Sigh of relief that I'm able to get this post up before the full ratings list today. At least I had a lot to say this week.

1. Breaking Bad (10.280 million 5.3)- Not often do you see a show going out literally on top. Networks usually get greedy and squeeze the life out of a show before letting it go. AMC took a risk by taking 2 years to air the final whole season of this show but it was a risk that paid off in ways that they may not ever see again (You know Mad Men is not going to build this kind of hype in 2 years. I’m not seeing it).

2. Elementary (10.18 million 2.1)- CBS is really having a rough time so far. Already they have 2 shows that are basically in line to be canceled before the end of the month and outside of the 2 NCIS shows and Big Bang Theory they don’t have very much going for them. For now this is in that muddled middle where it’s not really meeting expectations but there’s not much CBS can do about it because they have far bigger problems to address.

3. Chicago Fire (8.90 million 2.7)- This is good. We know this was supposed to do well. The numbers were supposed to improve with the help. That’s nice. All I want to know is how is NBC going to treat this show when the time comes for The Voice to go on winter break (not counting the break nearly all of their shows will have to go on for the Winter Olympics).

4. 2 Broke Girls (7.72 million 2.4)- So I left this off last week because I already had 10 shows but I also didn’t know what to make of the premiere numbers either. These numbers are very low for a CBS comedy and especially a 9pm comedy but when their strongest Monday comedy is a show that is in its final season I have to believe that CBS knows this is a concern but also realize that there really isn’t anything they can do about it at the moment. They are simply going to assess their situation Friday morning after they get their week 2 Thursday comedy block numbers and try to devise a strategy from there.

5. Nashville (6.50 million 2.0)- Boy is this show glad that shows like Lucky 7 and Betrayal exist. This show would otherwise be in a highly precarious position where declining numbers would otherwise look immediately lethal for this show. For now this is on notice (meaning a sophomore show with average ratings is going to get looked at closely because it’s either going to find some viewers and become a hit or it’s probably going to kill itself by the end of the season).

6. Glee (5.06 million 2.0)- This would not be good except that this held on to just about all of The X Factor’s audience. That would mean the criticism for low ratings should really be directed towards that show but still it’s going to be a long 2 years if this is what the show is starting with right now.

7. Masterchef Junior (4.29 million 1.6)- This isn’t bad. This isn’t bad at all and we all know this is basically a seat filler until November when FOX decides what comedies they are going to throw away here along with Bones (because those numbers are looking more like its move to Fridays will be justified). If it keeps this up a season 2 order for Fridays next season will be on the horizon.

8. Two and a Half Men (11.59 million 2.9)- 3 years ago numbers like this for a comedy on CBS would be dead on arrival. Last year numbers like this would get the judging you stare because they still wouldn’t be very good. This year these numbers aren’t really good but with the mess the Monday comedy block is experiencing this show looks good in comparison and might actually be a plan C or D to get called on if things get really bad on Mondays.

9. Once Upon a Time (Clip Show: 5.05 million 1.4; Premiere- 8.52 million 2.6)- Clip shows are a waste of time and space. I just had to get that in there again. For the premiere ratings; they are down but I can’t see what complaints ABC would have about them. There’s really nothing bad that could be said about them.

10. Revenge (8.11 million 2.3)- As I said with the OUAT numbers, ABC doesn’t really have much to complain here. Betrayal’s numbers were much worse and they have an imminent cancellation candidate in Lucky 7 so whatever Revenge does is going to get ignored basically all season unless these numbers start taking up residence in that 1.4 demo territory (Plus this is one of the split season track shows so they won’t be doing that 1-2 weeks on, 2-3 weeks off mess in the winter).