It was a bad night for broadcast television ratings across the board, but Monday truly revealed how far the once-dominant CBS comedy block has fallen in conjunction with the loss of “Two and a Half Men” originals.
Though its dual-season renewal makes ratings less of an issue in the immediate term, “How I Met Your Mother” still cannot be satisfied with its recent performance–it reversed last week’s gains, falling to a mere 2.5 adults 18-49 rating with 6.36 million viewers. If the episode does not receive a bump in the final ratings, this will be its worst performance to date.
While a number of factors are at play for “Mother”–the loss of the “Men” halo effect, hot buzz for the NBA Playoffs, a greater-than-usual spring effect on ratings–some of the blame should probably be placed on its core story arc, which consensus shows has been among the show’s weakest to date. The show seemed to get back in touch with its “funny meets sentimental” side courtesy the storylines involving Marshall’s father’s passing and Barney meeting his father, but evidence shows the Ted-Zoey-Arcadian storyline had not been clicking at all.
“Mad Love,” which performed decently given the circumstances last week, was down to a 1.8 rating with 5.15 million. A “Men” re-run fell to a 1.7 with 6.37, indicative of fans growing weary of the show’s lack of original episodes, while “Mike & Molly” found another series low at a 2.2 with 7.50 million viewers.
“Hawaii 5-0” was also down, closing the night at a soft 2.3 with 9.17 million viewers.