ChuckTV.net The CHUCK archive
The fast overnights for “Chuck vs. the Honeymooners” are in and despite the three-week break, Chuck held steady (from the last new episode) with a 2.1 in the 18-49 demo. Approximately 5.98 million viewers tuned in, although not from Oregon. With fan reaction strong after last night’s episode, and a string of new episodes taking us to the May 24 finale, we anticipate an upward trend in the ratings from here on out.
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I was hoping for a bounce after the closing scenes from “Vs The Other Guy” finally giving the shippers (specifically the “nothing else matters” ones) what they’ve been waiting for, but steady is better than a drop.
http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/04/20/inside-pulse-tv-madness-bracket-tournament-elite-8-round-voting-continue-with-friday-night-lights-house-burn-notice-and-big-bang-theory-facing-off-against-each-other
To vote for chuck
http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/04/25/inside-pulse-tv-madness-bracket-tournament-final-4-voting-begins-with-lost-chuck-house-and-burn-notice-facing-off-against-each-other/
vote for chuck here
I’ll take that after a three week break. Hopefully the new, lighter tone will attract back some of the fatigued. Look for ratings to slowly improve.
How does Oregon factor into this?
If the ratings should hold steady at 2.1-2.2.. Would that be a death sentence? Or would that save the show? Anyone got a clue?
I think that the question NBC has to answer is – what would thay replace it with that would do better? I think we have seen enough now to know that Chuck is a steady performer. But it is not going to be a hit. It will always deliver it’s steady 2.1 – 2.4 but probably not much more. If they have something that would do better, they would. But what is it? It sure wasn’t Mercy, Trauma, or Heroes. And given the 5 hours of Leno to fill, the bar is a lot lower than it was.
I’d be surprised if Chuck didn’t get a minimum of a 13 episode mid season order as a hedge against one (or more, lol) of the new shows tanking. I would expect them to be ready early just like this year.
Bill I have to agree with you… NBC just doesn’t seem to get any new hits.. And as you said Chuck isn’t really a hit but it’s a steady performer with a loyal fan base..
So I think it really would be foolish to replace something that they know will bring a certain ammount of viewers with something that probably will fail as we have seen with Trauma or Mercy which if I’m not misstaken have about an average of 1.5-1.7 or something.
Chuck would be excellent as an midseason replacement.. Maybe I’m just saying this because I’m a big fan of the show but there isn’t many shows out there that has all the major elements such as comedy,drama,action all rolled up in one.. and there is definitely no show out there that has fans this loyal.
If they do the right thing and bring the show back, maybe they should change it’s air time to maybe Thursday or something.. Maybe make it a part of the comedy block?
I think instead of mid-season replacement, they use it as a lead-in to the new JJ Abrams spy show.
I can just see the promo tag line.
“Monday night is spy comedy night on NBC” (maybe Tuesday or Wednesday).
I still think the reason Chuck isn’t the big hit it deserves to be is the timeslot.
Look how well the season premiere did on a Sunday night (post football).
2.1-2.2 is a lifeline – not enough to save or kill the show on it’s own.
Those numbers + the state of NBC + performance of this year’s NBC pilots + a decent deal from WB should = at least mid-season replacement.
On the negative side, there’s the raft of pilots NBC is producing – reports indicate 10 hour-long dramas and 8 half hour sitcoms. That’s 14 hours of TV, and there’s only 15 hours of weekly prime time. Of that 15 hours, 6 hours are already taken up by scripted shows confirmed to be renewed, as well as Biggest Loser and Dateline. Another 2 hours taken by the highly probably renewals of Law & Order and Law & Order SVU. That brings us down to 7 hours of prime time available for yet-to-be-renewed shows (basically Chuck and Heroes) and new shows to fight over.
But there’s also the “Undercovers” wild card. Another spy show could help (by creating a theme block) or hurt (“Do we really need 2 spy shows?”) Chuck’s chances.
Excellent analysis, especially with the inclusion of the likely-to-be-picked-up Undercovers…from a marketing standpoint, having a spy-themed night would be a great idea. But it seems like that would only really work for one season…after which, the more successful show would last.
I don’t think it’s the fact that Chuck’s on a Monday, I think it’s just that Chuck really needs a good lead-in. It’s ratings would go up if it was on at 9:00 instead of 8:00.
I’d say our chances of renewal are 60/40…fingers crossed. I think I’ll stop watching NBC altogether if they both cancel Chuck and officially ax David Tennant’s pilot.
I am crossing all my fingers hoping chuck gets a renewal!!!! This episode was brilliant and we had Oregon viewers out of action last night i guess the 7+ viewings will include them!!! `we will definitely see an increase. As chuck fans we need to promote the hell out of the show and make sure we tell everyone to watch Chuck!!!!
2.1 is not great, but it’s not bad either. I expected worse. Now we get to see if the new tone and relationship work. I suspect that NBC is testing the “new” Chuck over the next couple of weeks. 2.1 for Other Guy and then a break gave little lead for this episode. A 2.1 this week gives something to build on because new episodes follow week after week. If Chuck can tick up, even a bit (say 2.2 and hopefully 2.3), then I see NBC seeing it as good news and bringing it back for 13 as a midseason replacement. If it drops, then it may see the change as too little too late, or as something that did not work for viewers, and the show is toast. From a personal point, last night was only the third episode I really looked forward to this year, and I really enjoyed it. It was fun and escapist TV. Great for a Monday night after a tough day at work leading to a tough work week!
When you consider Chuck was up against playoff hockey I think it’s pretty impressive that they picked up more viewers than they had for Other Guy. I know here in Canada a lot of my friends PVR’d Chuck to watch the Hockey game, but since my team lost in the first round, I would rather miss a period of Hockey and watch Chuck.
By the way based on fan reaction to last nights episode I have a feeling the numbers will be up next week and I only see them growing between now and the finale.
I’m looking forward to the Bartowski wedding at the end of S4.
I’m also looking forward to the Bartowski’s becoming empty-nesters in S20. the twins Samantha and Steven Bartowski will be at Stanford.
XD Season 20 HAHA Please!!! I’m still worried about season 4!!
I hope it’s not going to be to late. ;/ fingers crossed and praying hard.
I’m so happy to hear that the ratings held steady, & hope that they will continue to go up as the remainder of the episodes air.
I sort of wish that NBC would move CHUCK to Sunday nights if it gets a 4th season (hoping & praying for that 4th season!)–it seemed to do really well on Sundays, & might bring in more viewers.
Oregon wasn’t the only one that didn’t get to watch Chuck live last night. NBC also played the Blazers vs Suns game in Washington. On top of being played over the best TV show out there right now, the home team, Blazers, lost by 20 points! The inability to watch Chuck live in the northwest was done in vein! I hope NBC does the right thing and renews Chuck, this episode was just awesome! The chemistry between Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski seems so real!
Holding steady, in the broad sense, is not really good news, but it’s less negative than it could have been if the show had dropped again. Ratings like that will keep the show on the bubble until a decision is made one way or the other and other factors (expense, fan base, pilot development at NBC, etc….) may end up deciding the show’s fate if they stay down in in this range. I’m not trying to be a glass-half-empty thinker here, but steady at this late stage is still skirting very close to the edge.
BillatWork,
The ratings will probably drop a little bit with the Oregon situation (and anywhere else there were pre-emptions) since, if I recall correctly (and someone here can correct me if I stray off a bit), the overnight ratings do not accommodate program changes. Those are accounted for later in an adjustment phase that leads to final ratings. That means the Oregon ratings will be stripped out/adjusted and counted toward the NBA game that aired at the time because that’s what was being aired, not Chuck. Ratings often, unfortunately, go down in such circumstances.
The other question — what does NBC have to replace Chuck with? Answer: If they think the pilots in development have a better chance to bring in higher ratings, they will go with them. They believe they know what Chuck can do based on history. If NBC is not happy with it, then they could go with new shows. Could they be wrong to cancel Chuck and go with a new series? Sure, the new show could drop quite a bomb on the network schedule, but NBC is an unpredictable place right now. Ratings-wise, they are in a bad situation and may be reaching a point where they are willing to try anything, including dropping steady but underperforming (in their minds, ratings-wise) shows to make room for shiny, new shows that they get higher ratings. We won’t really know until May 17 at the earliest (unless NBC renews Chuck sooner).
back to general post: 🙂
If you want a positive out of this, consider: If Chuck had not received the back 6 episodes before this season started, the ratings would have already been decided… and I doubt Chuck would have been renewed. Fan reaction to the 1st 13 episodes was… ummm… exciting in many ways, and those reactions would have been among the last impressions NBC would have had before deciding the show’s fate. The ratings were not great and they could have said at that point “Well, that episode can serve as a series ender, and we don’t want to put up with another controversy among the fan base, so just cancel the thing” and that would have been that. These back 6 have a chance to improve matters. Here’s hoping it does.
Apologies for the long post. Sometimes seeing many angles of a thought has its drawbacks. 🙂
I can see NBC trotting out all it’s new projects in the Fall, while at the same time announcing a “Chuck” return for January. It is a formula that served them well this year, and will likely do so again. A certain number of the new items will catch on, and a percentage will certainly tank. Once they clear the decks of the losers in January, they will be grateful for the 5-6 millions of loyal viewers that “Chuck” delivers each week. Especially since one “Chuck” viewer is equal to three normal viewers in terms of enthusiasm, vocality and loyalty.
“enthusiasm, vocality and loyalty”
What we really need to prove though is that chuck fans are more valuable to advertisers. It might be just me but the people I know as chuck fans have more disposable income than those who watch DWTS and purchase higher quality/upscale products. Do they break down ratings this way? Remember subway got involved as they saw response to the occasional subway sandwich embedded in the show. which begs the question why haven’t they made use of the best product placement device ever devised for TV, The Buy More itself. You can’t skip commercials that are part of the show
The Buy More is a fictitious entity, a parody of Best Buy.
chuck fans should open the worlds first buy more!!!! and we could have chuck stuff in there too. like chuck card board cut outs and gadgets and the universal best buy items but by the register chuck on dvd!!!!
As David4 said the last three episodes have seemed like a totally different season, a new season, compared to the first 11 episodes. I hope that one-time Chuck viewers along with NBC realize the change. Seeing Chuck and Sarah together as a committed couple and as spies opens up so many interesting possibilities not to mention Casey and Morgan as a pair. After all we have seen I really hope that season 4 becomes a reality.
The big that annoys me in all of this is that NBC just does not support their product. This show in my opinion could be much bigger. Easily in the 3.0-4.0 range, but you just never see promotion in any way. I know its been said before, but I just can’t believe that they don’t try and get these actors out in the public more than just Comic Con. They are all so talented, it kills me that they don’t get them out there more so that people will learn more about who they are and will want to watch them. Chuck is the most underrated show in the history of TV.
Amen: I just watched “Community”, “The Office” and “30 Rock”. With so many potential viewers to be had and such a similar demographic appeal, you’d think I would have seen one “Chuck” promo. Guess what? No promo. What a wasted opportunity.
One thing of interest to me is the Hart to Hart connection that they are now pushing. It’s interesting for a number of reasons. First, Hart to Hart was originally scripted as a spy story and converted into a wealthy-couple-does-detective-work story. Chuck seems to be morphing into the original Hart to Hart concept. Second, that orginal Hart to Hart concept is what the new JJ Abrams story is supposed to be. If I were JJ, I’d either be thrilled at the prospect of a night of spies or really mad that NBC is allowing a bubble show with passionate fans who could backlash against my show if their show is cancelled mimic a show I’m developing. Not really sure what ultimately to make of it, but it sure could be interesting. Oh, and one last connection. Hart to Hart was, in a way, a modern retelling of the Nick and Nora Charles Thin Man stories…and remember, last night Chuck and Sarah were the Charleseseses….
Just read over at TVByTheNumbers that final ratings are in and Chuck held steady at 2.1 in the all-important demos. I think it lost overall viewers, though, because of the NBA game, but the demo is the number of most importance so, that’s good news.
One new show aired, 2 (5?) to go before decision day (May 17th, if NBC holds firm, later if they wait for the rest of the shows to air before deciding). Chuck fans, good luck to the ratings race to the end, especially with May sweeps coming up.
2 more shows before NBC has to make up its mind. While it held steady – which isn’t a bad thing – it needs to boost the demo up in the next two shows to make a really solid case for renewal. It did increase its live viewership, even losing the Portland market. The way things look now, Chuck would be a 13 episode pickup, either for mid-season or as an emergency replacement.
has anyone noticed that when promoted chuck does really well in the ratings. (ex: season premier, third dimension)
I agree with you. I notice that it does rally good when promoted.
I wish it got more promos.
Now that we know that many northwestern states were unable to watch it will the network take that into consideration? I hope so.
I’m also glad that it held steady. I hope the rating slowly go up. I have my finger and toes (yes not possible) cross for a new season.
GO CHUCK~~!!!
I commend the NBC brass for having enough faith in “Chuck” to have given us a season 3. But I have to chastise them for lacklustre promotion. They could have had a bigger audience each week if they’d got more imaginative and aggressive with promotion. One of the complaints I’ve heard from fair-weather fans is that the promos they do see are often misleading, that they seem to show some nice progression in the C&S relationship, only to deliver disappointment when the show actually aired. This was the opportunity of the show’s lifetime, as “the Honeymooners” finally delivered on the promise.
Zac and Yvonne’s chemistry is off the charts! Amazing episode! And that ending…WOW! One of the best, romantic and sexy closing scenes of any TV show I’ve ever seen.
Hey guys, sorry I didn’t get a chance to do a review of the latest episode, I got slammed with work! However; I did Introduce the show to more of my fans and this weekend I got my family addicted too. Actually they had a Chuck a ton and watched the entire 1st Season. Anyway I agree with most of you saying that Chuck will probably be back in Jan 2011. I don’t really understand the ratings, but all we can do is keep spreading the word and getting more “new” viewers for the best and most unique show on Tv. Still if there is anything Chucktv.net needs or help with anything in the future you know how to find me.
– Kwing
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