It wasn't the biggest raw-numbers premiere of the fall 2012 premiere week, but it was the Truly strongest; Elementary began its Thursday run with 13.41 million viewers and a 3.1 demo rating. That put the show a little ahead of its Person of Interest lead-in, and it was also the second-strongest 10:00 entertainment program of the whole weak (trailing only Revolution, and only by a tenth). By the fall 2012's beaten-down expectations, this looked like a rare genuinely good start.
WEEK TWO
Unfortunately, it just seems like we can't have nice things this year. That 3.1 took a slightly-north-of-typical 19% drop in week two to a rather underwhelming 2.5. It was still among the top 10:00 shows on TV, but that number doesn't promise "hit" the way the premiere did.
PROGNOSIS
Week two wasn't all that promising, and it's also rather unfortunate that the show gets pre-empted tonight in what would be just its third week due to a debate. But Elementary still had the biggest premiere by far and then (narrowly) the smallest drop of any of the new CBS dramas. I really doubt CBS is going to go 0-for-4 among their fall new shows, and right now this one fairly comfortably looks like the safest bet for a season two. Renew.
"First Two Weeks" is my look at... the first two weeks of a new scripted broadcast show's ratings. I also line up all of the premiere and week two drop numbers together.
