NBC’s new fairy tale thriller Grimm managed a solid premiere on Friday, while the return of Chuck took a line drive to the gut by the World Series.
With the Texas Rangers battling the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7, Chuck returned and drew an unhealthy 3.4 million total viewers and just a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic. That’s the lowest season premiere yet for the series, but at least it has the baseball game to blame and can hopefully make up some numbers next Friday.
Grimm began its hunt of not-so-friendly fairy tale creatures on Friday and did far better than Chuck with 6.5 million total viewers and a 2.1 rating in the 18-49 demo. It also was up against baseball, and next week will be battling against Fringe, Supernatural and CSI: New York. A Grimm ratings decline is expected, but NBC is hoping it can retain the vast majority of its audience and beat all the non-sports shows like it did last night.
ABC’s Once Upon a Time can now be crowned the fairy tale champ after its huge 12.8 million total viewers debut last Sunday. Direct ratings comparisons between it and Grimm is unfair as Once Upon a Time airs on Sunday rather than Friday, features a more recognizable cast, and is lighter in tone which is designed to appeal to a broader audience.
Once Upon a Time will make its all-important second appearance tomorrow night.
