Is There Anybody Out There ... Watching?

Well, ratings for the past week have come in and I have to wonder, what's happening?  Seems like nearly every show lost viewers either from last season or the previous week with very few exceptions.  It could be that there is just too much on all at once, but that's what DVRs are for and I think networks are trying to figure out some kind of ratings/tracking system for shows that are watched after their actual air times - a very common practice nowadays. 

Personally, I've never had confidence in the Nielson Ratings system.  I have never in my lifetime met someone who has had a Nielson box in their home or known anyone else to have either.  I know that I personally fall outside of the demographics range given to many shows that I watch (18-34), as are likely countless others, but that fact will never be known because my habits aren't being tabulated.  Question is, who ARE these Nielson families?  WHERE are they and what the heck ARE they watching?

Well, according the afore-mentioned ratings for this past week, these are the winners:

Two and  Half Men - heaven knows they promoted the season premiere enough and had a big enough watch-worthy event - the replacement of Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher - so it's no surprise.  We'll have to see what happens next week.

Another non-surprise - Modern Family.  This is the steamroller of the TV landscape.  Seems it can do no wrong, Emmys sweep and all.  I have not watched the show yet only because I've always had viewing conflicts on that night but I believe it when I'm told how good it is and I'm looking forward to catching up with it when it inevitably comes to syndication.

Happily New Girl also had a big opening week.  I'm a fan, so I was pleased to hear it.

Strong but not stellar debuts/returns included How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Person of Interest, Revenge and Raising Hope. Less than stellar but somewhat solid were the debuts of Charlie's Angels and Prime Suspect (I recommend watching the latter FAR more than the former...).

But the amount of series that all dropped in their numbers is staggering, even shows that have been considered mega-hits, like The Mentalist, Glee, Parks & Recreation and Dancing With the Stars.  And it doesn't seem to matter if the shows are on Monday, Wednesday or the dreaded Friday (which I think has the strongest lineup of shows in years, with Supernatural, Fringe and Nikita), or what network - all seemed to take hits.

Here are some other dippers:


Fringe
Kitchen Nightmares
Blue Bloods
Supernatural
Nikita
Hawaii Five-0
The Biggest Loser
90210
Ringer
Survivor
Up All Night
Harry's Law
America's Next Top Model
Community
The Office
Vampire Diaries
The Secret Circle

So what, pray tell, is everybody/anybody watching out there?  Please leave comments below and let me know what's in your To-View list.