This is just one of those weeks with a jumbled collection of shows. That will change over the next couple of weeks when shows start having their fall finales.


1. Empire (11.20 million 4.2)- The news surrounding this show over the last week isn’t the ratings, it’s the inexplicably long hiatus that this show is about to go on. When the hiatus begins, this show will not return until the last week of March. That is a ridiculously long time for a network that will only have the final season of American Idol and the reboot of The X Files to hang their season saving hopes on.

2. American Horror Story: Hotel (2.637 million 1.4)- Nobody should be surprised that this show got renewed. The numbers may be way down from the premiere but that still makes this the highest rated show on FX. Now the writers have another year to come up with a more enthralling theme.

3. Black Ink Crew: Chicago (1.732 million 0.9)- While this is the lowest rated episode of the season so far, these numbers are not very far off from the premiere. It’s possible that VH1 may still look upon these numbers with caution because they aren’t sure what to make of them. In no way is this show a flop but it doesn’t look like very much of a hit either. For Monday nights, this is merely a slightly above average performer.

4. Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2.467 million 1.3)- I’m sure there was some interest in whatever storyline this family decided to push in the last couple months. Besides that, there’s nothing notable about these ratings. The numbers are good and they are better than everything else on the network by a wide margin. That has been the way things have gone for years.

5. Project Runway Junior (1.189 million 0.3)- Two things concern me about this show. The first of course is the demo. I know that Project Runway skews old (and this one does too. I checked. The best demo numbers were strangely from men over 50) but a 0.3 demo does not allow for any downward flexibility. The same could be said for the total viewers because as it stands now, the numbers are at the lower end of the safe zone. That brings me to my second point. These numbers were just a touch lower than the Project Runway reunion. This show is not going to have that kind of support going forward and that makes the likelihood of ratings declines even greater. This show cannot afford to lose any viewers.

6. Being Mary Jane (1.778 million 0.9)- These numbers are still quite acceptable. I was a little worried about the numbers when the show started but now we’re several weeks and the numbers have been stable. This is a very good demo skew given the total viewers and the fact that this is a scripted show so I think the ratings are on a good path and the show is marching towards getting that fourth season renewal.

7. 2 Broke Girls (6.34 million 1.6)- These numbers are indicative of how much the broadcast landscape has changed. 3 years ago, these numbers would have been in instant cancellation territory on CBS, especially for a comedy. Today, these numbers are merely okay. There’s nothing great about them, the hope is that they won’t decline in the coming weeks and it continues to stay in line with the rest of the comedy block (minus The Big Bang Theory).

8. Once Upon a Time (4.85 million 1.6)- This show is taking a break next week and then there may be one or two more episodes to go before the long hiatus sets in. Personally, I don’t think the hiatuses for ABC shows are a bad idea. It’s far better than airing a couple of episodes at a time with 2-3 week breaks in between.

9. Real Housewives of Orange County (Special: 1.167 million 0.5; Clip Show: 1.079 million 0.4)- This could have done so much worse to get dumped off on a Thursday night. The sad thing is that Bravo could have really used these on Monday because outside of Vanderpump Rules, the shows they have on now are on life support.

10. Catfish: The TV Show (490,000 0.2)- I’m not surprised this special was this low. I’m also not surprised that this was the highest rated program MTV aired last night.