‘Fringe’ limps into finale while ‘Scandal’ and ‘Big Bang’ hit new ratings highs

Last night marked the end of the first full week of the new winter season and the conclusion of a madcap couple of days that saw new shows premiere, returning favorites reappear and a few big timeslot shifts! With the holidays over and the winter breaks in the rearview it was back to the business of television and there’s a lot to digest.

The biggest ratings came from Thursday night hits “Scandal” and “The Big Bang Theory,” which each snared series highs. The Shondra Rhimes drama starring Kerry Washington had been on a hot streak going into the break and showed no signs of slowing down coming out of it! Yesterday’s finalized ratings report showed “Scandal” was up 18% from its midseason finale in viewers (8.4 million) and pulled in a 2.8 in the all-important 18-49 demographic which is a 17% spike. The end result even put it ahead of CBS’ “Elementary” which had a 2.4 in the demo, but significantly more overall viewers (11.3 million).

CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” also made a big splash once again! The comedy netted 19.8 million viewers and a mind-blowing 6.3 in the demo. Overall that’s a 3% gain to mark a new series high, topping the mark it set with its most recent prior episode.

Both networks then kept the momentum going on Friday night as numbers released just this afternoon show ABC and CBS had big gains across the board. CBS’ procedural cop dramas “CSI: New York” and “Blue Bloods” rose to new season highs. “CSI: New York” jumped 13% in the demo while “Blue Bloods’ soared 20% which paired with its 11.1 million viewers was enough to make it Friday night’s most watched show.

Yet both were topped in the demo by ABC’s rising star “Shark Tank.” The incredibly entertaining reality hit from Mark Burnett hit a six week with 18-49 year olds with a 2.0. “Tank’s” numbers made it the best performing show in the demo for the night, edging out CBS’ “Undercover Boss,” which itself jumped 20% in week to week numbers and earned a 1.8.

Unfortunately over at FOX the penultimate episode of “Fringe” took a major hit last night falling 20% from the most recent prior episode which aired on Christmas Eve. The low-rated cult favorite limps into finale week with a .8 in the demo and just 2.4 million viewers. “Fringe” wraps its run next week with a two-hour finale. You can also check the just released final promo for the series finale below.

Meanwhile NBC had a nice overall week with a solid premiere for its new mystery “Deception” and important wins from two of its top dramas. On Monday “Deception” debuted in “Revolution’s” 10 p.m. timeslot (while the series takes its winter hiatus) and topped timeslot rival “Castle” by .1 of a point to edge it out in the demo with a 2.0, compared to a 1.9.

Still though “Deception” was down in viewers with 5.6 million total in comparison to the 11.7 million “Revolution” had with its bow and the 8.5 million its fall finale earned. Yet that was expected as “Deception” has “The Biggest Loser” as its lead-in, while “Revolution” had “The Voice.” It is also worth noting that both shows also targeted different demos, which also influenced the data.

NBC also saw solid victories from “Parenthood” and “Law and Order: SVU,” which each had good nights. “Parenthood,” again topped all comers in the demo with a 1.9 (and saw a 12% week to week jump), while “SVU” hit its highest point of the season in viewers with 8.3 million.

This was also an important week for cable as TBS and FX premiered two of their new buzzworthy series, but each to a different result. TBS’ premiere of the one-time ABC comedy “Cougar Town” was only able to crack 2.2 million in viewers and a 1.3 in the 18-49 demo.

By cable standards those aren’t bad and actually fairly solid but it was less than the bows of TBS originals “Men At Work” and “Sullivan and Son” which earned slightly more viewers and without the benefit of a built in audience. Worthy of mentioning though is “Cougar Town’s” final airing on ABC only had 3.5 million, so the mark was never that high to begin with in all honesty.

FX had better luck with “Justified,” which saw a 17% season-to-season gain in total audience for its premiere along with a 25% gain in the 18-49 overall demo and a new series high among women ages 18-49.

So what’s your take New York? What shows did you watch? Hit the comments and let us know. Remember to also subscribe to this column at the top of the page for all the latest breaking entertainment news from all around the world of television and pop culture.