CBS Moves To Shore Up Weaker Than Expected Ratings For THE CLASS

The producers of FRIENDS had hoped to have lightning hit twice by creating a new FRIENDS ratings phenomenom with THE CLASS. But it hasn't happened so far. Last week the series was only #11 among all the big Monday night programs, and the biggest drag on the #1 Monday night ratings champion, CBS. CBS still has faith in THE CLASS, but will move it to the 8:30 slot, and take the far superior HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, #7, and move it to 8:00 as the Monday night lead-in program.

While I personally did not like the pilot episode of THE CLASS at all, the future episodes have been much better, and I find myself slowly warming to the storylines of the characters and taking an interest where the romantic drama is headed. A few good laughs also glue the series together as well, however HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER is a vastly superior series in so many ways. The characters are far better developed, the acting first rate, and the comic relief often provided by the absurdly boorish character Barney(Neil Patrick Harris), all jell together to make HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER a very good show, with a slowly evolving storyline that could run for years. THE CLASS so far cannot really compare, but that does not mean that this freshman series is a lost cause as of yet. There is still plenty of time to better engage the viewer with a sharpened storyline and improved romantic comedy content.

Despite the ratings drag of THE CLASS, which seems like series far weaker than the excellent KING OF QUEENS 8:00 lead-in it replaced, CBS does have the strongest ratings overall for Monday than any of the networks. TWO AND A HALF MEN is #2 overall in ratings for the night, while the Julia Louise-Dreyfus comedy, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE is #3 overall, while the very respected CSI:MIAMI is a the big #1 show on Monday night overall for CBS. I pesrsonally dod not like the first episode of THE NEW ADVENTURE OF OLD CHRISTINE and wrote a scathingly critical review of the episode I watched, but the show has dramaticly improved since and become a good show. THE CLASS still has time to develop, but the clock is beginning to tick. Very soon THE CLASS will have to deliver up to the big expectations or possiby face replacement on the schedule or even cancellation. CBS simply wants a program that does better than #11 on Monday evenings. Whether the writers of this program are up to this challenge will be tested in the next few weeks. But it's definately "crunch time" for the writers and producers of THE CLASS.