One of the most surprising renewals of 2012 upfront season was ABC's sophomore procedural Body of Proof, a show that struggled to hit a 2.0 demo with a good Dancing with the Stars lead-in and was much lower without that lead-in. It's back tonight with DWTS' return still a month away. The good news: ABC has a special Tuesday The Bachelor leading in, and its broadcast competitors in the slot are very weak. Will ABC Proof it made the right renewal? That's The Question for Tuesday, February 19, 2013.
| Body of Proof Last Season | Previous Occupant Private Practice |
| 2.2/1.74/1.9 (premiere/average/finale) 1.50 (average without DWTS lead-in) 1.94 (average with DWTS lead-in) | 1.9/1.33/1.5 (premiere/average/finale) |
I didn't think this show deserved a renewal, but it is hard to count out anything facing Vegas and Smash. It seems quite possible this show had more crossover with last year's CBS offering (Unforgettable) than with anything in the mix this year. I would imagine Body of Proof is less compatible with The Bachelor than with Dancing; see also Castle, which has done no better after Bachelor than after DWTS, even though Bachelor's actually noticeably larger now. But it's still probably more compatible here than with last year's frequent lead-in The River. So a low-to-mid-2's lead-in should get the show pretty close to last season's finale number.
Over/Under: 1.85.
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