I could die from all this irony

TV ratings:

-Yesterday’s Losers:
30 Rock (NBC), 20 Good Years (NBC), The Nine (ABC)

...week two of NBC sitcoms 30 Rock and 20 Good Years bled by double-digit percentages from last week’s already disappointing debuts.

Good. 30 Rock I want to die mostly because I don't understand the overhyping of Tina Fey, but also because if there's going to be a series about life behind the scenes at a sketch comedy show, well...you know which one I want it to be.

And as indicated by yesterday's terse post, the second episode of 20 Good Years was a big let-down after a pilot I genuinely enjoyed, so now I feel even less attached to it.

At 10 p.m...Third (behind baseball on Fox as well) was ABC’s failing The Nine (Overnights: 6.8/11; Viewers: 8.59 million; A18-49: 3.2/ 9), with erosion from lead-in Lost of a considerable 60 percent in the overnights, 53 percent in total viewers and 49 percent among adults 18-49.

Here, though, we got trouble, because The Nine is still really good, sometimes phenomenally good. Last night's script, written by K.J. Steinberg who co-created the series with her brother Hank, was especially strong.

I can think of very little in last night's episode that I would categorize as "filler." No matter what's going on onscreen it's important and worth paying attention to.

As I've mentioned the director Alex Graves came up on West Wing-so it's no surprise to me how much I like that aspect of the show. And some of the actors must be doing the best work of their careers-I admit I didn't watch Party Of Five much but I can't believe Scott Wolf was better there than he is here.

It's the kind of show that if it fails, I don't want to know what wins.

Meanwhile, as I've been tracking, NBC has their own troubles with a couple of critically-praised, struggling in the ratings series; that I like too. So here's what they're doing about it: They're replacing one with the other.

-NBC To Test Friday Night Lights on Monday:
In an effort to boost viewing levels and test the waters for a potential new time period, NBC will air struggling Tuesday drama Friday Night Lights in the Monday 10 p.m. hour in place of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on Oct. 30. No word on when, or if, Studio 60 will air that week.

I could die from all this irony.