Miami Medical: The Numbers Game

First some talk of viewer numbers and then we’ll go into chicken soup pot mode with all the Web goodies that have appeared about Miami Medical today.

Trying to figure out viewership numbers is a bit like trying to hit a target with a paper airplane

Calle Cubana, from what I can tell, netted 6.3 million viewers this week. That’s down from 6.7 million viewers for Golden Hour, but up from All Fall Down, which had the lowest viewership so far at about 6 million.

The aptly-named All Fall Down low was partly due to Miami Medical following re-runs of the more established shows that week. This week, Miami Medical followed new episodes of Ghost Whisperer and Medium.

The talking heads are calling this an increase of 17 percent. I’m not quite sure where that comes from, but maybe that’s in relation to the All Fall Down numbers.

Jeffrey Lieber seems happy with that on his unofficial Miami Medical Facebook fan site. His status reads “Thanks to all of you, we grew another 17%, which mean if we were a badger last week… we’re now a well-fed raccoon. Big ups.”

Seems good to me, thinks Jeremy Northam...

To summarize viewership so far, here’s where the numbers have gone: Miami Medical opened with Pilot at 7.54 million viewers, its second episode, 88 Seconds, netted 7.14 million viewers, the third, What Lies Beneath, had 6.78 million viewers, the fourth, All Fall Down, had just over 6 million viewers, the fifth, Golden Hour, popped back up with 6.7 million viewers and the sixth, Calle Cubana, netted 6.3 million viewers.

Here are the stories that ran on HitFix and HollywoodReporter based on the viewership numbers, with excerpts relating to Miami Medical:

HitFix — TV Ratings: ‘Friday Night Lights’ returns soft, CBS wins Friday

CBS got consistent numbers from its three dramas, as the two networks (CBS and ABC) battled for ratings supremacy on Friday night.

…

Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 6.64 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/8 share.

…

“Miami Medical” did a 4.1/8 to win the 10 p.m. hour overall, even if that overall audience was down from last week and the drama finished third in the key demo.

HollywoodReporter — ‘Friday Night Lights’ returns dimmer

CBS, the network posted across-the-board gains. “Ghost Whisperer” (6.5 million, 1.6) climbed a tenth, “Medium” (7.1 million, 1.8) was up 29% and “Miami Medical” (6.3 million, 1.4) grew 17%. Despite continuing to post soft numbers, this is the second week in a row that “Miami” has improved given an original lead-in. The Jerry Bruckheimer medical drama could end up a bona fide bubble show after all.

I’m not sure how important any of this is in terms of getting the show renewed — which is the bottom line that I’m hoping for and the reason I’m staring at all this bizarre TV math stuff.

The quality of Miami Medical is improving week by week, so lets hope CBS notices that and the numbers, which HitFix and HollywoodReporter seem to think are decent.

Beyond that, there’s a few other goodies this morning floating around in Web land.

TV Guide has a story about Tuck Brody’s stabbing and some chatting with Jeffrey Lieber here: TV Guide Miami Medical Exclusive: What’s Next for Nurse Tuck?

Nurse Tuck Brody (played by Omar Gooding) did not have a good week in the trauma unit

Doctor Proctor (Jeremy Northam) and Doctor Zambrano (Lana Parrilla) worry by Tuck Brody's bedside.

Gill at The Jer Blog has also been busy today, with two new posts about Calle Cubana. They are here:

Miami Medical, Calle Cubana, stones, bulls and paper aeroplanes

Miami Medical: the doctors’ dilemma

And there’s a fun new Executive Producer Visual Effects Commentary video on the whole Eyeball scene in Episode 6 (beware though, if you’re squeamish):

Jeffrey Liber this morning posted a YouTube video of a song by his wife, Holly Long Liber, which was played in Calle Cubana. She has a lovely voice. Here’s the clip of “Summertime in Your Eyes”:

Here’s the promo for Episode 7, Man On The Road:

From what I’ve heard, Man on The Road will be a trying episode for Elisabeth Harnois’ character, Doctor Serena Warren, who is wondering if it’s her fault that Tuck Brody got stabbed by the patient she saved and who also appears to have a really rough day full of plane crash victims.

Doctor Proctor comforts young Doctor Warren after the stabbing

I’m probably not the only one that’s sad that the first season ends after only eight episodes. I want to see more, but I guess that will have to wait for the fall if the show is renewed.

Here’s the CBS promo for next week’s episode, Man On The Road:

THE ALPHA TEAM FINDS THEMSELVES IN UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY AS THEY AWAIT NEWS ABOUT ONE OF THEIR OWN, ON “MIAMI MEDICAL,” FRIDAY, MAY 14

Kari Matchett (“Leverage”) Guest Stars as Dr. Helena Sable, A Cardiac Surgeon
Kevin Weisman (“Alias”) Guest Stars as Moose, a Flight Medic
James Frain (“The Tudors”) Guest Stars as Brian, a Trauma Patient

“Man on the Road” – As the Alpha Team awaits news of their friend’s condition, they must tend to the victims of a motorcycle accident and a small plane crash, on MIAMI MEDICAL, Friday, May 14 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Kari Matchett (“Leverage”) guest stars as Dr. Helena Sable, a cardiac surgeon. Kevin Weisman (“Alias”) guest stars as Moose, a flight medic. James Frain (“The Tudors”) guest stars as Brian, a trauma patient.

SERIES REGULARS

Dr. Matthew Proctor………….. Jeremy Northam
Dr. Chris Deleo……………………….. Mike Vogel
Dr. Eva Zambrano…………………… Lana Parrilla
Dr. Serena Warren……………. Elisabeth Harnois
Nurse Tuck Brody……………….. Omar Gooding

GUEST STARS

Dr. Helena Sable…………………… Kari Matchett
Moose……………………………… Kevin Weisman
Brian……………………………………… James Frain
Josephine……………………………….. Robin Dalea
Barkley…………………………………. Mia Riverton
Arianna………………………………….. Clare Carey
Truman……………………….. Christopher Cousins
Nurse Graceffa………………… Shanola Hampton
Burly Paramedic…………………….. Jeremy Radin

DIRECTED BY: Eagle Egilsson
WRITTEN BY: Jeffrey Lieber
GENRE: DRAMA, MEDICAL
RATING: TV14-LV

On the Web: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/Miami_Medical

Cheers,
-SueVo