RATINGS RAT RACE: Grimm Slips, Blue Bloods Hits Season Highs, Chuck Slides

Following its surprisingly strong debut against Game 7 of the World Series last week, NBC’s new fairytale-themed drama Grimm (1.8/5 in 18-49, 5.92 million viewers) dropped a modest 14% in its second airing. It won the 9 PM hour in the demo and ranked as the second highest rated program of the night behind the CBS drama Blue Bloods. Things looked much gloomier for NBC’s departing dramedy Chuck (0.8/3, 3.1 million), which was the lowest-rated and least watched program on the Big 4, down 20% in the demo from its season premiere last week. Dateline (1.2/4, 4.1 million) closed out the night for NBC, down a tenth from last week. Grimm seems to be hurting CSI:NY in the 9 PM slot. The veteran CBS crime drama (1.6/5, 9.7 million) was down 11% in 18-49 from its last original 2 weeks. Blue Bloods (2.1/6, 12.6 million) posted season highs, up a big 24% from the fast national for its last original. (Blue Bloods is usually adjusted up in the finals.) This was the cop family drama’s second best 18-49 and total viewer result behind the series’ September 2010 premiere. Blue Bloods was the top program of the night and helped CBS (1.6/5, 10.2 million) win the night despite another soft outing by rookie A Gifted Man (1.2/4, even, 8.4 million), which didn’t make a strong case for a back order. (But may get a partial one anyway.) Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares (1.5/5) and Fringe (1.3/4) were both up a tenth from their most recent episodes. ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition rebounded from having to face the conclusion of the World Series last week. The 8 PM episode (1.2/4) was up 20%, the 9 PM one (1.4/4) up 27%. At 10 PM, 20/20 (1.1/3) was down a tenth. The CW’s Nikita and Supernatural held steady.