Saturday, December 7, 2024

“Law & Order SVU” with Alec Baldwin Clobbered in Ratings

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Alec Baldwin didn’t help the ratings of “Law & Order: SVU.” In fact he probably hurt them.

Although NBC heavily promoted Baldwin as guest star his appearance was not a draw for the favored show. “L&U SVU” finished a distant second in total viewers to CBS’s “Criminal Minds.” And in the key demo, it was third, following ABC’s “Modern Family.”

In January, “L&O” was hitting a 2.0 share in the key demo and scoring 7.5 million viewers without Alec. With Alec, the show did a 1.5 in the key demo and 5.82 million viewers. More than a million “L&O” fans tuned out that episode.

The answer may be that Baldwin is simply not a draw for ratings. “30 Rock” was never a high rated show. One insider suggests that women, who watch “Law & Order” for Mariska Hargitay as a strong female lead, don’t care for Baldwin’s recent much publicized antics. I won’t list them all here again.

In any case, the episode was very good, and Baldwin was excellent as a belligerent New York reporter cast in the memory of the late Mike McAlary. Maybe more people will see the rerun.

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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