The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2020-21 (Bless the Harts, The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2020-21...

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 6/20/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (R) (0.6), To Tell the Truth (0.5) and US Olympic Trials (0.7) adjusted up while US Olympic Trials (0.8, -0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 6/6/21

FINALS UPDATE: Celebrity Family Feud (0.9) and America's Got Talent (R) (0.4) adjusted up while The Moodys (0.1) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted. It was premiere night for ABC's returnee game shows Celebrity Family Feud, The Chase and To Tell the Truth. Usually a December staple, the Kennedy Center Honors returned to CBS after not airing in 2020.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/23/21

FINALS UPDATE: American Idol (0.9, +0.2), The Equalizer (0.7) and Billboard Music Awards (0.7) adjusted up while America's Funniest Home Videos (0.6) and 60 Minutes (0.7, -0.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted. NBC aired the Billboard Music Awards against ABC's American Idol finale. CBS had PGA Championship overrun leading into the season finales of The Equalizer and NCIS: Los Angeles and the series finale of NCIS: New Orleans. Fox's Duncanville returned for two Sunday preview episodes before a Monday summer run.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/16/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.7, +0.2), American Idol (0.8), The Equalizer (0.7), Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.3) and Good Girls (0.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/9/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.7), 60 Minutes (0.6), The Equalizer (0.7), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6), American Ninja Warrior Special (0.4) and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC had a positive evening with American Idol (0.7/0.8) steady or up and The Rookie rising to a preliminary 0.6 for the first time since February. They held off a steady to narrowly down CBS with The Equalizer (0.6), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.5).
  

• Fox had mixed news as The Simpsons dropped to its first ever preliminary 0.3 at 8/7c, but Bob's Burgers (0.5) and Family Guy (0.5) were up in the 9/8c hour. NBC had a two-hour American Ninja Warrior special (0.3/0.4) leading into Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.2) and Good Girls (0.3).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/2/21

FINALS UPDATE: American Idol (0.8), 60 Minutes (0.6), The Equalizer (0.7), Ellen's Game of Games (R) (0.3), The Simpsons (R) (0.3) and Bob's Burgers (0.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Disney Night on American Idol (0.7) matched the show's last prelim from two weeks ago, while lead-out The Rookie (0.5) was on the upswing at 10/9c. It was a fairly close race against CBS as The Equalizer (0.6) matched its last prelim while NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.5) were up.
  

• On NBC, Ellen's Game of Games (0.4) actually hit its highest prelim since the move to Sunday, and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.3) was up in prelims as well, matching Good Girls (0.3). Fox was only partially original with Bless the Harts (0.2), Bob's Burgers (0.3) and Family Guy (0.4).
  

• And the return of DC's Legends of Tomorrow (0.1) did not liven up CW Sundays, while Batwoman (0.1) moved to 9/8c.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 4/18/21

FINALS UPDATE: American Idol (0.8), The Rookie (0.5), Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.3) and Family Guy (0.5) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The Academy of Country Music Awards (0.8) became one of the first events to air a second time since the start of the pandemic, just seven months after a delayed edition in September 2020. It was down some more from the 1.0 prelim/1.1 final for that show.
  

• Elsewhere, ABC's American Idol (0.6/0.7) was on the downswing, thanks in part to the 7/6c hour tanking with a couple Home Economics repeats (0.3/0.2). NBC's Good Girls actually rose to 0.4 in the 10/9c hour, tying ABC's The Rookie at least in the rounded prelims, while lead-in Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist fell back to 0.2. The Fox animation (0.3/0.4/0.3/0.4/0.4) was even to slightly down.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 4/11/21

FINALS UPDATE: NCIS: New Orleans (R) (0.4) and The Great North (0.4) adjusted up while 60 Minutes (0.9, -0.3) and The Equalizer (R) (0.5) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS hourly numbers (1.2/0.6/0.4/0.3) include almost a half hour of Masters overrun and (particularly the early hours) should adjust down in finals.
  

•  ABC looks a bit down from last week with American Idol (0.7/0.8) and The Rookie (0.4) while the Fox animation (0.2/0.4/0.3/0.4/0.5) was about even with two weeks ago. NBC's Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.3) inched up alongside the return of Good Girls (0.3) to originals.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 4/4/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.6), The Equalizer (0.7) and Ellen's Game of Games (0.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• With no more basketball help, CBS was on the downswing with The Equalizer (0.6), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.4), while The Rookie (0.5) perked up following American Idol (0.7/0.8) to give ABC a win in each hour.
  

• It was very ugly on the other big four networks as Fox's Bless the Harts fell to a 0.1 without its usual animated teammates, and two-hour special Malika the Lion Queen (0.1/0.2) did not do much better. NBC's Ellen's Game of Games fell to a 0.2 leading into Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.2).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 3/28/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.7), NCAA Overrun (2.3, +0.9), 60 Minutes (1.1, +0.2), The Equalizer (0.8) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.6) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• With another round of NCAA basketball overrun (1.4), CBS was roughly even in the prelims with 60 Minutes (0.9), The Equalizer (0.7), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.5).
  

• NBC moved Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.2) back to its season one timeslot, where it lost half the demo rating it was pulling on Tuesday. Ellen's Game of Games (0.3) was unchanged in a move to 8/7c and Good Girls had to beat its lead-in just to get back to a 0.3 at 10/9c.
  

• ABC's The Rookie (0.4) returned from a month off leading out of a steady American Idol (0.8). Fox's Cherries Wild dropped to 0.1 with less afternoon lead-in help, while the animation (0.2/0.4/0.3/0.4/0.4) including a The Great North repeat looked pretty even.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 3/21/21

FINALS UPDATE: 60 Minutes (0.9), Cherries Wild (0.3) and Bless the Harts (0.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Despite a strong 7:00 half-hour of NCAA basketball overrun (2.0), CBS aired 60 Minutes (0.8) and drama repeats (0.5/0.4/0.4/0.4/0.3) to round out the night.

• There was no post-Grammy rebound as ABC's American Idol (0.8) and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.4) along with NBC's Ellen's Game of Games (0.3) and Good Girls (0.3) all matched last week.

• Fox's numbers could shift due to a minor overrun of its own, but its usual lineup (0.2/0.2/0.4/0.3/0.4/0.4) (with a Family Guy repeat at 9:30) mostly slid down from last week.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 3/14/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (R) (0.7), Grammy Awards (2.3, +0.4) and The Simpsons (0.5) adjusted up while 60 Minutes (0.9, -0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The Grammy Awards (1.9/2.1/1.8) became just the latest of the big award shows to take a massive year-to-year drop, down by more than 50% from last year's 4.7 prelim (which adjusted up to a 5.4 final). The show should end up with a lower 18-49 rating than last Sunday's Harry/Meghan interview.
  

• NBC's Good Girls dropped to 0.3 in week two, matching its lead-in from Ellen's Game of Games (0.3). ABC's American Idol (0.8) and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.4) along with the Fox originals (0.4/0.3/0.4/0.4/0.5/0.4) looked a lot like last week.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 3/7/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.7) and Oprah With Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special (2.7) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The night belonged to CBS thanks to a massive-two hour Oprah Winfrey interview of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (2.6), nearly doubling the 18-49 average for last week's Golden Globes and more than doubling it in total viewers.
  

• The competition had a tough time, including NBC which had no interest in the timeslot premiere of Ellen's Game of Games (0.3). But the season premiere of Good Girls managed to inch up to 0.4 at 10/9c, its most frequent raw number last season.
  

• American Idol (0.8) dropped at least a tenth and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.4) aired a special episode in the 10/9c hour. Fox probably held up the best (0.3/0.3/0.4/0.4/0.5/0.4), with a couple of its programs up from last week and the rest even.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 2/28/21

FINALS UPDATE: NCIS: New Orleans (0.6), Golden Globe Awards (1.5, +0.3) and Bob's Burgers (0.4) adjusted up while Golden Globes Arrivals (0.6) and Cherries Wild (0.3, -0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Preliminary ratings for the Golden Globe Awards (1.4/1.3/1.0) were down a staggering two-thirds or so from the year-ago event, which aired in early January 2020 to a 3.8 prelim (and adjusted up to a 4.7 final).
  

• The Globes had little effect on competing America's Funniest Home Videos (0.8) and American Idol (1.0), though The Rookie (0.4) fell back to its usual fall level at 10/9c. CBS was also even to narrowly down with The Equalizer (0.7) and the NCIS spin-offs (0.5/0.5).
  

• NASCAR overrun could cause changes but it was preliminarily a rotten night for the Fox animation, with The Simpsons (0.4), The Great North (0.3), Bob's Burgers (0.3) and Family Guy (0.4) all eyeing new lows.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 2/21/21

FINALS UPDATE: The Rookie (0.6), 60 Minutes (0.8), The Equalizer (0.8), The Widower (0.4) and Cherries Wild (0.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Week two of The Equalizer (0.7) dropped by two tenths from its timeslot premiere, matching its 60 Minutes lead-in (0.7) and remaining ahead of NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.5).
  

• Fox had the delayed premiere of game show Cherries Wild (0.2), which was hopeless alongside Bless the Harts (0.2) in the 7/6c hour. The regular lineup of The Simpsons (0.5), The Great North (0.4), Bob's Burgers (0.5) and Family Guy (0.5) perked up from there but were still on the low end.
  

• ABC's American Idol (1.0) and The Rookie (0.5) each declined in their second week together, and NBC finished out The Widower (0.3/0.4).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/13/20

FINALS UPDATE: Card Sharks (0.3), 60 Minutes (0.8), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6), Sunday Night Football (4.6, +0.7), NFL Overrun (5.7, +1.2), Bless the Harts (0.7) and Bob's Burgers (0.7) adjusted up while Football Night in America p2 (1.0, -0.5) and Football Night in America p3 (2.4, -1.1) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's Supermarket Sweep (0.5) and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.3) are eyeing new lows on their last Sunday together in 2020. (Card Sharks also fell to 0.2, which it has hit before.)
  

• None of the other entertainment options fared much better, with CBS' NCIS spin-offs (0.5/0.4) and Fox's cartoons (1.3/0.6/0.6/0.7) on the low end (for an NFL evening in Fox's case). And the CW got 0.0's on the same night for the first time since Pandora and The Outpost were paired together.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/6/20

FINALS UPDATE: NFL Overrun (5.0, +1.1), 60 Minutes (1.7), Football Night in America p2 (2.0), Sunday Night Football (4.6, +0.8) and The Simpsons (0.6) adjusted up while Football Night in America p3 (2.6, -0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On ABC, Supermarket Sweep continued its post-Thanksgiving slump with another 0.6, though Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.5) rebounded by a tenth. Fox had a quiet cartoon night with The Simpsons dropping back to 0.5, while the other three (0.4/0.5/0.6) matched their last non-NFL ratings.
  

• CBS used its national NFL lead-in on 60 Minutes (1.9/1.2) and a Dolly Parton Christmas special (0.7/0.6).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 11/22/20

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.6), Sunday Night Football (5.4, +1.2), NFL Overrun (6.1, +1.7), The OT (6.1, +1.9) and Bob's Burgers (0.7) adjusted up while Pandora (0.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The American Music Awards (1.0/1.0/0.8) on ABC became the latest awards show to take a major dip in the COVID era, eyeing a 40%ish decline from last year's 1.7.
  

• Fox had an NFL overrun that ran almost up to the end of the 7:00 hour, but preliminarily The Simpsons (1.5) was only a bit up from last week, Bless the Harts (0.7) was even and the 9/8c veterans (0.6/0.6) were down.
  

• CBS was even to slightly up with its NCIS spin-offs (0.6/0.5). The CW's The Outpost hung onto its 0.1 in a move to Sunday after Pandora (0.1).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 11/15/20

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.8), Football Night in America p3 (3.3), Sunday Night Football (4.6, +0.9), NFL Overrun (5.4, +2.4), The Simpsons (1.3) and Bless the Harts (0.7) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Thanks to early afternoon Masters coverage on CBS, both CBS and Fox had a late-afternoon NFL lead-in for most of the country. The hourly numbers given are 2.0/1.0/0.5/0.3 but with most of the country starting primetime at 7:34 ET, the reality is probably closer to 2.4 for the NFL overrun, 1.6/1.3 for 60 Minutes, 0.6/0.5 for NCIS: Los Angeles and 0.4/0.4 for NCIS: New Orleans.
  

• With a diluted NFL lead-in, Fox's cartoons were lower than two weeks ago when they had NFL support, with big drops for The Simpsons (1.2) and Bless the Harts (0.6), though Bob's Burgers (0.7) and Family Guy (0.7) perked back up in the 9/8c hour. ABC's Supermarket Sweep (0.8) was on the upswing while the other three hours (0.7/0.5/0.3) were even.