Ratings: Betty White Wins the Night!
Betty White
Four words: The indomitable Betty White.
Up against the ballyhooed (but tepidly reviewed) debut of Fox's Alcatraz and the strong CBS Monday lineup of comedies, NBC's 90-minute tribute/special marking the Hot in Cleveland star's 90th birthday attracted the most prime-time viewers, according to Nielsen overnight data. And if that wasn't enough, the second-most watched show was the sneak peek of Off Their Rockers, White's new senior-citizens-prank-younger-folk series. At 9:30/8:30c, it outpaced everything, including the redoubtable Mike & Molly — though not in the important 18-to-49-year-old demo. And for a change, Two and a Half Men was not the night's biggest program.
The numbers for Alcatraz were 10 percent better than the two-hour premiere of Terra Nova and made it the network's strongest dramatic series debut since Lie to Me three years ago. Gossip Girl came back with numbers about on par with its fall finale.
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8 p.m.
CBS: How I Met Your Mother 10.12 million viewers (4.4 demo rating); 2 Broke Girls 11.29 million (4.5)
ABC: The Bachelor 7.36 million (2.5) {8-10 p.m.}
Fox: Alcatraz 9.97 million (3.3) {8-10 p.m.}
NBC: Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl 13.86 million (2.7) {8-9:30 p.m.}
CW: Gossip Girl 1.30 million (0.6)
9 p.m.
CBS: Two and a Half Men 12.90 million viewers (4.6 demo rating); Mike & Molly 11.17 million (3.8) {9:30 p.m.}
NBC: Betty White's Off Their Rockers 12.23 million (2.6) {9:30 p.m.}
CW: Hart of Dixie [rerun] 791,000 (0.3)
10 p.m.
CBS: Hawaii Five-0 10.50 million viewers (2.3 demo rating)
ABC: Castle 9.40 million (2.3)
NBC: Rock Center with Brian Williams 5.57 million (1.3)