“MacGyver” tops Friday ratings
CBS remake scores decent sampling; Church of Tisch dominates the evening
Note: These results are based on adults 18-49 preliminary ratings.
On The Simpsons, Patty and Selma said they’re favorite TV show was MacGvyer, the 1985-92 ABC series featuring Richard Dean Anderson (it was even part of a plot of one 1992 episode where Selma marries Sideshow Bob.)
So you wonder what they would think of the new MacGyver series, airing on CBS this season (we might find out – The Simpsons is still on the air.) But viewers were interested.
MacGyver earned a 1.7 rating and a 7 share and drew 10.9 million viewers, finishing first in its time period, and was the highest-rated show of the night. This despite a 38 Metacritic rating – a complete thrashing by the critics. MacGyver’s strong sampling set the stage for CBS to dominate the evening with the season premieres of Hawaii-Five-O (1.3/5, 10.1 million viewers), and Blue Bloods (1.3/4, 10.4 million.)
Over on Fox, the premiere of The Exorcist drew a 1.0 rating, down slightly from its Hell’s Kitchen lead-in (1.1). The results were about what was expected.
ABC struggled with the season premieres of Last Man Standing (1.1/4) and Dr. Ken (0.9/4), both down from last year. As a reminder, syndicated repeats of Last Man air on WGN-TV weeknights at 8 and 8:30 p.m.
Shark Tank scored a surprisingly low 1.1/4. Generally, the reality series averaged around a 1.7 rating. This lead to a 0.8/3 for the season premiere of 20/20, not exactly a riveting performance.
NBC had special encores of Superstore and The Good Place (0.6/3 each), leading into Dateline NBC, with a 1.0.
The only original to air on CW was Masters of Illusion, which didn’t master the ratings at 0.3.
Finally – like I do every time I write about the sea of mediocrity that is Friday night television, I have to mention the lone standout – WTTW’s Chicago Tonight: The Week In Review. On a night where Dallas, Miami Vice, The X-Files, Family Matters, and Full House used to rule, this longtime public-affairs program (and variously-titled shows with Geoffrey Baer that follow afterward) are the only Friday shows worth watching. And this season, it’s no different. A MacGyver reboot? This night has became a MacJoke.