Fox True Power Rankings, April 2012

For the first time in seven weeks, it's the True Power Rankings! This is the most critical edition of all, because the networks have just about all the ratings info that they will take into final decision-making time. This should be fun, since lots of new shows have entered the mix since last we spoke. Let's go.

As last time, the numbers below take the ten most recent final TRUE scores (as of April 22), drop the highest and lowest result, and average whatever's left.

Previous Fox Power Rankings: November | January | February

Other networks: ABC | CBS | NBC | Fox | The CW

---

---

COMEDIES
The Anchors
1. New Girl (2.77)
2. Family Guy (2.33)
3. The Simpsons (2.31)

---

The Non-Anchors
4. Napoleon Dynamite (1.82) (1.59)
5. Raising Hope (1.66)
6. Bob's Burgers (1.55)
7. American Dad! (1.48)
8. The Cleveland Show (1.43)

Raising Hope earned its renewal in its 8/7c tryout, but I'm pretty sure it didn't earn the same slot for next season. I'd like to see it at 8:30 with their two most promising new comedies at 8:00 and 9:30.

I wondered last time whether upcoming The Flintstones might inspire Fox to cut back on some of these second-tier shows by its planned fall 2013 debut. Since then, said remake has died. Does that open the door even wider for Napoleon Dynamite (again including a second number that's more representative of where it stabilized) and/or Bob's Burgers?

---

The Dunzo
9. I Hate My Teenage Daughter (1.42) (1.29 on Tuesday)
10. Allen Gregory (1.36)
11. Breaking In (0.96)

Should've listened to the "retentionistas" on Breaking In, Fox...

---

---

DRAMAS
Renewed!
1. Glee (3.12)
2. Bones (2.48)

The rumors suggest Glee is on the move to make way for a two-hour sitcom block on Fox Tuesday. The natural landing spot is Thursday 9/8c, where it'd again air right after a talent competition. The problem is it'd be up against Grey's Anatomy, which probably has the most similar audience composition to Glee of any significantly-rated drama on TV. My thinking is that the show is going to be in pretty marginal territory by next season regardless, so any people you can force into choosing against Grey's are just extra credit. I guess they may not be thinking in such defeatist terms.

---

Cancelled.
3. House (2.35)
4. Terra Nova (2.29)

---

Not Cancelled???
5. Touch (2.11)
6. Alcatraz (1.64)
7. The Finder (1.46)
8. Fringe (1.08)

My thinking on Touch has been that as Fox's drama situation got more desperate, really all Touch needed to do was outperform The Finder's Thursday numbers. All was well on that front until last week's 2.1 demo (out of a 4.0 Idol), which ended up looking pretty Finder-esque (1.59 TRUE). It's just one week for a show that's typically done much better than The Finder, even if it's still not exactly a "success." But if we're headed for that kind of level or lower for this show, that's gonna make it look quite a bit like the show that Fox yanked from the sked entirely and then burned off on Friday. And yet, with so few dramas in the inventory, they may just cover their eyes and bring it back anyway.

Last season, I thought Fringe still had an actual ratings case to return. This year, not so much. But as with Chuck, WB and the network wanted to make it happen. So it scored a final 13 and will (according to the trailer) air in the fall. I could see something (again, most likely Touch) coming out of this group to pair with it for 13 episodes. They may just revert to the pairing with Kitchen Nightmares, but I'd hold that for midseason and start over on Friday once Fringe is gone.

---

---

UNSCRIPTED
The Wednesday/Thursday Reality Wheel
1. American Idol Wed (5.90)
2. American Idol Thu (5.86)
3. The X Factor Wed (3.92)
4. The X Factor Thu (3.77)

---

The Filler
5. Kitchen Nightmares (1.60)
6. Mobbed (1.46)
7. Cops (1.25)
8. Q'Viva! The Chosen (0.57)