Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 23: Things aren't looking good for "The Paul Reiser Show" on U.S. network NBC.
After debuting with anemic ratings, the half-hour comedy sank even lower on Thursday, drawing 2.5 million viewers and a 0.9 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, down 18 percent. Meantime, its lead-in, a clip show-inspired "Community" (3.3 million, 1.5) that had viewers raving online, was up 7 percent.
Prepping for Steve Carell's exit from "The Office" next week, the Dundie Awards episode saw a double-digit decline, while "Parks and Recreation" (5.1 million, 2.5) and the hourlong 100th episode of "30 Rock" (4.5 million, 2.2) were both steady. NBC placed second on the night with a 2.1 in the demo.
Fox won the night in the demo (4.4) and viewers (15.3 million) with "American Idol" (19.6 million, 5.6) paving the way, retaining 96 percent of its audience from last season in 18-49. "Idol" is also up 2 percent in viewership versus the same period. Following "Idol," "Bones" (11.1 million, 3.2) aired the backdoor pilot for "The Finder," starring Geoff Stults, down 9 percent, but was still the most-watched scripted program of the night.
The CW's "The Vampire Diaries" (2.7 million, 1.1), which had a big revelation with pivotal character Klaus, was down with "Nikita" (1.9 million, 0.8) dropping in viewers.
