Fox's 'Secret Millionaire' wins hour; CBS tops night

The second week of Fox's potent reality series "Secret Millionaire" continued to perform strongly for the network.

"Millionaire" (7.2 million viewers, 2.7 preliminary adults 18-49 rating, 8 share) won the 8 p.m. hour Wednesday against original series and an NBC special. The show was up 17% from its debut in the time period, though down slightly from its second episode that aired at 9 p.m. last week. Paired with a repeat of "Bones," "Millionaire" helped Fox place second in the adult demo for the evening.

CBS was first, with sitcoms "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (8.3 million, 2.2/7) and "Gary Unmarried" (8.0 million, 2.4/7) having their best total viewers delivery of the season. "Criminal Minds" (14.7 million, 3.9/10) and "CSI: NY" (13.2 million, 3.5/10) easily dominated their respective hours and made gains from their last original airings.

ABC was third, airing "Pushing Daisies" (5 million, 1.6/5), an on par "Private Practice" (6.9 million, 2.4/6) and "Dirty Sexy Money" (5.2 million, 1.8/5).

Fourth-ranked NBC had the special "Little Spirit: Christmas in New York" (5 million, 1.4/4), followed by "Life" (5.5 million, 1.8/5) and "Law & Order" (7.5 million, 2.2/6), with both crime procedurals dropping slightly from last week.   

Comments

[James]

so glad to see that Christine and Gary are doing well -- they are the best sitcom hour on television -- I really hope that they move out of Idol's path however come January. I really think they can do well on Thursdays against those unfunny sitcoms on NBC or at least a move to 9P on wed. Everytime they were against dancing with the stars, their ratings dropped and Idol will be no different.

[Kelly Hughes]

CBS will certainly not move CSI, Survivor or Criminal Minds for the sake of those two sitcoms. The whole point of a network schedule is not to save shows by protecting them from competition, but to have the best overall programming plan for the week. That being said, Wed at 8 has been a sinkhole for CBS. They haven't had a hit there since The Nanny ten years ago. So, I think they're reasonably happy that these shows are providing 8 million eyeballs leading into Criminal Minds. (If these shows were on NBC or ABC, they'd be considered hits.)

[Dave]

I'm extremely happy that Old Christine and Gary finally placed first in their time-slot! It's unfortunate that Idol will be coming in soon to spoil what has been a consistent ratings climb from the beginning of the season.

Unfortunately, nobody knows what CBS thinks of the show's performances. I guess we'll see when May comes... or sooner!

[Ken]

I'm glad NBC's "Little Spirit" did so poorly.

How does something so unoriginal, so lame, so horrifying to the senses even get made?

In a long line of cheap, shallow, tawdry, trite commercials that try to pass themselves off as "Holiday specials" - Little Spirit takes the whole genre to a new low.

Let's start with the fact that we have a cast of characters about whom we feel nothing - quite frankly, Leo is simply a boring kid we're all supposed to feel sorry for because his dog ran away - yet I couldn't muster the tiniest bit of sympathy for this flat character. The "city of strangers" with whom Leo is supposed to be bonding throughout this hour of misery are nothing but worn-out New York City cliches. The dog is annoying - and Macy's has yet to grasp the concept of subtlety when it comes to brand placement.

Then we get into the "magical" part - Little Spirit seems like nothing but a cheap rip-off of "Lilo and Stitch" - voice and all - with flashbacks to "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" - but without the fun nor the depth.

If this is the new bar which holiday specials must reach, then God help us, every one.

[gooddeedstv]

Secret Millionaire is AMAZING! What a great show! We all need a little something to believe in right now. Thanks FOX for taking a chance - keep Secret Millionaire on the air!

[STEPHANIE BOATWRIGHT]

I'AM TRY TO BUILD 28 SMALL HOUSE'S FOR BATTEREDWOMAN AND KID'S AND A CHURCH WITH A DAYCARE THE LAND IS $800.000 AND I ALSO NEED SOME ONE TO BUILD I HOPE TO GOD YOU CAN HELP ME IT WILL BE CALL ASIA'S HOUSE OF GLORY. I LIVE AND HAMPTON G.A

[matt]

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE FINALLY GETTIN" THE RESPECT IT DESERVES

VERY NICE TO SEE.

Just a year ago CBS wasn't sure where to put it, whether to order a full season of it, or even if they should bring it back. So its nice to see them rewarded for their patience...even if they only brought it back to beat those rumors about ABC wanting to pick it up.

Also I never anticipated Christine doing well in this timeslot (it killed Yes Dear for god's sakes--that show was unkillable) so I (and i'm sure the cbs execs) are very nicely surprised by its performance this season. (i was kind of assuming worst week would tank and christine would get shoved back into its slot and flashpoint would get called into the wed at 8 spot)

CBS had Jericho there two years ago...i know jericho did poorly but it did do much better then many other shows in that time period over the last decade which is why i was surprised when it was axed.

Anyways here's to CHRISTINE making it to syndication in two years! (whoo hoo--thanks to its performance this season i think we just might see it happen now!)

[Nicole]

Well done Fox!!!! This is by far the best reality show I have ever witnessed! You would have thought I was being given 100,000 dollars, I was crying with joy right along with them, and so was all the family and friends I told to watch it. I want more!!! I hope this shows does well and continues. God bless those giving millionaires!