Wednesday's ratings roundup:
8 pm/ET
An audience of 22.5 million total viewers tuned in for American Idol, marking a 9 percent increase over last week's results show. (But really, Tatiana? Oh, the pain had best end tonight.) Knight Rider's series finale managed a distant second with 5.76 million viewers, representing a 21-percent drop-off from the show's debut.
Trailing repeats of CBS sitcoms and Lost, the season premiere of America's Next Top Model averaged 3.89 million viewers over its two-hour run, up 11 percent from its previous opener. Plus, to paraphrase Dr. Johnny Fever, you should see what it's doing with teenage girls!
9 pm
Opposite a Criminal Minds repeat, Lost won the hour and the demos with 10.61 million viewers, a gain of 800K from last week's Idol-ized outing. In third, Fox's Lie to Me (10.2 mil) was down 9 percent.
10 pm
Even with CSI: NY and Law & Order serving leftovers, the freshly canceled Life on Mars (5.67 mil) managed just a 100K gain.
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Some of this TV season's "bubble shows" are starting to pop, while others continue to ride the fence — or even safely hop off.
Case in point: Despite sagging ratings and amid backstage upheavals, Heroes will fight another day. The Peacock's onetime pride and joy is likely to return in the fall for 18 to 20 episodes, NBC entertainment president Angela Bromstad told the Hollywood Reporter, though an actual pick-up order has yet to be placed.
One thing playing in Heroes' favor is ...
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Knight Rider is changing gears for the back half of the season.
Recently granted a full season by NBC, the drama is now out to finish its freshman year on a high by undergoing a major reboot. Rider is set to ...
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In this tough, low-rated TV season, NBC is the first network to reshuffle its lineup. What's the Peacock's solution? Crime night!
According to the Hollywood Reporter, starting Wednesday Nov. 5, NBC will present a block of crime dramas: Knight Rider at 8 pm/ET, Life at 9 pm (moving in from Fridays at 10), and the return of longtime staple Law & Order at 10 pm.
Details on the other programming tweaks after the jump.
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A couple weeks ago, NBC ordered more scripts for Knight Rider. Now, the Peacock has ordered the back nine episodes, making Rider the third freshman show to receive a full-season pickup this year behind Fringe and 90210.
The order also marks NBC's first ...
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