
ABC bumps 'Commander' in March
http://tv.yahoo.com/news/eo/20060131/113876334000.html
"Idol" Impales the "Chief"?
Tuesday January 31 7:09 PM ET
By Joal Ryan
President Mackenzie's state of the union is, as President Ford once put it, "not good."
Commander in Chief, checked by House, then further curbed by American Idol, will spend March at Camp David, or wherever it is that White House dramas go when they're not on the air.
Sons & Daughters, a new comedy, will command Commander's 9-10 p.m. Tuesday slot for the month, ABC has confirmed.
Commander, which will air during February sweeps, will return at some unspecified time in the spring to offer up its season's final three episodes, bringing its total to 18, down from the expected 22. Production delays relating to the show's executive producer shakeup last fall, not ratings, have been blamed for the reduced number of episodes.
Commander in Chief, front and center at award shows such as the Golden Globes, where star Geena Davis triumphed, was reupped for a full season by ABC in October. At the time, the series was averaging 16.4 million viewers, tops among its 2005-06 freshman class. Last week, opposite the second hour of Tuesday's American Idol, its approval rating fell to 10.4 million (39th place), per Nielsen Media Research. CBS' Courting Alex (13th place, 14.9 million) now holds the distinction as TV's most-watched new show, albeit after but one airing.
"Obviously, we're disappointed in Commander ticking down the last few weeks," ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson told reporters earlier this month.
Commander's troubles began when Fox's House returned from its baseball-imposed October hiatus. At first the two shows ran even, then House slipped past. Then Idol rolled in. Commander lost 1 million viewers in two weeks.
McPherson said he was "hopeful," but "realistic" about the futures of both Commander in Chief and Invasion (42nd place, 9.3 million), which could be called Exodus for all the viewers who tune it out after Lost (seventh place, 19.1 million).
As long as the executive doesn't start talking like President Ford, the shows just might live to see next fall.