Update: It is safe to call “We are Men” a flop. The new CBS comedy premiered to a disappointing 2.0 adults 18-49 rating with 6.4 million viewers. Lead-in “How I Met Your Mother” earned a 3.1 with 7.7 million, while lead-outs “2 Broke Girls” (2.4, 7.6 million) and “Mom” (2.2, 6.9 million) were also underwhelming.
“Hostages” settled for a terrible 1.5 with 6.0 million at 10PM.
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Since scoring big with the one-two punch of “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory,” the former of which has long reigned as one of CBS’ most consistent, buzzworthy performers and the latter of which became one of network TV’s few true megahits, The Eye has only once excelled in the entire 8PM hour.
That one taste of excellence, which came two seasons ago, involved CBS situating “2 Broke Girls” in the 8:30PM slot. Sandwiched between “Mother” and “Two and a Half Men,” the poorly-reviewed but well-received comedy disproved the notion that the time period was a death slot and kept CBS’ signature night of comedies very formidable.
But its freshman year performance inspired a little too much confidence in CBS, which responded by moving “2 Broke Girls” to the flagship 9PM slot for season two. Its numbers never lived up to the standards set by its first season and, worse, its departure from the 8:30PM slot forced CBS to bring a new show into the mix. “Partners,” that show, flopped, and CBS never found a performer reliable enough to reverse the timeslot’s fortunes.
If it thought it finally found its answer in new comedy “We are Men,” it was apparently mistaken.
According to TV Media Insights, “Men” premiered to a disappointing 4.6 overnight metered market rating Monday. While that will not necessarily translate into a terrible adults 18-49 number, it reflects a sizable drop from the “How I Met Your Mother” lead-in (5.7) and only a slight improvement upon the debut number for last year’s “Partners.”
Weakened “2 Broke Girls” delivered a 5.2 at 9PM, while heavily-hyped new comedy “Mom” fell 11% to a 4.9. Limited event series “Hostages,” which ended up bombing in all key ratings categories last week, slipped even further to just a 4.1 overnight number.
