Every year, I love looking at this list of the overall TV ratings for every network show that was on the air this past year. It’s fascinating to me to see what’s popular, and what’s not. Also interesting is that if a show is in the top 25 or 30 on a major network, it is pretty assured of renewal, but below that, it’s quite likely to be cancelled…whereas, on Fox or the CW, having something ranked anywhere above 100 in the overall listings (there are 142 shows total) means that it’s a big hit.

In fact, the poor little CW has the 10 lowest ranked shows (including a few that have now been cancelled). Its biggest hit, America’s Next Top Model, is ranked 112. But I keep hopin’ for the little guy. Compare those kind of rankings with Smith, a show that was cancelled by CBS after just a few airings, but which still came in at number 44 overall. Or the much-discussed Studio 60 and Six Degrees, which came in at 61 and 68 respectively. The CW would kill for those kind of ratings, but for NBC, ABC, and CBS, a show that comes in that low on the list is a failure. Interesting.