CTV was quick to declare it had four of the Top 5 new shows after Week One of the 2011-12 season. It would have been hard to imagine them not getting that early jump. The X Factor, bringing with it the return of Simon Cowell, was the consensus pick as the season’s one sure thing, the next Death Star. CTV launched Whitney behind the most anticipated return of any shows in years, the Sheen-less Two and a Half Men. Pan Am got the full billboard/bus shelter/full page ad treatment. The one surprise might have been Unforgettable, which could turn out to be this year’s CSI–the hit nobody saw coming.
One week, however, does not a season make. Pan Am shed half a million viewers in Canada in Week Two, dropping to 1,429,000 Sunday according to overnight estimates. It lost altitude in the U.S., too, down 19% week-to-week to 7.7 million total ABC viewers.
The consensus from critics seems to be so far that Pan Am looks great but doesn’t really go anywhere. Sun Sentinel veteran Tom Jicha calls it “insultingly stupid.”
CTV stayed strong Sunday with always amazing The Amazing Race (2,463,000), but Desperate Housewives (1,578,000) is showing its age. The Simpsons (1,241,000) continues to be Global’s big draw Sunday. The Good Wife at 10 should do better than 558,000.
CBC’s Battle of the Blades seems to have caught a dull edge so far this year (1,058,000), with Heartland (718,000) at 7 p.m. ReCover Me Canada is pitchy at a low of 423,000.
One show having a big year Sunday is Lost Girl, who was found by 345,000 Showcase viewers.
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