‘Marvel’s Agent Carter’ & ‘MasterChef Jr’ Ratings Down, Special ‘CSI’ Hits Season High, ‘Flash’ Slips
It was a mixed night of encores and originals on the networks last night with a loss of traction in the superhero worlds. Almost halfway through its eight-episode run and last week’s State of the Union preemption, Marvel’s Agent Carter (1.3/4) really started extending its reach into the greater Marvel Universe last night with the return of Howard Stark, a bloody discovery, some surprising moves by a neighbor, and an inevitable Stan Lee cameo. Compared to its last original on January 13, last night’s episode was down 13%. Part of that had to be because the Captain America spinoff series had a lead-in of a Shark Tank (1.4/4) repeat, which was down 22% from the entrepreneur reality show’s original special that aired two weeks ago in the 8 PM slot. In an encore bookend of Agent Carter, a repeat of Forever (0.7/2) closed ABC’s night.
Over on the CW, The Flash (1.3/4) saw the debut of villain the Pied Piper but it seems not a lot were joining in to follow him, if you know what I mean. After an October 7 premiere that was the most-watched telecast ever for the network and a great bump with an Arrow crossover, the strong freshman show based on the DC Comics character lost its footing slightly last night: The Scarlett Speedster was down 7% to trip into a low in early fast nationals. That stumble carried over to lead-out Supernatural (0.8/2), which was down 11% to a season low of its own in preliminary numbers.
Things simmered a bit on MasterChef Junior (1.6/5) with a drop of 11% from last week in the key demo. However, the Gordon Ramsay show, Fox’s only original on Tuesday, was tied with CBS’ special CSI (1.6/5) for the highest-rated original of the night among adults 18-49.
That special CSI was the only original on CBS in Tuesday’s primetime. Not that it hurt at all. Coming two days after its last airing in its regular Sunday 10 PM slot and just a few weeks before it ends its current run, the veteran procedural had its best adults 18-49 and viewership result of its current 15th season with a strong rise of 23% over its January 25 show in the slot. Compared to the last Person Of Interest in the same Tuesday slot, last night’s CSI was basically steady with a 6% dip. On more of the upside, the Ted Danson- and Elisabeth Shue-led ensemble pulled in 10.27 million viewers, topping its September 28 season-premiere audience of 9.36 million and its January 4 winter return viewership of 8.62 million.
In a remarkably case of demo steadiness, the repeats of NCIS (1.6/5) and freshman NCIS: NOLA (1.6/5) got the same 18-49 results as the new CSI. However, the 8 PM NCIS encore easily was the most-watched show of the night with an audience of 12.78 million. Overall, CBS was the highest-rated network of the night and the most watched with 11.56 million tuning in.
Of the Big 4, NBC was the closest to having a full slate of new shows last night — with the exception of a Chicago Fire (0.8/3) repeat at 10 PM, it was all originals on the Peacock. Three weeks into its seventh and final season, the double shot of Parks And Recreation at 8 PM (1.4/4) and 8:30 PM (1.3/4) were even with last week and down 7%, respectively. The 9 PM Marry Me (0.7/2) was also even with last week while struggling About A Boy (0.8/2) took an 11% fall. Granted it’s early numbers, but that result ties a series low for the comedy, which rarely sees much of an adjustment in later numbers.
Related stories
Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
