‘Women’s Murder Club’ Kills in the Ratings Friday
Does ABC Finally Have a Hit Crime Procedural?
I am so not surprised by the latest Nielsen news. According to Variety‘s Season Pass blog, ABC’s newest series, the crime procedural Women’s Murder Club, performed impressively during its Friday-night debut.
Season Pass reports that preliminary Nielsen ratings indicate the drama attracted 10.8 million viewers and a 2.5/8 share in the coveted 18–49 demographic, despite the poor lead-in provided by 20/20 at 8pm EST. The newsmagazine scrounged up just 5.6 million viewers.
Even the highly anticipated return of Men in Trees, which followed Murder Club at 10pm, didn’t rank as well, managing to retain and/or bring in only 7.05 million viewers.
Women’s Murder Club handily surpassed its competition on CBS and NBC, too. As a result, CBS’ mediocre supernatural rookie Moonlight lost almost 2 million viewers as it descended to 7.3 million viewers for its third episode, while critically acclaimed fan favorite Friday Night Lights delivered only 5.4 million viewers for NBC in its second Season Two outing, also a decline from last week’s numbers.
If Women’s Murder Club can maintain the momentum of the pilot episode in forthcoming weeks, ABC may finally have succeeded at forging a popular crime procedural of its own to rival those on CBS and NBC. Past attempts to enter the genre, like last year’s interesting but viewerless The Evidence (which starred current Murder Club actor Rob Estes, along with 7Up man and Men in Trees guest star Orlando Jones), were bust.
Incidentally, I was among the millions who checked out the Murder Club pilot, and I found the show engaging, although not groundbreaking or particularly original. I intend to tune in again next week, as well, and a review will follow shortly thereafter (I need to see at least two episodes of a show, and preferably three, before getting a clear picture of what’s what).
Women’s Murder Club stars former Law & Order cast member Angie Harmon as Lindsay Boxer, a San Francisco-based detective who often participates in discussions with her girlfriends—medical examiner Claire Washburn (Paula Newsome), prosecutor Jill Bernhardt (Laura Harris), and newspaper crime reporter Cindy Thomas (Aubrey Dollar)—in order to mull over evidence in homicide cases. Tyrees Allen co-stars as Boxer’s partner Warren Jacobi and Estes as her ex-husband and new boss Tom Hogan.
Related Post: The Girls Are Alright on ‘Women’s Murder Club’
Women’s Murder Club currently airs Fridays on ABC at 9pm EST
Angie Harmon/Women’s Murder Club photo courtesy of ABC
