It was up to “No Ordinary Family” to save ABC’s fall schedule from being a complete dud, and while it was not a superhero in its series premiere Tuesday, it did perform admirably in a competitive timeslot.
Up against a monster episode of “Glee” and the always-strong “NCIS” (18.74 million viewers, 4.0 adults 18-49 rating), “Family” kicked things off with a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating and 10.54 million viewers. Although the 9PM “Dancing with the Stars” halo effect might have provided a slight boost for the 8PM premiere (“Dancing” scored a 3.7 with 17.09 million viewers), “Family” opened without an actual primetime lead-in and still put up impressive numbers.
If “Family” can continue to perform within this general range, it will be perceived as a successful launch for ABC.
Fellow freshman series “Detroit 1-8-7” turned away a great deal of its “Dancing” lead-in at 10PM, but as a positive, it retained most of last week’s series premiere viewership. It posted a 2.2 rating with 9.16 million viewers.
NBC, meanwhile, once again saw some of its Tuesday luster fade. Flagship “The Biggest Loser” only scored a 2.6 rating with 7.14 million viewers from 8PM to 10PM, while “Parenthood” fell to a mere 2.0 rating with 4.85 million viewers. Despite its small viewership tally, “Parenthood” was viewed as valuable insofar as it could compete with CBS’ old-skewing “The Good Wife” in the 18-49 demo. It lost by a wide 20% Tuesday; “Wife” returned to a 2.5 and 12.89 million viewers.