‘Men’ ties a season high after controversy

Evidently people didn’t listen to Angus T. Jones, the young co-star of “Two and a Half Men,” when he begged them to stop watching his hit show.

Last night “Men” tied a season high among adults 18-49, days after the video of Jones dissing the program went viral on the internet.

The sitcom averaged a 4.1 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, tying its previous outing two weeks ago.

It wasn’t quite the same effect as Charlie Sheen’s crazed rantings against “Men” had last year, when the show hit series highs following Sheen’s dismissal.

But for a show whose ratings have been fading since last spring, the 4.1 was pretty good.

Jones, who says he’s found God recently and was giving video testimony for a church in Alabama, called “Men” filth. His appearances have been limited this season after his character joined the Army.

Warner Bros. and CBS have been largely silent on the situation. Jones was not scheduled to appear in the final two episodes shooting before the holiday break.

Elsewhere last night, ABC’s “Scandal” hit a series high at 10 p.m. with a 2.2. Just as notable, that tied CBS’s much-hyped “Elementary” for first place in the timeslot, the best the second-year ABC drama has ever done compared to the Sherlock Holmes-themed show.

Also last night the wedding of Liz Lemon on the soon-to-end “30 Rock” boosted the NBC comedy to a season high among total viewers, but still a pretty low tally at 3.6 million.

And the CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” drew a 1.5 in 18-49s at 8 p.m., up 15 percent over its most recent episode, though that may have been inflated by the Falcons game airing on the Atlanta CW affiliate.

CBS led the night among 18-49s with a 3.3 average overnight rating and a 9 share. Fox was second at 2.5/7, ABC third at 2.1/6, Univision fourth at 1.7/5, NBC fifth at 1.2/3, CW sixth at 1.1/3 and Telemundo seventh at 0.5/1.
 
As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, which includes shows replayed before 3 a.m. the night before. Seven-day DVR data won't be available for several weeks. Forty-six percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.
 
At 8 p.m. CBS was first with a 4.7 for "The Big Bang Theory" (5.4) and "Men" (4.1), followed by Fox with a 2.7 for "The X Factor." Univision was third with a 1.8 for "Por Ella Soy Eva," CW fourth with a 1.5 for "Vampire," NBC fifth with a 1.2 for "30 Rock" (1.3) and "Up All Night" (1.2), ABC sixth with a 1.0 for "Last Resort" and Telemundo seventh with a 0.5 for "Rosa Diamante."
 
ABC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 3.0 for "Grey's Anatomy," with CBS a close second with a 2.9 for "Person of Interest." Fox was third with a 2.2 for "Glee," Univision fourth with a 1.8 for "Amores Verdaderos," NBC fifth with a 1.6 for "The Office" (1.9) and "Parks and Recreation" (1.4), CW sixth with a 0.8 for "Beauty and the Beast" and Telemundo seventh with a 0.5 for "Corazon Valiente."
 
At 10 p.m. ABC and CBS tied for first at 2.2, ABC for "Scandal" and CBS for "Elementary." Univision was third with a 1.4 for "Amor Bravio," NBC fourth with a 0.9 for "Rock Center with Brian Williams" and Telemundo fifth with a 0.5 for "Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal" (0.6) and "El Rostro de la Venganza" (0.4).
 
Among households, CBS was first for the night with an 8.3 average overnight rating and a 13 share, with ABC second at 4.6/7, Fox third at 4.3/7, NBC fourth at 2.3/4, Univision fifth at 2.0/3, CW sixth at 1.7/3 and Telemundo seventh at 0.7/1.
 

Tags: 30 rock, abc, angus t. jones, angus t. jones video, cbs, charlie sheen, cw, dvr, fox, nbc, overnight ratings, overnights, ratings, scandal, season high, thursday overnights, two and a half men, univision, vampire diaries