It's time for a journey through the Fox Monday schedule in 2020-21...
NOTE: In addition to classic A18-49+, Breakdown posts with 2019-20 ratings also use CVPlus, comparing spring ratings against a higher league average due to viewership inflation from COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. See here for more. Also see here for information on the 2020-21 league average.
fall
| Year | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 9-1-1 | Prodigal Son | 144 | ||
| 185 | 103 | ||||
| 2020-21 | LA's Finest | Filthy Rich | 53 (-63%) | ||
| 58 (-69%) | 47 (-54%) | ||||
| VsAvg | -45% | -45% | -45% | ||
| Rank | 19/20 | 19/20 | 20/20 | ||
Fox's regular Monday dramas were delayed till 2021, so the network brought in Spectrum drama LA's Finest along with Filthy Rich, a leftover from their 2019-20 development. They started with 0.5's on premiere Monday, but by the second half of the fall it was typically LA at a 0.3 and Filthy at a 0.2/0.3, making for a historically weak lineup.
winter
| Year | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 9-1-1: Lone Star | Prodigal Son | 109 | ||
| 131 | 88 | ||||
| 2020-21 | 9-1-1 | 9-1-1: Lone Star | 156 (+43%) | ||
| 171 (+31%) | 140 (+60%) | ||||
| VsAvg | +36% | +15% | +26% | ||
| Rank | 5/20 | 4/20 | 3/20 | ||
The two 9-1-1 shows finally returned after the new year, and this season they aired together, rather than sharing the 8/7c hour as they did last year. It made for a very potent combination, about as strong a drama duo as Fox has ever aired on Monday night (on par with the best House/24 season in winter 2009).
spring
| Year | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 9-1-1 | Prodigal Son | 110 | ||
| 143 | 78 | ||||
| 2020-21 | 9-1-1 | 9-1-1: Lone Star | 138 (+25%) | ||
| 151 (+6%) | 125 (+61%) | ||||
| VsAvg | +53% | +30% | +42% | ||
| Rank | 2/20 | 2/20 | 1/20 | ||
The growth kept going into the spring, where they actually made for Fox's strongest spring Monday combo in the entire era. The year-to-year growth was not quite as profound since 9-1-1 was now getting compared against itself, but they were usually winning the hours head-to-head against The Voice after they returned in April.
Rating the Ratings
| Name | Lo | Avg | Hi | y2y | Plus | Label | Plusy2y | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9-1-1 | 0.8 | 1.05 | 1.2 | -24% | 163 | big hit | -4% | detail |
| Filthy Rich | 0.2 | 0.30 | 0.5 | 47 | flop | detail | ||
| 9-1-1: Lone Star | 0.7 | 0.86 | 1.0 | -28% | 134 | hit | -9% | detail |
| America's Most Wanted | 0.3 | 0.37 | 0.4 | 58 | flop |
9-1-1: The pandemic moved it from fall/spring to winter/spring, which might be a little bit of a tougher timeslot but nothing too serious. The winter part was a bit weaker than fall 2019, but the spring comparison was more favorable. Overall, it just keeps plugging away as one of broadcast's most consistent hits, with all four seasons placing within a 25-point range. Grade: B.
Filthy Rich: I kinda feel bad even evaluating a show like this because in 90% of seasons it just wouldn't air at all and there would be nothing said about it. I guess this season was educational in that we got to see that most of these shows left on the shelf aren't exactly diamonds in the rough. Anyway, this is a very poor showing by any normal scripted standard, but Filthy avoids the failing grade because there's another drama coming up on the Tuesday post that did even worse, and even weaker previous occupants like The Mob Doctor and Minority Report. (LA's Finest, like other shows excluded from the league average, is not graded.) Grade: D-.
9-1-1: Lone Star: The season one average includes the post-football premiere, so season two was actually up 10%ish in Plus if you throw that out. However, airing after the mothership was also a nice timeslot upgrade, so overall I would say the show seemed about the same as last year. That's good news for Fox. Grade: B.
America's Most Wanted: This revival aired for five episodes during the 9-1-1-verse hiatus in March and April. Interestingly, it had a very similar Plus to the low 60's the show was doing on Saturday during its last few Fox seasons in the late aughts. On a Monday, that's obviously nothing to write home about, but better than Filthy Rich and maybe a bit better than Lone Star repeats would've done. Grade: C.
The names in this last table link to the shows' War of 18-49 pages. Links with an asterisk(*) have been updated with the new info. Updates to younger shows will come later in the summer.
Previous Breakdowns for Fox Monday: 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20
Here's the now updated Schedules Plus for Fox Monday.
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