I am – Hercules!!

Friday 18-49 finals (previous weeks in parentheses):

2.8 (1.7) (1.6) (2.0) (1.5) (1.7) (2.3) 20/20
1.9 (2.0) (2.1) (2.0) (2.2) (1.7) (2.3) Ghost Whisperer
1.9 (1.9) (2.1) (1.9) (2.0) (1.9) (2.1) Medium
1.8 (----) (----) (----) (----) (----)(----) Law & Order (9 p.m.)
1.8 (1.7) (1.8) (1.8) (1.6) (1.6) (1.8) Numbers
1.7 (1.4) (1.5) (1.6) (1.5) (1.2) (1.2) Law & Order (8 p.m.)
1.3 (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) SpongeBob's Truth or Square
1.3 (1.3) (1.1) (----) (----) (----) (----) Supernanny
1.2 (1.1) (1.2) (1.4) (----) (----) (----) Ugly Betty
1.2 (1.2) (1.4) (1.3) (1.4) (1.4) (1.6) The Jay Leno Show
1.2 (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Bones
1.2 (1.1) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) House
1.1 (1.0) (1.5) (1.0) (1.1) (----) (1.1) Monk
1.1 (1.1) (1.1) (1.1) (0.9) (0.9) (0.9) Smallville
0.9 (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Fanboy & Chum Chum
0.9 (1.2) (1.4) (----) (----) (----) (----) White Collar
0.7 (0.8) (0.8) (0.9) (1.0) (0.9) (----) Stargate Universe
0.7 (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Cavaliers vs. Knicks
0.7 (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Spurs vs. Trailblazers
0.5 (0.7) (0.4) (0.6) (----) (----) (0.9) College Football
0.5 (0.5) (0.5) (0.6) (0.7) (----) (----) Sanctuary
0.5 (0.4) (0.5) (0.6) (0.5) (0.5) (0.5) America’s Next Top Model

* “20/20” scored a season high with Diane Sawyer’s interview of knocked-around befeathered songstress Rihanna.

* “L&O” didn’t beat typical Friday champs “Ghost Whisperer” and “Medium” after all.

* While “L&O” is still a shadow of its former self (and the lowest-rated NBC show besides “Dateline” and “Leno”), the two new Friday episodes of “L&O” gave the series its two highest scores of the season.

* “Numbers” also didn’t beat “Whisperer” and “Medium” in the finals

* Depressingly for fans of any component of Fox’s regular Friday line-up, repeats of “House” and “Bones” outscored every first-run episode of “Brothers,” “‘Til Death” and “Dollhouse” broadcast on a Friday this season.

* Despite a stronger-than-usual Friday lead-in from “L&O,” “Leno” for the third time in eight days matched its all-time low of 1.2 in 18-49:

1.2 (1.3) (1.4) (1.5) (1.5) (1.7) (1.8) (5.3) Mon
2.0 (1.8) (1.8) (1.8) (2.1) (2.3) (2.5) (3.4) Tue
1.4 (1.5) (1.5) (1.8) (1.7) (1.9) (2.0) (3.5) Wed
1.6 (1.5) (1.6) (1.8) (1.7) (1.6) (1.7) (2.7) Thu
1.2 (1.2) (1.4) (1.3) (1.4) (1.4) (1.6) (2.2) Fri

* “Spongebob's Truth or Square” out-absorbed “Leno” in adults 18-49 (and clobbered Leno in overall viewers).

* “White Collar” is now pulling a smaller 18-49 than “Smallville,” having plummeted from 1.4 to 0.9.

* “Stargate Universe” hit another series low.

* For the second week in a row, the overnights gave “Smallville” a false increase. Finals revealed the show to be flat again at 1.1 instead of up at 1.2. For those asking if a slight rebound in “Smallville” ratings guarantees the show a 10th season, I’m inclined to point out a few facts:

a) “Smallville” likely remains (thanks in part to Tom Welling’s salary) The CW’s most expensive shows to produce.

b) It’s now dead last among Friday’s weak field of Big Five first-run shows and sometimes even lags Friday cable fare like “Monk” and “White Collar.” Even if Friday’s 1.2 sticks, “Smallville” also remains among The CW’s lowest-rated series:

CW current first-run season averages in 18-49:
1.76 The Vampire Diaries
1.49 America’s Next Top Model
1.23 Supernatural
1.13 One Tree Hill
1.11 Gossip Girl
1.10 90210
1.01 Smallville
0.78 Melrose Place

c) According to the finals, “Smallville” garnered 2.63 million viewers Friday; that’s a long way under the 4.76 million viewers per episode “Smallville” averaged during seasons one through eight (to say nothing of the series’ 6.3 million season-two peak).

d) Last season, when “Smallville” was pulling a substantially bigger audience, CW execs thought long and hard about replacing it with, among other things, “The Graysons” (a look at Batman when he was a boy).

Find James Hibberd’s analysis here.

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