"Fringe" flourishes for Fox, "House" takes hit
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - J.J. Abrams' mind-control experiment seems to be working. The second episode of Fox's supernatural science fiction thriller "Fringe" jumped a stunning 45% in the ratings Tuesday night.
"Fringe" pulled in 13.2 million viewers, up from 9.1 million for last week's premiere, retaining most of its lead-in from the Season 5 premiere of "House."
Unfortunately for Fox, the 14.7 million viewers for the medical drama was down sharply from the 18.3 million who tuned in to the Season 4 premiere. Last year, the show aired during the official broadcast premiere week, so it had a more effective launch period.
If "Fringe" and "House" are able to roughly maintain this week's level of popularity, a softer "House" number will be irrelevant. Fox's goal is to have two winning hours on Tuesdays this fall instead of one. If the two syringe-and-microscope dramas can hold steady against the gauntlet of increased competition during the next few weeks, Fox will gain a formidable Tuesday-night beachhead.
In its third week, the CW's "90210" zipped up 3.3 million viewers, halting its ratings plummet after last week's steep drop. The teen drama likely was aided by a lack of competition from ABC Family's hit soap "Secret Life of the American Teenager," which aired its finale last week. But the new CW drama "Privileged" (2.4 million) failed to improve upon its meager debut rating (2.6 million).
Meanwhile, the sixth-season premiere of NBC's "The Biggest Loser" looked a bit undernourished. It pulled 7.9 million viewers, down from 10.5 million for the Season 5 bow in January. The show faced greater competition this year going against "House" and part of "Fringe."
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
