It never ceases to amaze me how popular SpongeBob SquarePants remains. I really thought that guys say in the sun had passed, but it seems like he just won’t go away.

This week there were some surprising jumps in the ratings, from the Lifetime movie that took the number 2 spot, and “Rock of Love”, VH1′s skank-tastic rocker/dating show making its way to number 3. Places 4 and 6 belonged to mainstay WWE Monday Night Raw.

And the rest? Well, the rest belong to SpongeBob.

1. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
2. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (Lifetime)
3. Rock Of Love (VH-1)
4. Monday Night RAW (USA)
5. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
6. Monday Night RAW (USA)
7. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
8. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
9. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
10. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)

Hey guess what? American Idol is still a ratings winner! In other news, the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. Dancing with the Stars continues to dominate as well, with Two and a Half Men rounded out the top five, and causing me to question humanity’s place in the universe.

1. American Idol – Tues (FOX)
2. American Idol – Weds (FOX)
3. Dancing with the Stars – Mon (ABC)
4. Dancing with the Stars – Tues (ABC)
5. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
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College Basketball ruled the cable airwaves this week, and SpongeBob slithered all over the Top 10, taking 5 of the available spots. That’s one show that I’ll never understand. It has no appeal to me what-so-ever, but you can’t deny that it has some serious staying power, still dominating the animated area of cable for years and years now.

WWE took a hit this week being knocked down to 4th and 5th place. Which I would assume is not a good sign since they’re leading in to their biggest time of the year, Wrestlemania.

1. College Basketball – Duke vs. NC (ESPN)
2. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
3. Project Runway (Bravo)
4. WWE Monday Night RAW (USA)
5. WWE Monday Night RAW (USA)
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Does anyone else find it fascinating that the #1 and #2 slots are held by Political Debates, and the #3 and #4 slots are held by professional wrestling? Isn’t that…interesting? I personally think it speaks volumes for how divided the country is – but keep in mind…I watched both. So I don’t know…maybe there are lots of people like me who are interested in politics and prowrestling…I doubt it…but you never know.

1. Democratic Debate (MSNBC)
2. Debate Coverage/Analysis (MSNBC)
3. Monday Night RAW – 10pm (USA)
4. Monday Night RAW – 9pm (USA)
5. iCarly (Nickelodeon)
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Even though there has been a big stink about how this year’s Oscars was the worst rated in history, apparently that’s not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the product as much as it is a reflection on people just flat out not watching television. Why? Because it was the highest rated show of the week, beating out ratings juggernaut ‘American Idol’.

So what does that tell us? Did people find other stuff to do during the writer’s strike? Will they be coming back to television, or did the strike have more of an affect on the future of television than we thought?

1. The Oscars (ABC)
2. American Idol – Tues (FOX)
3. American Idol – Weds (FOX)
4. American Idol – Thurs (FOX)
5. Oscars Red Carpet (ABC)
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In what seems to be the biggest story in the world right now (primarily because there is little else to talk about while the writer’s get caught up on their work and shows get back into production) the 80th annual Oscars which aired on Sunday were, according to Nielsen, the lowest rated Oscars in history.

Anyone care to guess why?

I think I know…because it was one of the most boring 4 hours of television I’ve ever seen. The show was filled to the brim with filler montages that served only one purpose…to fill time. Why anyone thought that was necessary is beyond me.

The most entertaining thing of the night was the puddle that everyone kept slipping on.

John Stewart did his best to keep the crowd entertained in the same style as we’ve come accustomed to on The Daily Show, but it didn’t seem to work as well in front of the Hollywood Elite.

The network, however, made roughly 1.8 million dollars per 30 second spot, though, so I’m sure they’re not too upset this year, although next year, it will probably be a different story, as I doubt they’ll be able to command quite as hefty a price – we’ll just have to see.

Saturday night belonged to SNL this weekend as the show returned to its strongest ratings since Feb. 2006. The show pulled in a 6.1 rating/15 share, making it the most watched show on television on Saturday – day or night.

Tina Fey hosted, Carrie Underwood performed, and special guests Steve Martin and Mike Huckabee all stopped by for a few moments as well.

The show also featured the debut of Fred Armisen playing Barack Obama – an impression that is going to need a bit of work if he’s doing to keep at it, in my opinion.

Hey guess what? American Idol was a ratings winner this week. What else is new?

ABC should be pretty dang happy, though, because Lost is back in full force coming at 4th place just behind ‘Idol’ and the soul-sucking plight against humanity that is ‘Moment of Truth’ placing 3rd. Can you tell how I feel about that particular show?

Here’s the top 20.

1. American Idol – Tues (FOX)
2. American Idol – Weds (FOX)
3. Moment of Truth (FOX)
4. Lost (ABC)
5. Extreme Makeover (ABC)
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ABC won the total viewership on Sunday night with the emotional juggernaut that is “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”, but the folks at NBC have to be extremely happy with their numbers for the evening.

Not only did the one-two punch of American Gladiators and Knight Rider score a VERY close second in the overall ratings, they dominated in the much sought after 18-49 demographic – winning the night.

In the last half hour, Knight Rider commanded an impressive 13 million viewers.

While there is no word yet, of course, from NBC about whether ‘Knight Rider’ will be picked up for a full series – they have to be considering it with numbers like that. They aren’t skyrocketing numbers, but they are very good for NBC, and I won’t be surprised at all if we get to visit K.I.T.T. and Mike for a full season this fall.

graphic via tvbythenumbers

Hey guess what? The ‘Super Bowl’ was a ratings winner! Who’d a thunk it?

‘House’ also enjoyed the boost of its life after the Super Bowl and managed to score the #3 spot for the week. ‘American Idol’ rounded out the remaining two spots in the top 5. Also notable are Lost and Eli Stone. ‘Lost’ scored the 8th and 9th spots on the list, and new drama ‘Eli Stone’ managed to grab the number 13 spot, even after a mixed reception from critics.

1. Super Bowl (FOX)
2. Super Bowl Post-Game (FOX)
3. House (FOX)
4. American Idol – Tues (FOX)
5. American Idol – Weds (FOX)
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