BAZINGA!
Move over, Sheldon, there’s a new sheriff in town.
The Big Bang ratings titan took a hit to the jugular from the new ABC runaway hit, The Good Doctor.
That was, uh, unexpected.
BIG BOOM
From Vanity Fair:
The Good Doctor’s third episode on ABC beat out The Big Bang Theory’s broadcast from last week, making the freshman medical drama the most-watched program of the night—and one of the few shows ever to win in a head-to-head battle with CBS’s ratings juggernaut.
18.2 million viewers tuned in to watch Freddie Highmore play doctor, while The Big Bang is sitting on a mere 17.9 million. And lest you think that Good Doctor’s viewers are all senior citizens who fell asleep watching Dancing with the Stars, make no mistake: the series also scored a 4.2 rating in the key 18-49 demo—just 0.3 below Big Bang.Â
THE VERY VERY GOOD DOCTOR
It continues…
An earnest streak likely helps the series, too. Given the bleak national mood, it’s easy to understand the appeal of a story about a determined, kindhearted doctor overcoming discrimination; just look at what a similar tone has done for This Is Us.It also doesn’t hurt that Highmore, who turned in a consistently great performance on Bates Motel, is similarly magnetic in this role. He’s also managed to find empathy in the comedy that comes from Murphy’s social misunderstandings, rather than simply playing his character’s limitations for laughs.
3:44;
