Women's Murder Club, the new ABC Friday night drama from the mind of author James Patterson, debuted with impressive numbers in its series premiere, becoming the most watched show on Friday.  Even though friday is typically the worst night of television watching, Women's Murder Club's numbers would have been solid any night of the week.  With over ten million people tuned in, Women's Murder Club also boasted the highest numbers in the key 18-49 year old demographic.  Next Friday might be an entirely different story, with FOX's The Next Great American Band set to debut.  We'll see if Women's Murder Club's numbers are here to stay then.

Highest Rated Show of the Night: Women's Murder Club – 10.8 million viewers

8pm Time Slot Winner: Deal or No Deal – 9 million viewers

9pm Time Slot Winner: Women's Murder Club 

10pm Time Slot Winner: Numb3rs – 9.1 million viewers

Ghost Whisperer came in second at 8pm, garnering a nice little 8.6 million person audience.  Jennifer Love Hewitt's cleavage still works.  FOX's coverage of the American League Championship Series came in third with 7.5 million people on average.  20/20 came in fourth. 

CBS's vampire drama Moonlight lost nearly a million viewers, finishing the night with 7.3 million.  Friday Night Lights entered with a paltry 5.3 million person audience.  The show's move to fridays has not been an entirely successful one.  If the ratings stay this low, no amount of glowing reviews is going to save it from network euthanization.  It's a sad truth, but there's no getting around it.  Sorry, FNL fans.

Men in Trees returned to prime time with a 7.1 million person audience, which has to be chalked up as a mild disappointment.  Vegas came in third at 10pm, finishing close behind Men in Trees with 7 million.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: TV Guide
(Image Courtesy of ABC)