ratings
don’t bounce back within the the next week or two, when most people will have
adjusted to DST, the show will be in serious, serious trouble. We’ll have to
wait and see….
That being said I agree with most of the people above that a lot of viewers
are tired and fed up with the way things are going and time is running out.
The show is slowly dying by a thousand small cuts with the show’s baseline of
support slowly but surely slipping away each week as more and more viewers are
simply turning away. They don’t like what they are seeing and watching 9 or 10
episodes is a fair enough hearing for most people to make up their minds. The
really bad thing about all of this is that the story trend cannot be corrected. Most of the episodes have been shot and they will simply have to
go with what they have for better or for worse.
It’s the same old story. When customers wants and needs are ignored, the customer will find an alternative, even if the decision is simply not to watch, or watch something else. I am not a fanatical shipper but the show this
year, on the whole , has been a major disappointment. Part of this has been due to budget cuts and I am not blaming the producers for that. On the other
hand they had all of this time to put together a good, quality storyline and
they have failed to do that. The first 3 episodes were simply terrible and
episodes 4 and 5 were just bad. Things have improved week by week with episode
6 going forward but it may be too little, too late.
For this JS and to some extent CF have to assume the major share of blame.
JS made it clear from the start that Chuck/Sarah would be kept apart this
year, no matter what, regardless of shipper wishes ( the baseline of support
for the show ), and he has kept his word. He has sown the wind and he is now
reaping the whirlwind. They knew what the vast marjority of sentiment was and
they arrogantly ignored it. The shippers were told politely to shut up and
watch the show, the producers knew best. In addition to all of that, the show’s charm has been lost. They have nobody to blame but themselves. There
will be NO major effort to save the show if the numbers don’t improve.
Having said all of this, I hope the ratings improve and the show survives. If
it doesn’t, it will be a tragedy because like most tragedies it could have and
should have been avoided.
This season as a whole was pretty much a mixed bag for me. I think writers had some really interesting ideas that were poorly executed so that made even more dissappointing. I think they are squeezing way too much plotlines that are either unnecessary or really ridiculous for a 13 episode arc. It is epecially frustrating when a new plotline is introduced and not explained. Shaw is as dry as sandpaper and the Ring is the same a Fulcrum in my opinion. There are a lot of out of character momments as well.
What I can say is that the emotional turmoil within Chuck and Sarah is very believable and its been the more interesting plots this season but it’s starting to be annoying when writers are just draging the hell out of it. I think the addition of Shaw and Hannah was a cheap road block. I felt that the writers just toss it in there just for the sake of keeping them apart. They should have came up with something more interesting or just kept the “Chuck wanting to be a spy – Sarah not liking it” storyline.
As for the ratings…..yes that scared that hell out of me. I really don’t know what to say about the DST other than fact that I can only be convinced of that factor for the ratings slump if the ratings go back to normal for the rest of the season. I don’t know if people are saying that to make themselves better or they in just plain denial. I would agree that people can get “fatigued” with a eccessively drawn out romantic angst storyline.
I still watch the show nevertheless.
Well said. Ironically, last season’s DST dip in the ratings occurred during the episodes when Cole Barker appeared on the scene. Personally I liked those two episodes on several levels, and never understood why the rating weren’t higher. Cole was a fun character with a strong and likable personality, and it made sense that Sarah would be tempted by him. Of course we all know that she ultimately chose Chuck instead. So now we are to believe that Sarah would Shaw (aka sandpaper) over Chuck? Not really believable.
But again, this current episode was one of best of the season (no Shaw), and once again the dip in the ratings is frustrating.
I don’t know if people got tired with the show but I believe that something needs to be fix it. I’m a charah fan and I try to keep positive thought with the show hoping that every week I’ll see Chuck/Sarah together but that is not happening but I’ll watch until the end.
I say this because I saw a poll in nbc site where they ask “Who is the right girl for chuck?” and you see Sarah winning with 51% and Hannah has 47%.
I never doubted that Sarah is the right girl for Chuck but when I see this I start to think that maybe this is the answer for people got tired with the show. When you choose somebody that is not even a regular character to be the perfect girl for chuck instead of Sarah this is a sad thing.
I’ve already seen that other NBC shows have been renewed (Office, Community, Parks & Rec) Any word on CHUCK yet?? This news is of a ratings dip is a little unsettling. Even though Season 3 has taken a more serious turn, I can’t imagine true fans of the show giving up & not watching. I could NEVER do that. To me, it’s still the greatest, & definitely worth watching. I loved ‘CHUCK vs. THE BEARD’ & ‘CHUCK vs. THE TIC TAC’ so much! I hope that this is a temporary blip and that the ratings don’t tank toward the end of the season forcing CHUCK to be ‘on the bubble’ yet again, or even worse….cancellation. I would be heartbroken.
I personally believe Chuck is behind the eight ball, WRT renewal.
I’d rather see CHUCK ‘behind the eight ball’ than ‘on-the-bubble’. I’ve been so disappointed to see the negativity in posts/blogs about this season. Praying that the ratings dip is due to DST and not viewers turning on the show we all felt was so worth saving. I will remain loyal! Never have missed an episode and don’t plan on starting now. I hope the ratings will be better in the coming weeks…
shame, last nights ep was brill… but i can understand why people are dropping this show… just hasn’t been as fun.
my room mate is watching season 2 – i miss the good ol days
I’ve had to delete at least a dozen posts for being off-topic or flaming. This is the RATINGS thread, not the episode discussion thread or a bash the producers/writers/other fans thread.
I couldn’t agree more with u. it’s like people are losing their sense of watching tv shows or everything.
hmmm. but i guess, it’s their choice. they like it, they watch it. they hate it, they left it behind. although they hate it, they still post opinions here. haha. that’s kinda weird. but. guys. please. i think the overall season was great with lots of dramas and actions. THAT IS WHAT WE CALL LIFE OR WHAT WE CALL REALITY. It gives u moral values and lessons. and i can’t say more because I just want to enjoy watching it.
Well the rating down as we are all expected. The writers didn’t give what customers wants. They write what they thought is good to them and it will be good to the customers. They should take the customers comments before season 3 is on air. Then they will face the musics. Like you sell the product which does meet customers specifications. If this coming episode we didn’t see any ChaRah relationship soon, may be end of Chuck. If end of episode it will be too late to save Chuck.
What’s bugging me about all of this is people taking this fictional relationship SO seriously that they’re willing to quit watching because it hasn’t progressed the way they want it to. Is the show really so awful with Chuck and Sarah/Sam apart at the moment? Is there nothing else worthwhile? Would you rather watch D-list celebrities dance? And do you think you can control the writing of any other show? Is every single show you watch doing exactly what you want it to do? And to act like Schwartz and Fedak are personally attacking them is so insane. They’re the ones that brought the show to life so without them, no Chuck. Why bother scrutinizing every little nuance and behave as if the people are real? “oh the Sarah I know would NEVER do that.” It’s just a show and a preposterous one at that. But it’s our favorite and there are many things to love and I don’t get why people are letting the separation, which will of course end at some point after much teasing, consume them in such a way. Now I hate myself for giving in and writing a diatribe like others. Ugh!
The entire show is a work of fiction. If people don’t like what they’re seeing, what reason is there to watch it? It’s also not like the only choices are Chuck, a tired episode of House, or dancing has beens. People can turn off the TV, particularly now that it’s still light outside at 8 PM. To paraphrase Jeff, they have many tasty options.
I suspect the huge drop is largely attributable to DST, but the problem remains that we have a 1.9 vs a 2.1 vs DST last season, a season in which Chuck nearly canceled. No matter how you slice it that’s a year over year loss of .2 in demo. Hopefully, this year a combination of overall better weather in the rest of the country and weather problems in the Northeast led to a greater decline and ratings will spring back to 2.4 next week.
Chuck got a 2.0 last year against DST and the premiere of DWTS. (source)
I stand corrected, but would also point out we have yet to see the ratings against DWTS.
I think Spring break has a lot to do with the stats. House usually has a very strong following and it took a hit too. The numbers should be back up next week.
The silver lining in all of this (if there really is any) is that the numbers are out for Tuesday’s shows, and every show across the major networks also nose-dived this week. The curse of Daylight Savings Time hit them hard. Tuesday staples like NCIS, The Biggest Loser, Lost, NCIS: LA, The Good Wife, etc. all had season lows. Lost tied it’s all-time low. Only American Idol was immune. (Idol is like a cockroach–it could survive a nuclear explosion.)
Hopefully, the Chuck ratings will rebound next week.
I haven’t read all the posts but can anyone say SPRING BREAK! The numbers are off due to DST and SPRING BREAK – all over the place families are vacationing, traveling, etc. This show is watched by a lot of families and this week of SPRING BREAK – especially the fact that Chuck airs on Monday (early in the week) is tough to overcome when we’ve had such a brutal winter and people are ready to get out of the rut of life.
So take heart Chuck fans! Next week will see a ratings rebound especially when all the people who skipped Mondays show (due to SPRING RBEAK) watch it on Hulu and see the momentum that is building toward a great season ending run…
I’m a Johnny-come-lately to this discussion, but screw it; here’s my two cents. As someone who’s rabidly anti-Charah and long supporter of Chuck, I’d actually looked forward to this season and the possibility that some kind of permanent, self-referential development might come about regarding Chuck, Sarah and their endless Twilight-esque abstinence tango. And by permanent, I mean please God, KILL IT WITH FIRE. Bring in Bryce 3.0 so the emotionally-retarded assassin has someone to fool around with and turn Chuck into the angsty, driven weapon that he has the capacity to be. Let’s be honest; Chuck’s transition into being a bad-ass is pure PG-13 geek porn where he gets to be Neo without the constant green tint, bullet-time effects and BS philosophy. What did Matrix 2 & 3 teach us? DON’T GIVE THE UBER-GEEK A GIRLFRIEND. He becomes lazy, stupid and insecure.
But the my experience with the show this season has only proven to me what I’d feared beforehand. Chuck has gone from being an intriguing and comical fish-out-of-water tale to one of the most schizophrenic shows I’ve ever encountered. It seems that TPTB don’t know whether the show should be The Office, 24 or The Bachelor. It’s not so surprising I suppose; when you’re literally lifted off the dung-heap by fans, you suddenly feel the pressure to be all things to all people and second-guess your second-guesses on the course of the show, hanging all the transient happenings on the context of a bland formulaic mishmash that has all the freshness and repeatability of having your face smashed with a brick.
I’m sure the writers and producers don’t care but as of Tic Tac, they’ve lost a viewer. I’m so done with the show; at least Castle is on Mondays.
-JG