Network heads are not ready to see The Walking Dead return because it will really emphasize how sorry the ratings for their shows look at this point in the season. I'm ready for it to return because it's damn sad when not one show from my pool of cable shows that I use to make this list can attract 3 million viewers per week.

1. Super Bowl XLIX (114.44 million 39.1)- Another year brings another new TV ratings record that will probably be broken next year unless somehow the Jaguars and the Buccaneers make it. Since I don’t see that happening then maybe hitting 115 million is actually possible.

2. The Americans (1.895 million 0.6)- These are okay premiere numbers. I say that that because this is the premiere and the numbers usually drop from here and if they do drop they will be in the same territory where it has spent almost all of last season. Last season’s numbers really weren’t that great and I believed they were skirting the bubble then. The same is highly probable this season and only time will tell if FX wants to stomach another season of slightly underwhelming numbers.

3. Scandal (10.48 million 3.6)- I may have mentioned this in passing at the beginning of the season but the ratings for this second half of the season are largely irrelevant. ABC is going to renew this show. ABC really has no choice but to renew this show because syndication factors are in play here. While this is the fourth season of the show, one must remember that season 1 only had 7 episodes so a fourth season wouldn’t give this show enough episodes for syndication. A fifth season however would do the trick and being the highest rated show on the network helps a lot as well.

4. The Challenge: Battle of the Exes 2 (1.006 million 0.6)- This show is improving a little bit from the premiere as well which takes me back to the point I made last week about The Real World. I do think this is a situation where both shows are helping each other. If they aired alone I do believe both shows would have continued to attract less than a million viewers for each show. Together the ratings are improving a little and given how lethargic MTV’s ratings are in general, both of these veterans are slowly inching towards another season.

5. How to Get Away With Murder (9.18 million 3.1)- Like Scandal, the ratings for the rest of the season are largely irrelevant. Unlike Scandal, the reason they are irrelevant because the season finale for this show is at the end of the month. ABC will also be renewing this show but a lot of people will be paying attention to the episode order. ABC may very well want 22 episodes for next season but they may be stuck with 15 again (because Viola Davis is only under contract for 15 episodes so she can continue to pursue movie roles). Whatever happens, ABC will surely have some show ready for next March just in case they have to deal with a short season next year. It is not like they have had a great deal of success with launching and sustaining hit dramas and having the free spot behind Scandal for 2 months does help if they choose their shows wisely.

6. Celebrity Apprentice (6.98 million 2.1)- NBC took a gamble with this strategy. From the outside it appears to be a burnoff season but the ratings are saying this is anything but. NBC may have actually found their bridge between seasons of The Voice because I can’t see why they wouldn’t want to do another season with numbers like these. They don’t really have shows (outside of The Voice and The Blacklist) that can manage a 2.0 demo.

7. Pretty Little Liars (1.996 million 0.9)-These are fairly normal numbers for ABC Family’s highest rated show and for that network, normal is good right now. Switched at Birth hasn’t appeared to have recovered from the slump it hit at the end of last season and now that same slump is hitting The Fosters (which in turn is killing Chasing Life). Things aren’t looking great at ABC Family. They are in desperate need to find some new drama hits fast because this show can’t hold up forever.

8. Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars (518,000 0.2)- Clearly this show is doing nowhere near as well as season 1. There’s a possibility that people don’t care for the cast this season and that is hurting the show. Since it airs on Fridays this show has no real competition and that leads me to believe there is something wrong with how this show was put together this season.

9. Ridiculousness (10:30: 1.023 million 0.5; 11:00 922,000 0.5)- It is my understanding that this past Thursday was the last week where this show will air 2 new episodes a week. The ratings have had weeks where they haven’t been that great but they haven’t been awful either and I suppose that helps the people at MTV sleep at night since they are going to be stuck with it for a while.

10. Real Husbands of Hollywood (993,000 0.5)- My what a difference a season makes. Last year BET looked poised to have three strong scripted shows. 12 months later this show seems to be petering out, The Game is showing its age with every passing week and now their hopes rest on a strong return for Being Mary Jane. I can’t see this show going on too much longer as I don’t believe the guys on it work for cheap (despite the running joke that the reason they are on the show is because they are in desperate need for money and steady work).