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For ABC, its belief
in 'Castle' pays off

Light-hearted procedural is gaining in the ratings

By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Oct 26, 2009

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Finally it looks like ABC's decision to give a struggling first-year show another shot is paying off.

Last week the network gave a full second-season order to "Castle," which airs at 10 p.m. tonight, after the show put up decent numbers in its first five outings of the season.

Over the past few years, ABC has renewed some real head-scratchers, including "What About Brian," "Eli Stone" and "Notes From the Underbelly," critically admired shows with low ratings that the network thought could grow.

None of them did; all were canceled after their second seasons, usually with lower ratings than in their first. Thus the network ordered only 13 episodes of "Castle" to start the year. But the dramedy seems to have snapped the second-year losing streak.

"Castle" has improved former timeslot occupant "Boston Legal's" rating year over year by 4 percent in adults 18-49, to a 2.5 rating, and 1 million total viewers, to 10.1 million. That's despite the fact that "Castle" actually has a smaller lead-in than "Legal" enjoyed last year, as 8 p.m. show "Dancing with the Stars" has seen its ratings fall.

"Castle" ranks second in the timeslot behind CBS's long-dominant "CSI: Miami," but well ahead of NBC's "The Jay Leno Show," which is averaging a 1.6 rating and 5.2 million total viewers. No doubt ABC has picked up some of the viewers who watched scripted series on NBC at 10 last year.

That's not to say that "Castle," about a novelist shadowing a pretty female cop, is yet a hit. But it's certainly doing better than two of ABC's other 10 p.m. dramas, "The Forgotten" and "Eastwick," which have both sunk below a 2.0.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
MONDAY, OCTOBER 26
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	Fox	“So You Think You Can Dance” (R)	The top 20 contestants are revealed. (It's airing a day early to make way for baseball.)
8 p.m.	ABC	“Dancing with the Stars” (R)	The contestants perform the waltz and the jitterbug.
8:30 p.m.	ESPN	“Monday Night Football” (S)	NFC East game between Philadelphia and Washington.
9 p.m.	CW	“Gossip Girl” (D)	Chuck is looking for some public relations help.
10 p.m.	ABC	“Castle” (D)	A man wearing fangs is found dead with a stake through his heart.
10 p.m.	History Channel	“Bloodlines: The Dracula Family Tree” (N)	A history of the legend of Dracula.
10 p.m.	Lifetime	“Rita Rocks” (C)	Shannon is encouraged to enroll in a school for gifted children.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	NBC	“Today” (N)	Hulk Hogan guests and Sting performs.
8 p.m.	ABC	“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (A, K)	The annual Peanuts special returns.
7:30 p.m.	TNT	“NBA Basketball” (S)	The season kicks off with a game between the Celtics and Cavaliers.
8 p.m.	BET	“Hip Hop Awards ‘09” (A)	The fourth annual event, hosted by Mike Epps.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Dancing with the Stars” (R)	Tonight, two contestants are eliminated.
10 p.m.	MTV	“The Hills” (R)	Justin shows viewers how not to play hard to get.
10 p.m.	FX	“Sons of Anarchy” (D)	The club starts to become divided for different reasons.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	Reese Witherspoon and Patrick Dempsey both guest.
7:30 p.m.	Fox	“Major League Baseball” (S)	Game one of the World Series.
8 p.m.	NBC	“Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space” (A)	Halloween special based on the movie.
9 p.m.	NBC	“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (D)	Benson and Stabler are forced to compete with the FBI over a case.
10 p.m.	BET	“First In” (R)	The firefighters respond to several calls in which victims have already died.
10 p.m.	MTV	“Real World/Road Rules Challenge” (R)	An alliance ends up doing more harm than good.
10 p.m.	FX	“Nip/Tuck” (D)	Sean makes a big decision without notifying anyone.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29
Time	Network	Program	Description
7:30 p.m.	ESPN	“College Football” (S)	ACC matchup between North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
7:30 p.m.	Fox	“Major League Baseball” (S)	Game two of the World Series.
8 p.m.	CW	“Vampire Diaries” (D)	Something goes wrong when Matt and Vicki visit the school’s Halloween haunted house.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Grey’s Anatomy” (D)	A hospital lab technician has a tumor around his spine.
9 p.m.	NBC	“The Office” (C)	The office puts together a haunted house for area children. Gee, that sounds like a can't miss idea ...
10 p.m.	FX	“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (C)	The crew puts on a wrestling show for returning troops.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	Actor Jim Carrey makes an appearance.
8 p.m.	CBS	“Ghost Whisperer” (D)	Melinda is haunted by the headless horseman.
8 p.m.	Disney Channel	“Wizards of Waverly Place” (K)	Justin looks to Juliet’s vampire family for a monster-hunting course.
8 p.m.	ESPN	“NBA Basketball” (S)	The Bulls take on the Celtics in Boston.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Ugly Betty” (D)	Marc works as Betty’s temporary assistant.
10 p.m.	USA	“Monk” (D)	Monk takes care of a dog whose owner has gone missing.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31
Time	Network	Program	Description
3:30 p.m.	CBS	“College Football” (S)	SEC game between Georgia and Florida.
7:30 p.m.	NBC	“College Football” (S)	Notre Dame takes on Washington State in San Antonio. (Apparently neither school has a great geography department.)
7:30 p.m.	Fox	“Major League Baseball” (S)	Coverage of game three of the World Series.
8 p.m.	ABC	“College Football” (S)	Regional matchups, most likely Texas versus Oklahoma State for much of the country.
9 p.m.	Showtime	“Boxing” (S)	Bantamweight title fight between Joseph Agbeko and Yonnhy Perez.
9 p.m.	Animal Planet	“Dogs 101” (N)	A look at Italian Greyhounds, Border Collies and others.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Time	Network	Program	Description
1 p.m.	ABC	“NASCAR Racing” (S)	A Sprint Cup race from Talladega, Ala.
4:15 p.m.	Fox	“NFL Football” (S)	Most of the country will watch Brett Favre’s return to Green Bay’s Lambeau Field.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Major League Baseball” (S)	Game four of the World Series.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Desperate Housewives” (D)	Juanita gets expelled from school, and it’s Gaby’s fault.
9 p.m.	HBO	“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (C)	Larry has a string of bad luck on the golf course.
9 p.m.	Showtime	“Dexter” (D)	Dexter tries to ramp up his efforts in catching the Trinity Killer.
10 p.m.	AMC	“Mad Men” (D)	Peggy’s poor taste in men comes to light.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.