Not Great Friday Night Lights Ratings News

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Last week's ratings didn't bode well for Friday Night Lights. Here are a few notes on the ratings of FNL and other shows from the Orange County Register ...

The swap: The new "Women's Murder Club," starring former "Law & Order" stunner Angie Harmon, racked up huge numbers in its debut - huge for a Friday night, anyway. A rating of 6 is usually enough to win a Friday; "Women's Murder Club" pulled a 7.3. Meanwhile, the male-centered "Big Shots" gives away half of the female-heavy "Grey's Anatomy" audience at 10 p.m. Thursdays. How many weeks until "Women's" takes over for the men?

The flop: ABC promoted the heck out of "Cavemen" before the season, but to little use. The premiere hardly turned in startling ratings - and about 20 percent of the audience didn't bother to come back for week two. It's not as if the competition - "NCIS," "Bones" and "The Singing Bee" can't be beat; "Cavemen" just makes it look that way. Because ABC invested so much capital, "Cavemen" might get a little extra rope, but chances are the show will be extinct soon.

The sadness: Loyal-viewer anguish and critical support helped "Friday Night Lights" get a second season. NBC even did what so many hopefuls had asked: moved the show to Friday nights. This didn't help the ratings, which were about level with season one the first week and fell to "Women's Murder Club" in week two. It doesn't help the case for "Friday Night Lights" that its lead-in, "Deal or No Deal" wins at 8 p.m. while it runs third at 9.

Other notes: NBC had great hopes for "Bionic Woman," but it is settling into a disappointing third in its Wednesday slot, behind "Criminal Minds" and "Private Practice." Meanwhile, NBC's Monday night sci-fi lineup is slipping with "Heroes" way off from last season, and "Chuck" and "Journeyman" third in their slots.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.

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Friday Night Lights Quotes

"When Jason Street went down the first game of the season, everybody wrote us off. Everybody. And yet here we are at the championship game. Forty thousand people out there have also written us off. But there are a few out there who still believe in you."

Eric Taylor

We will all at some time in our lives, fall. Life is so very fragile, we are all vulnerable, and we will all at some point in our lives, fall, we will all fall.
We must carry this in our hearts, that what we have is special, that it can be taken from us, and that when it is taken from us, we will be tested. We will be tested to our very souls. We will all be tested.
It is these times, it is this pain, that allows us to look inside ourselves.

Eric Taylor

Friday Night Lights Music

  Song Artist
Muzzle of Bees Wilco iTunes
Song Evergreen The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Song Bang a Gong (Get it On) T. Rex