The Question, Thursday 10/30/14: Will Mom Be the Mother of All Big Bang Lead-outs?

Yes, CBS has a series premiere on the opening Thursday for its entertainment lineup, but I think the more intriguing piece of Question fodder is the show CBS is actually bothering to put directly after its biggest series. Sophomore comedy Mom had a respectable but mostly unassuming first season airing after modest lead-ins 2 Broke Girls and Mike and Molly. Tonight, it's back with a lead-in that should be at least 50% higher than anything it ever had last season. The pairing seemed to have some promise in summer repeats, but those passive viewing situations can exaggerate compatibility. Will Mom be the mother of all Big Bang lead-outs? That's The Question for Thursday, October 30, 2014.

Mom Last Season and Recent Big Bang Lead-Outs

2.5/2.09/1.9 (Mom premiere/avg/finale) 3.3/2.63/2.3 (The Millers premiere/avg/finale) 3.1 -> 2.9 -> 2.8 (8:30 Big Bang repeats this season) 2.1 (The Millers last week (4.6 BBT))

I don't think CBS would have pulled Mom from its original September premiere date if they thought it would do at least as well as the Big Bang repeats that boosted the early weeks of Scorpion. But I also don't think they would bother with putting it on Thursday if they expected Millers-esque numbers and no long-term benefit. So Mom may not do quite as well as a brand new series premiere, but it should outrate the series that had a full year for TBBT viewers to sample and move away from. I expect it to at least eke out a series high.

Mom Over/Under: 2.75.

No entries accepted after 6:00am ET the morning after the date in the headline. If editing your pick, please leave a separate comment.