Chicago, Chicago (and two more)
Justice joins lineup after cops, fire and medical
CBS seems to be forever chasing the idea of developing triple threats. Not in that actor-singerdancer kind of way, although I like the thought of Survivor’s Jeff Probst and Big Brother’s Julie Chen softshoeing their way through a La La
Land tribute. No, the network seems instead to be building franchises that are three shows strong. Think NCIS — the original, NCIS: Los Angeles and the fresh-faced young ’un, NCIS:
New Orleans with Scott Bakula. CBS also tried to build the enduring Criminal Minds into a threesome. Undaunted by one-seasonwonder Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour, it launched Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders last year. And anyone remember CSI, with its buddies CSI: Miami, CSI: NY and, once CSI: NY ended, CSI: Cyber?
Over at NBC, execs are trying to go one better with a quadruple-threat: Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med and the newly launched Chicago Justice.
Point is, when you have a reliable format, it makes financial sense to make like a savvy geneticist and clone it. Plus you can hype crossover episodes and build the cannon for superfans.
In this week’s ratings report, all three NCIS shows are revelling in the top 10 in Canada, with Criminal Minds doing groundwork for Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders’ return on March 8. And
Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med both made the top 20, prepping viewers for Chicago Justice, which debuted this past Sunday.
But for all their efforts, they were no match for The Big Bang Theory, which was No. 1 in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal and the Greater Toronto Area.
Here are the top programs in Canada for the week of Feb. 13-19, the most recent ratings available, courtesy of audience measurement organization Numeris:
1. The Big Bang Theory (Thurs.), CTV 2. NCIS, Global 3. Bull, Global 4. NCIS: New Orleans, Global 5. Blue Bloods, CTV 6. CTV Evening News, CTV 7. Criminal Minds, CTV 8. NCIS: Los Angeles, Global 9. Hawaii Five-0, Global 10. Grey’s Anatomy, CTV 11. This is Us, CTV 12. MacGyver, Global 13. The Blacklist, Global 14. Murdoch Mysteries, CBC 15. Agents of SHIELD, CTV 16. Chicago P.D., Global 17. Chicago Med, Global 18. CTV Evening News Weekend, CTV 19. Elementary, Global 20. Hockey Night in Canada, CBC 21. CTV National News, CTV 22. Timeless, Global 23. The Big Bang Theory (weeknights), CTV 24. Modern Family, City 25. Powerless, CTV 26. Scorpion, City 27. Grimm, CTV 28. The Good Fight, Global 29. Kevin Can Wait, Global 30. Blindspot, CTV