at least it did better than four shows on the wb

Last week's issue of entertainment weekly featured a list of the complete 2004-2005 TV season ratings. Here are five shows that in my perfect world would not have done better than Veronica Mars (number 149 out of 156 shows, with 2.5 million viewers):

Point Pleasant (#134, 4.1 million viewers)
The Swan 2 (#83, 7.2 million viewers)
Rodney (#58, 9 million viewers--I've never even heard of this show)
Joey (#43, 10.1 million viewers)
Everybody Loves Raymond (#10, 16.9 million viewers)

This chart is also interesting because it shows the percentage change in viewership since last season for returning shows. The O.C., for example, dropped 28%. The biggest drop on the list is The Bernie Mac Show, at 37% (what a shame.) The biggest gain was Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, with a 30% gain, making it #15 overall. One surprise for me was that Scrubs dropped 33%. I would have expected a gain after the release of Garden State.

Oh, and the top show overall was the Tuesday showing of American Idol.

Seeing this list makes it really hit home what a miracle it is that VM was renewed for another season. Remember, reruns start this Tuesday at 9 and continue on Wednesdays at 9 after that.

I'll keep the issue around for a few days if anyone wants to know where their favorites ranked.