Ratings across Canada Nov. 29 – Dec. 5

Dating Racers Thomas Wolfard and Jill Haney

 Take Battle of the Blades and especially Dancing with the Stars out of the equation and the weekly Top-30 in Canada becomes a very different Race. Here’s how it all played out Nov. 29- Dec. 5 among Canadians 2+ according to overnight estimates:

MONDAY
The departure of Dancing with the Stars and Blades led to some show shuffling to start the week. CTV led off with a rerun of Flashpoint, which still commanded an overnight, estimated 973,000 viewers. (CTV quickly gave up on Skating with the Stars, dumping it off in Week Two to /A where it drew 304,000.) At 9, still strong Two and a Half Men slid over from /A and brought 1,542,000 viewers with them. New comedy Mike & Molly weighed in with 1,360,000, with Castle storming to 1,153,000 at 10.
A rerun of House only drew 769,000 at 8 on Global. Lie to Me drew 1.3 million at 9, with a rerun of NCIS: Los Angeles booking 606,000.
City peaked at 8 with How I Met Your Mother (616,000). The rest of their night hovered around the half-million mark, with the last episode of The Event for a while fetching 569,000.
Discovery continues to drive ahead of the broadcasters Mondays at 10 with Canada’s Worst Driver, which clocked in at 636,000. The reality show also rocked in the 18-49-year-old demo. Monday Night Football counted 417,000 on TSN.
A double sweep of Men With Brooms failed to fill the house Monday on CBC, with 305,000 and 212,000 watching at 8 and 8:30. That’s an enormous fall off in 2+ from Jeopardy at 7:30 with 1,151,000 viewers.  Just For Laughs did 457,000 at 9.

TUESDAY
A strong episode of Glee took the night with over 2.3 million viewers. NCIS followed on Global with close to 1.5 million, with the Victoria’s Secret undies hour covering 1.2 million.
CTV, which has to miss Dancing with the Stars, started the night with two holiday specials–Lanny & Wayne (720,000) and Shrek the Halls (over a million). No Ordinary Family drew over 1.1 mil at 9, with resilient Law & Order: SVU up over 1.6 mil at 10.
The Rick Mercer Report topped 1.1 million at 8 p.m. on CBC, followed by another strong outing for 22 Minutes with 817,000 overnight, estimated viewers. Winnipeg Comedy Fest drew 453,000 at 10 on CBC.
The Biggest Loser was the biggest winner Tuesday on City, gaining 615,000.

WEDNESDAY
Global won the night with Survivor: Nicaragua at close to 2.2 million overnight, estimated viewers across Canada. A Glee rerun dropped to 542,000 and the Grammy nominations thingy did 563,000.
Dragon’s Den roared to a season high 1.924,000 viewers. That helped lift Being Erica over the Brampton barrier to 518,000 viewers.
Human Target targeted 1.2 million viewers at 8 on CTV, with Criminal Minds getting away with 1,544,000 at 9 and Law & Order: LA arresting more than 1.4 million.
TSN scored with an NHL doubleheader Wednesday, with the Canucks game pulling 1,011,000 and the Oilers getting 776,000.
Reruns of Modern Family and Cougar Town managed above and below half a million Wednesday on City.

THURSDAY
Even CTV’s dominant night was a little less dominant this week. The Big Bang Theory was less explosive than usual at 2.2 million. S#*! My Dad Says did over 1.4 million at 8:30. Grey’s Anatomy was top show of the night at 2.3 million and at 10, The Mentalist climbed close to 1.8 million.
A new episode of Bones scored 1,677,000 viewers on Global. The Office (810,000) and Outsourced (590,000) were at typical levels. The Apprentice scored a steady 681,000.
A two hour Nature of Things drew 710,000 at 8 on CBC.
Vampire Diaries drew 510,000 on /A. Private Practice at 10 did 589,000. Fringe at just under 600,000 was the big winner on City. An Ottawa Senators game on TSN failed to crack the half million mark.

FRIDAY
CTV won the night with their CBS crime imports Medium (908,000), CSI: NY (1,729,000) and Blue Bloods (1,752,000).
Ron James entertained 610,000 at 8, with a rerun of Mercer getting a hefty 711,000 at 8:30. The fifth estate then climbed to a season high 959,000 viewers at 9 with their “Presumed Dead” investigation.
Global hit the Friday radar with the festive green Incredible Hulk movie (607,000).
TSN scored 859,000 at 8:30 with their Vancouver-Chicago NHL tilt. The Score scored 402,000 at 8 with a WWE Smackdown.

SATURDAY
Another big win for Hockey Night in Canada, with over two million taking in the early Leaf game. Saturday Night Live drew 438,000 at 11:30 on Global.

SUNDAY
Canada’s No. 1 show for the week was The Amazing Race, which raced off with close to 2.7 million overnight, estimated viewers. Desperate Housewives returned to CTV at 9 with 1,952,000, while CSI: Miami broke past the two million viewer mark. Undercover Boss at 7 did 1,421,000 for CTV.
The Simpsons continues to have a strong 22nd season on Global, averaging 1,167,000 at 8. The rest of Global’s night ranged from 583,000 for American Dad to 686,000 for Brothers & Sisters.
CBC started the night with a Disney movie (587,000), soared at 7 with Heartland (1,085,000) and dipped at 8 with that Battle of the Blades extra show (853,000). Things collapsed at 9 as that do-gooder All for One Viewer series continued to live down to its title (277,000).
407,000 viewers found Lost Girl (already renewed for a second season) Sunday at 9 on Showcase. The season finale of the shot-in-Toronto series airs this Sunday night at 9.
The late Sunday NFL game, Pittsburgh/Baltimore, scored 553,000 on TSN.