TV Ratings:CBS wins Friday, 'Fringe' holds steady

TV Ratings: CBS wins Friday, 'Fringe' holds steady
By Carina Adly MacKenzie

January 29, 2011 12:50 PM ET
National ratings for Friday, Jan. 28, 2011

Once again, CBS won Friday -- this time on a soft, rerun-heavy night.
FOX's "Fringe" has held pretty steady in the volatile Friday night slot, with only a slight dip since last week's highly publicized debut. This is surely good news to fans who are hoping to see it survive into Season 4.

A last-minute scheduling change on The CW had reruns of "The Vampire Diaries" and "Nikita" in place of its mid-season premieres for "Smallville" and "Supernatural." The reruns did perform relatively well for the network despite audience displeasure with the hasty change.

Overall, CBS led with 7.6 million viewers and a 4.9 rating/9 share among households. They were followed by NBC (6.3 million, 4.1/7), ABC (4.6 million, 3.1/5), FOX (4.3 million, 2.5/4) and The CW (1.1 million, 0.8/1).

In the 18-49 demographic, FOX performed well, scoring an 1.8 and a win for the night. NBC came in second with 1.6, followed by ABC (1.3), CBS (1.2) and CW (0.5).

Friday hour by hour:

8 p.m.

CBS: "NCIS" rerun (7.6 million viewers, 5.0/9 households)
NBC: "Minute to Win It" rerun (4.3 million, 2.7/5)
FOX: "Kitchen Nightmares" (4.0 million, 2.4/4)
ABC: "Supernanny" rerun (3.5 million, 2.4/4)
The CW: "The Vampire Diaries" rerun (1.53 million, 0.9/2)

18-49 leader: "Kitchen Nightmares" (1.7)

9 p.m.

CBS: "CSI: NY" rerun (8.1 million, 5.3/9)
NBC: "Dateline: NBC" (6.9 million, 4.5/8)
ABC: "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (4.5 million, 2.9/5)
FOX: "Fringe" (4.5 million, 2.6/4)
The CW: "Nikita" rerun (1.0 million, 0.7/1)

18-49 leader: "Fringe" (1.9)

10 p.m.

NBC: "Dateline: NBC" (7.7 million, 4.6/8)
CBS: "Hawaii Five-0" rerun (7.1 million, 4.6/8)
ABC: "20/20" (5.9 million, 3.8/7)

18-49 leader: "Dateline" (1.9)

Ratings information includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change. Source: The Nielsen Company.
Source:zap2it.com

Fringe Photo Gallery: Reciprocity

HD screenshots of Fringe episode Reciprocity are now available at FringeFiles.com.

These screen caps have all been randomly selected, so if there's something that might be missing, you can request a specific Fringe screenshot in the Fringe Easter Eggs section.

Promotional photos for Reciprocity are also available at FringeFiles.com.

Fringe Easter Eggs: Observer in Reciprocity

The Observer can be in the crowd, near the Koi pond where the shapeshifter is found "swimming with the fishes".

You can see all of The Observer's other appearances here.

Fringe Easter Eggs: Glyphs in Reciprocity

The Glyphs code in the Fringe episode Reciprocity spelled out ALTER, like how the machine altered Peter and "weaponized" him.

For more information on the Fringe Glyphs, check out Fringepedia's Glyph / Symbols page, which has all the previous glyphs and codes.

Fringe Episode 311: Reciprocity

When the Fringe Team visits Massive Dynamic’s assembly of doomsday device, Walter becomes greatly concerned for Peter’s well-being, so he turns to Nina for added brain power to understand the relationship between Peter and the superweapon. Meanwhile, the discovery of a dead body triggers an intense investigation.

Discuss the episode here in the comments.

Tonight On Fringe: Reciprocity

Tonight's Fringe episode "Reciprocity", is the eleventh episode of season 3.

According to Wikipedia, Reciprocity refers to responding to a positive action with another positive action, and responding to a negative action with another negative one.

NOTE: Due to some unfortunate trolling last week, we will be moving to a new IRC channel tonight: #FringeTV on irc.mibbit.com. If you don't know what that means, just click on the LIVE Fringe chat link, and it will take you to the new channel.

As always, we'll have a LIVE Fringe chat from 9:00 PM to 12:00 PM ET, if you want to talk with other Fringe fans, during or after the show. We usually play "spot the observer", and "What's the glyph code?", plus discuss the action on the show. To join the chat, visit the Fringe chat room, enter your name or a nickname, and join the fun! (please don't use the default mib_xxxxx nickname - be creative!)

After the show, get more information on Reciprocity at:

• Reciprocity episode page on Fringepedia 
• Reciprocity screenshot gallery at FringeFiles 
• Reciprocity promotional photos at FringeFiles 

Also, don't forget to check the Fringe Easter Eggs section for Observer sightings, Glyph codes, and other Fringe hidden clues.

To discuss Reciprocity or any other episode, head over the the Fringe episode section.

How do you rate "Reciprocity"?

Good News on Fringe Ratings for The Firefly

The ratings for the first Fringe epsiode on Friday nights look pretty promising, according to Entertainment Weekly:

By some miracle of magic or science, Fox’s Fringe moved to Friday night and did not go down in the ratings.

The episode — titled “The Firefly” (nicely ironic considering the show’s move to Fox’s infamous Death Slot) — actually improved upon its most recent Thursday performance.

Fringe, which featured Christopher Lloyd as a guest star, delivered 4.9 million viewers and a 1.9 preliminary adults 18-49 rating last night. That’s right in line with its Thursday season average. Remember, Fox’s Kevin Reilly said if the show maintains its Thursday numbers on Friday, he’d renew it, so let’s hope the drama can keep this up.

Things look even better when you add in the 3-day DVR viewings:

The drama has gained an additional 42 percent thanks to DVR playback after only three days of Nielsen measurements.

Fringe jumped from a 1.9 adult demo rating on Friday night (matching its Thursday average) to a 2.7, thanks to the added viewing. Compare that to CBS’ Blue Bloods, which has averaged a 2.4 on the night. Competition will climb in the coming weeks as Fringe will face more original shows like CW’s Supernatural, but this is a great start.

Tonight was supposed to be the big test, with new episodes of Supernatural returning, but it looks like that will have to wait one more week, as the CW pushed the Supernatural (and Smallville) returns to February 4.

Like EW's Jeff Jensen, I will of course be watching Fringe live, and don't plan on watching Supernatural at all. But what about you?

How will you watch Fringe and/or Supernatural?

Fringe Photo Gallery: The Firefly

 
HD screenshots of Fringe episode The Firefly are now available at FringeFiles.com.

These screen caps have all been randomly selected, so if there's something that might be missing, you can request a specific Fringe screenshot in the Fringe Easter Eggs section.

Promotional photos for The Firefly are also available at FringeFiles.com.

Review: The Firefly

Roscoe: “Are you sure you don’t know what I’m supposed to do for you?”
Walter: “No idea.”

What a delightful episode. I had been a bit worried that Fringe would start to lose its shine now that Bolivia is back in her Bearth. (See what I did there?) But this episode managed to neatly balance on the fine line between mystery of the week and high-powered mythology.

Read more »

Tales From The Fringe Animated Graphic Novel

In the Fringe episode "The Firefly", the Observer talks to Walter about how "every action causes ripples, consequences both obvious and... unforeseen."

The Tales From The Fringe animated graphic novel shows the story of what happened when one little boy caught a firefly. The novel is divided into five chapters:

• The Observer confirms the future.
• ...every action causes ripples.
• I couldn't have known that...
• A chain of events are in motion.
• He is still alive.

He are all of the videos combined into one.

Fringe Easter Eggs: Dr. Jacoby

In the Fringe episode "The Firefly", Walter dons a pair of glasses with red and blue lenses to enable him to "see Roscoe's aura" so that he can "measure the depth of his hypnotic state". He mentions that they were created by an old friend, Dr. Jacoby from Washington state.

Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, portrayed by Russ Tamblyn, was a highly eccentric psychiatrist from the TV show Twin Peaks (IMO, one of the best TV shows ever).

Fringe Now: Alt Universe Articles - Bubonic Plague

The Fox "Fringe Now" website has a new "Alternate Universe Article", which shows a news article from the Red universe, on one of those ubiquitous iPad-type devices.

The article is titled "Bubonic Plague - Blood toxicity tests indicate that the outbreak has been eradicated." It appears that in the Red universe, Bubonic Plague has not been eradicated.

Fringe Easter Eggs: Glyphs in The Firefly

The Glyphs code in the Fringe episode The Firefly spelled out UNITES.

For more information on the Fringe Glyphs, check out Fringepedia's Glyph / Symbols page, which has all the previous glyphs and codes.

Fringe Sneak Peek 310: The Firefly

If you just can't wait any longer, here are three sneak peeks of tonight's episode "The Firefly".

Read more »

Songs In The Key Of September (Ode To An Observer)

Fringe fan lostboyragged has created this video that shows all of the Observer appearances.

Fringe Episode 310: The Firefly

An Observer makes contact with the Fringe Team to help rectify a mistake. Meanwhile, Walter befriends Roscoe Joyce (guest star Lloyd), keyboardist for Walter's favorite 1970s band, “Violet Sedan Chair.” Walter will learn the real reason the band broke up, and realize that the lives of these two men, who have never met before, overlap in strange and unexpected ways.

Discuss the episode here in the comments.

Tonight On Fringe: The Firefly

After many long weeks, Fringe is back in its new Friday night time slot. Tonight's Fringe episode is "The Firefly" - and it's the tenth episode of season 3.

As always, we'll have a LIVE Fringe chat from 9:00 PM to 12:00 PM ET, if you want to talk with other Fringe fans, during or after the show. We usually play "spot the observer", and "What's the glyph code?", plus discuss the action on the show. To join the chat, visit the Fringe chat room, enter your name or a nickname, and join the fun! (please don't use the default mib_xxxxx nickname!)

After the show, get more information on The Firefly at:

• The Firefly episode page on Fringepedia 
• The Firefly screenshot gallery at FringeFiles 
• The Firefly promotional photos at FringeFiles 

Also, don't forget to check the Fringe Easter Eggs section for Observer sightings, Glyph codes, and other Fringe hidden clues.

To discuss The Firefly or any other episode, head over the the Fringe episode section.

How do you rate "The Firefly"?

J.J. Abrams:Fringe Deserves To Live Beyond Season 3

Today's News: Our Take J.J. Abrams: Fringe Deserves to Live Beyond Season 3
Jan 20, 2011 09:40 PM ET
by Natalie Abrams

Fringe's big move to the Friday dead zone has sent fans into a panic, but series executive producer J.J. Abrams says the sci-fi series will stay true to its story no matter where it lives.

But it's not going to get more complicated either. Abrams says at the risk of cancellation, writers won't be diving further down the rabbit hole. "It absolutely would if we weren't moving to Fridays," he says.

Which is not to say things will be dumbed down. At its core, Fringe is about "a woman who was experimented on when she was a kid ... about a man who might not have come from here ... about a father who is holding incredible secrets including those that mean war," Abrams says. "These are things we talked about at the very beginning.

"To not embrace that means that we will fail on other people's terms," he continues. "So, if we're going to fail, let's go down doing the most badass, weirdest, interesting, sophisticated version of a series that we could possibly do."

On the bright side, Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly last week insisted reporters not write the show's eulogy "prematurely." He said if the viewers who watched the show on Thursdays all made the move to Fridays, it would be more than enough to keep Fringe going.

Abrams says there are no hard feelings when it comes to the network's decision. "I literally have loved being at Fox, so much so that we're doing [the series pilot] Alcatraz for Fox," he says. "Having said that, I do not want Alcatraz to get a slot only because Fringe has left one for it. My goal is that they can co-exist happily. They're two very different series, but Fringe deserves to live beyond Season 3."
Source:tvguide.com

Fringe Press Kit For Friday Move

To commemorate Fringe's move to Friday nights, Fox sent out boxes with a very special surprise inside.

The box, marked "Property of Water Bishop", also has a label "Fringe is Moving - Fri Jan 21 -9/8c FOX".

Inside the box is a letter from Fox, explaining that the box is from Dr. Walter Bishop, who is entrusting us with one of his favorite snacks.

And that snack, of course, is Red Vines - a whole tub of them. Just in time for tonight's episode!

The tub also contains a message:

Please look after these for me. We can enjoy these together on Friday. - Walter

If you haven't decided on a snack for tonight's episode, why don't you join me in eating a handful (or two) of Red Vines!

Conference Call with John Noble and Christopher Lloyd

Today was a first for me. I had the privilege of joining today's media conference call with John Noble and Christopher Lloyd. It was a very upbeat 30 minutes I'll never forget.

Noteworthy was the plug to watch an all-new Fringe tomorrow night which was announced at both the beginning and end of the call.(The Fringe Fridays folks should be happy.) Now no one in the greater US media can say they didn't know about tomorrow's new episode airing!

Read more »