After an arduous renewal campaign that saw fans rushing to Subway for five-dollar foot-longs and Tweeting until their fingers bled, the third season of Chuck premiered last Sunday night. It settled into its regular slot on Monday, followed by Heroes at its new time.
NBC’s decision to pair Heroes with Chuck seems like a smart move: they each need to pull their weight in ratings if they want to stick around for another season; and since they are the network’s only fantasy-esque offerings, the audience should be equally invested in both — right?
Well, not exactly.
Apparently, the Save Chuck (#savechuck) campaign did more than bring the show back for a third season. Sunday night’s two-hour premiere pulled in staggering ratings for the sci-fantasy/romantic dramedy. (That description has been one of the Chuck’s biggest hang-ups. How do you market something that can’t be pegged in a specific genre?) And Monday night it fared even better.
According to TVbytheNumbers.com, Chuck “scored the show’s highest regular-slot results in 18-49 and total viewers since the special 3-D telecast on February 2, 2009, the night after the Super Bowl.” Additionally, it was up 18 percent in 18-49 ratings and 14 percent in total viewers.
But Nerd Herd solidarity didn’t spill over to 9:00. Fox’s special airing of Fringe eviscerated Heroes, drawing in over seven million viewers, while Heroes barely clung to four million. It was the worst-rated Heroes telecast ever.
It’s no secret that program slotting at NBC is volatile right now. Nothing is safe — unless you’re a Law and Order. The network is fast-tracking a dozen freshman programs to fill the 10 p.m. Leno Dead Zone. And after the already-infamous late night debacle, they can’t afford to hang on to flailing programs.
What does that mean for NBC’s only fantasy-esque shows?
Well, both Heroes and Chuck are on pretty steep trajectories. Unfortunately, they’re heading in opposite directions.
Chuck went from the bubble, to a 13-episode mid-season renewal, to a 19-episode pickup. And now it’s pulling better ratings than ever.
Heroes, on the other hand, cannot seem to hold its footing. They’ve pulled out all the publicity stops this season, including a faux-lesbian storyline for cheerleader Claire. (And we all know “kiss the lesbian” is the new “jump the shark.”)
Tonight, Chuck and Heroes go up against CBS’ always well-rated sitcom night and a special two-hour 24 event on Fox. It will be interesting to see if Chuck can hold onto his momentum in the face of Jack Bauer.
As for Heroes, well, at least it’s beating out reruns of Gossip Girl.
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I just rewatched Season 2 this past weekend (and rewatched Season 1 before Christmas) and you’re right. It does keep getting better. Can’t wait for tonight’s ep!
“Kiss the lesbian”! Ha! That slays me.
“Kiss the lesbian” is SO the new “jump the shark.” Good call.
I agree that the genre designation (or lack thereof) is problematic, and the hyphen-loving name they gave to it doesn’t even seem accurate. I’m glad that, at least for now, that doesn’t seem to matter.
Go Chuck!!! Have loved it since the beginning and can’t wait to see more.
I actually think this season of Heroes is quite good. One of the best in recent years, but they’ve bled too many viewers who won’t come back and give the show another chance that I expect this to be the last season. If it is, at least it is a good season.
Now that 24 is back, though, Heroes really stands no chance.
So i watched merin season 2 already and i think nbc might cancell it i could barely sit throuh the finale so i just watched the ending
While I’ve been a big Heroes fan, the shark and lesbian events have knocked down my loyalty a notch or two. Thanks to the rise of Samuel Sullivan, I’m still on board, and remain hopeful for a captivating season.
As for Chuck, I’ve never seen it, but today I’ve been converted. It’s catch up time!
Only four episodes into the new season of CHUCK and I’m ready to crown it as the best season yet. Meanwhile, I’ve heard nothing but horrid things about HEROES, a show that I loved during its first season and suffered through during its second before finally bailing early on in the third.
Looking forward to seeing how CHUCK did last night. Hopefully a former ADA and a certain Man of Steel helped it retain its strong ratings.
I don’t watch shows and whatnot, but I love what you’ve written and I hope you’ll write more.
Hello, HeatherHogan.
I just thought of something I remember about Heroes: You know how the show’s logo has the funny “O” in “HEROES” that’s just a dark hole? One time, on his blog, Brandon posted a picture of it with a “P” in the middle of the “O” so that it looked like “HERPES”.
Go television!
Hello again.
does anyone even watch heroes anymore?
I tried to watch Heroes in the second season because I’d heard how good the first season was, but I think I fell asleep every episode.
Sometimes I feel “meh” about Chuck, until I watch an episode and I’m all, “oh yeah, this show rules.”
PEEFER! You MUST watch Chuck! It is awesome! Awesomer even than Gossip Girl.
Oh my goodness. I watched the Zac Levi thing on Conan last night and it was so funny. My friend didn’t like it but I think he was just jealous of Chuck’s vest.
24? Is that still a thing? I haven’t heard anyone say a word about it since college.
My favorite thing about the Conan thing was when they talked about the teabagging. Amazing. (Also: Tom Brokaw.)
“Kiss the lesbian” is definitely the new JTS… I’m behind on Chuck, but my DVR is saving them for me, and I’m really looking for them.
I don’t understand the appeal of Heroes. There’s all these characters and they all do different special power things and have dramatic relationships and blahdy blah, I’m bored even with that sentence already. I am way behind on Chuck (I’ve seen the pilot and the one’s with Summer from the OC), but I at least want to watch it, which, given that I’ve pretty much abandoned all TV shows unless I am sitting on a couch near a TV that someone else happens to turn on, is saying something.
Every year I start to watch Heroes, every year I slowly get involved in the stories. But every year I see the conclusion to the story arc in the season finale and I wonder why I just wasted a year of my life.
Beating the hell out of a Hell God with a troll’s enchanted hammer and jumping into a swirl of mystical energy to save your sister, now that is a season finale worth tuning into.