ABC’s “Scandal” had a big return and CBS’s “The Millers” premiered strong Thursday as NBC’s “Sean Saves the World” scored disappointing numbers against Robin Williams‘ “The Crazy Ones” — though “Crazy Ones” slipped after scoring big in its premiere last week. CBS won the night, followed by ABC, according to preliminary numbers.
Fresh off an Emmy nomination for star Kerry Washington, “Scandal” hit a ratings high with a 3.6 in the key 18-49 demo. It was up 71 percent Thursday over its Season 2 premiere last year.
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NBC’s new “Welcome to the Family,” meanwhile, had the lowest-rated fall comedy debut in NBC history, a distinction it took from “The Michael J. Fox Show” the week before. “Sean” also premiered lower than Fox.
CBS led in the key demo and total viewers with a 2.9 rating/9 share and 11.7 million total viewers. At 8, “Big Bang” was down slightly from last week but was the biggest show of the night with a 5.0/16 and and 17.8 million. At 8:30, “The Millers” shed much of its lead-in but retained a still solid 3.3/10 and 13.2 million. At 9, “Crazy Ones” had a 2.9/8 — down 26 percent from last week’s premiere — and 11.8 million viewers. At 9:30, “Two and a Half Men” hit a series low with a 2.4/7 and 9.3 million. At 1o, “Elementary” had a 2.0/6 — down slightly from last week — and 9.2 million.
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ABC was second in the demo and total viewers with a 2.8/8 and 8.5 million. A “Scandal” retrospective at 8 had a 1.6/5 and 5.7 million. At 9, “Grey’s Anatomy” had a 3.0/8 — down 12 percent from last week’s two-hour premiere — and 9.4 million. At 10, besides scoring a 3.6/10, “Scandal” had 10.5 millionn total viewers.
Fox was third in ratings and total viewers with a 1.8/5 and 5.8 million. At 8, “X Factor” was steady since last week with a 2.0/6, and had 7 million total viewers. At 9, “Glee” had a 1.6/5 — down 20 percent since its return last week — and had 4.5 million.
NBC was fourth in rating and viewers with a 1.6/5 and 4.5 million. At 8, “Parks and Recreation” had a 1.3/4 — flat with last week and tying its series low — and 3.5 million. At 8:30, “Welcome” had a 1.2/4 and 3.3 million. “Sean” at 9 had a 1.6/4 and 4.9 million. At 9:30, Fox had a 1.9/5 — up from “Sean,” but down 14 percent from its own 9 p.m. debut last week — and 5.9 million total viewers. “Parenthood” at 10 had a 1.7/5, up slightly from last week, and 4.8 million.
Univision was fifth in ratings with a 1.3/4 and in total viewers with 3.5 million.
The CW was sixth in both with a 1.0/3 and 2.3 million. “The Vampire Diaries” return at 8 had a 1.2/4 and 2.6 million. Airing at a special time, the spinoff “The Originals” lost a quarter of that lead-in in the demo, earning a .9/3. It had 2.1 million total viewers.
Telemundo was seventh in ratings and total viewers with a .4/1 and 1.1 million.