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If you spent the Thanksgiving weekend anything like my family and I did, it involved a lot of stuffing your face with ill-advised foods and maybe glancing at a football game or two before drifting off into a wine-induced slumber. I barely watched any TV at all over the weekend, and the fact that most shows were reruns made that feat quite easy indeed.
Medium showed a repeat from season 5 called, “The Man in the Mirror,” guest-starring Arrested Development’s Jeffrey Tambor (whom I love). Overall, I enjoyed the episode, but many of you commented that it wasn’t a strong choice to re-air. However, while the Friday night audience really just wanted to sit in front of the TV and watch a movie they’ve seen a million times before like Ice Age Two or The 40-Year-Old Virgin, more people decided to watch a re-run of Medium than a new episode of Ugly Betty.
CBS didn’t actually win the night with its re-run lineup, as their 18-49 demographic average was 1.2 as compared to FOX’s 1.4, but they still managed to snag the most total viewers, with 5.31 million to FOX’s 4.79, proving that CBS is still a contender, even with re-runs.
Medium actually came in third in its hour in the 18-49 demographic, with 1.2, as compared to The 40-Year-Old Virgin on NBC, which had a 1.3, and Ice Age Two, which won the hour with 1.5. Ice Age also won in total viewers, garnering 5.19 million in its second hour, while Medium moved up to second place with a very close 5.11 million viewers. It was followed by Virgin with 3.86 million.
Ordinarily, I would be concerned that Medium came in third, but the fact that it trounced the only other scripted series in the timeslot is a good sign. It’s an even better sign because Ugly Betty was airing a new episode. Betty only managed to get 3.39 million total viewers and a 0.9 in the 18-49 demographic. So, compared to those numbers, Medium’s numbers are respectable.
It’s also worth pointing out that all of CBS’s ratings were pretty close together. Ghost Whisperer had 5.63/1.3, and Numb3rs had 5.19/1.1. So while CBS didn’t win the night, the numbers indicate that they will easily reclaim their crown as soon as new episodes start airing.
Buy the DVDs on Amazon
Medium: The Complete Fifth Season
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Ice Age – The Meltdown
Arrested Development – Season One
Image: NBC
I was out visiting with family Friday night so I didn’t watch anything Friday but I don’t know if I would have watched this repeat anyway. I remember it well since it was on not that long ago and was not too exciting. Although it wasn’t terrible there is nothing about it that would draw me into watching it another time.
I am surprised it did so well with that repeat. It was not one of Mediums best episodes but it worked out good in the ratings anyway, which is a good sign for Medium.
I agree, I like the episodes where the crime and suspense are the A plot and with the family as the B plot. This was missing the crime and suspense so not a good one for me anyway.