TV Club Power Rankings are The A.V. Club’s way of demystifying television ratings—while also claiming some of the authority of those ratings for ourselves. The power rankings formula pulls the numbers from TV’s most-trusted ratings source, Nielsen, and combines them with our own community and editorial metrics. It’s not a method of predicting what TV shows will be canceled or renewed, but it does demonstrate the series that have staying power in the eyes of The A.V. Club and its readers.
It’s a sad twist of fate that the end of Ben And Kate and Don’t Trust The B—— In Apartment 23 came down during a week when there were no astronomical Big Bang Theory numbers against which their ratings could be stacked up. Apartment 23 received the axe during the week where it didn’t even have a chance to defend itself; Ben And Kate was actually up a tick among adults under 50, ending its brief run on the TV Club Power Rankings charts above the penultimate episode of Last Resort at No. 21.
The end of these two shows and the continued floundering of Go On (down to 4 million total viewers and a positively Fox-like 1.3 in the target demo) indicates that Tuesday is a lost cause for the three broadcast networks that scrambled to claim the night for their emerging comedies. Once Raising Hope wraps its third season in March, Fox will ride a reality/sitcom split with Hell’s Kitchen leading into New Girl and The Mindy Project; ABC was already planning to sub in Dancing With The Stars during the spring before giving the keys to the entire 9 o’clock hour to Happy Endings. At least New Girl was able to get one over the Naval Criminal Investigative Service while LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell were on shore leave: Its 2.2 18-49 rating is its highest since the start of the TV Club Power Rankings.
ABC owns Wednesdays—and without Big Bang competition, Modern Family’s free to claim the top spot in the power rankings—and NBC has a historical claim to Thursdays, but after this week, Tuesday returns to being a comedy no man’s land, which is a perfect metaphor for a night when all anyone wants to watch are employees of the armed forces solving crimes. Unless there’s a naval equivalent—it’s definitely not international waters, where anything goes and the NCIS would have no jurisdiction. Has anyone considered pitching that as a comedy?
THE TOP 10
- Modern Family (10.8 million total viewers, 4.2 18-49 rating, 44.3 TV Club Power Rankings)
- How I Met Your Mother (10.1 million total viewers, 3.7 18-49 rating, 40.6 TV Club Power Rankings)
- The Following (10.4 million total viewers, 3.2 18-49 rating, 30.7 TV Club Power Rankings)
- Parks And Recreation (3.9 million total viewers, 1.9 18-49 rating, 29.3 TV Club Power Rankings)
- 30 Rock (3.4 million total viewers, 1.3 18-49 rating, 15.1 TV Club Power Rankings)
- The Office (4.2 million total viewers, 2.1 18-49 rating, 13.9 TV Club Power Rankings)
- Fringe (3.3 million total viewers, 1.1 18-49 rating, 13.3 TV Club Power Rankings)
- New Girl (4.1 million total viewers, 2.2 18-49 rating, 13 TV Club Power Rankings)
- Suburgatory (6.1 million total viewers, 2.2 18-49 rating, 11.6 TV Club Power Rankings)
- The Middle (8.6 million total viewers, 2.5 18-49 rating, 9.8 TV Club Power Rankings)