The heavily-hyped encounter between Ricky Gervais’ David Brent and Steve Carell’s Michael Scott was predictably and understandably not a big hook for viewers, and Thursday’s edition of “The Office” failed to match last week’s spiked rating.
NBC’s flagship comedy garnered a 4.0 adults 18-49 rating with 7.93 million viewers Thursday. While enough to win the 9PM hour and emerge as the top scripted show of the night (thanks to CBS and ABC primarily airing re-runs), the rating was down more than 10 percent from last week’s number.
The reduced “Office” meant a lesser performance for lead-out “Parks and Recreation,” which garnered a 3.0 and 5.88 million viewers. Though it would be difficult for most shows to retain much better out of a tentpole like “The Office,” there was certainly some hope that “Parks,” given its “Office” lineage and high critical marks, might break through the usual threshold.
“30 Rock” was down to a 2.4 with 4.92 million viewers but still delivered a timeslot-winning performance due to the lack of competition. “Outsourced” posted a 1.9 with 4.15 million.
Earlier in the night, “Community” opened at a 2.2 with 4.64 million, while “Perfect Couples” fell to a 1.7 with 3.53 million (and possibly hurt lead-out “The Office” a bit in the process).
