“Young Sheldon” bows to strong ratings
Sheldon roars right out of the gate and so does Good Doctor
(Updated at 4:40 p.m.)
Despite hot temperatures throughout much of the country (including Chicago), viewers tuned in for the start of the new fall season on Monday, starting a week later than in recent years. The show industry watchers are keeping an eye on is CBS’ new Big Bang Theory spin-off Young Sheldon and it came out of the gate like gangbusters.
Reminder: All numbers are adults 18-49, unless otherwise noted. These tallies have been updated from earlier today.
The preview of Sheldon earned a 3.8 rating and 16.57 million viewers, holding 97 percent of Big Bang’s lead-in (4.1), the best retention ever for any show premiering out of the veteran sitcom. On Twitter, yours truly gave the series a C. Even though the writers did a great job of capturing the backstory of Sheldon Cooper, Sheldon could’ve used more laughs. Jim Parsons’ voice-over on the show as the current-day Sheldon easily draws comparisons to The Wonder Years – which originally aired in prime-time the same year Young Sheldon is set (1989). Unlike Wonder Years however, Sheldon fails to draw humor from situations and the characters. But there is room for improvement.
Sheldon made history as the first single-camera sitcom to spin-off of a multi-cam one (keep in mind even though Lou Grant spun-off of the multi-cam The Mary Tyler Moore Show, it was a drama, not a sitcom.)
Reviews on Twitter were mixed, but some of the haters put out some hilarious tweets.
oh hey, #YoungSheldon is starting, better just grab a drink real quick before i settle in pic.twitter.com/vpyvWiAAJp
— sam and em ? (@sweatersisters) September 26, 2017
Clorox should also be the drink of choice while viewing First Take, Megan Kelly Today or Live With Kelly & Ryan.
Young Sheldon premieres in its regular Thursday night time slot after Big Bang on November 2. As for Big Bang, yours truly hasn’t seen the episode yet but….come on. You knew she said yes. The only question now is whether Wil Wheaton shows up at the wedding with new bride Kenya Moore, with Mancow the best man.
Oh man… I need more of this.
Meanwhile, the second-season premiere of Kevin Can Wait – minus Erinn Hayes – earned a 2.3 rating, though down 12 percent from last year. The show spent less than one minute explaining why Erinn Hayes’ character disappeared (death) – at least they didn’t do a Judy Winslow/Chuck Cunningham crapout. But fans still deserved a better explanation – especially for a mediocre sitcom like this one.
Rounding out the CBS lineup was the equally repugnant Me, Myself, and I (1.6) – can someone tell us the three-character point-of-view in various stages of life does not work – and Scorpion, which season-premiered to an unimpressive 1.0, with around 5.6 million viewers.
Over on ABC, the premiere of The Good Doctor did impress, with a 2.2 rating, up from its Dancing With The Stars lead-in (1.4), placing first in its time slot as ABC’s prime-time lineup was pre-empted by Monday Night Football on WFAA in Dallas Good Doctor drew nearly twelve million viewers.
NBC returned with another season of The Voice – this time featuring alums from rival American Idol – Kelly Clarkson and Chicago’s Jennifer Hudson as judges. Voice drew a 2.6 rating, down 21 percent from last year. That led into new drama The Brave with a 1.3, down roughly half from its lead-in but still good enough for second place.
Finally, Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance (this is still on the air?) limped to the finish line with a 0.5, finishing ninth – behind Monday Night Football and four other cable networks.
The CW was in repeats. Their “premiere week” doesn’t begin until October 9.
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