The Breakdown: ABC Tuesday in 2017-18 (Roseanne, The Middle, Black-ish and more!)

It's time for a journey through the ABC Tuesday schedule in 2017-18...

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 5/22/18

FINALS UPDATE: Roseanne (2.5) and NCIS (1.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC said goodbye to nine-season comedy staple The Middle, which averaged a 1.8 in its regular 8:30 timeslot and fell to 1.6 for the second half of the one-hour finale. Though The Middle couldn't get back to its levels from the early Roseanne weeks, this was up multiple tenths from what it's been doing earlier this month. Its lead-in Roseanne (2.4) ended the spring on a season low, and Splitting Up Together (1.0) didn't look so hot leading out of Middle at 9:30. For the People headed into a long off-season with its third 0.5 in the final four weeks.

• On NBC, The Voice completed its limp to the finish with a 1.5/1.4 for its two-hour finale from 9:00 to 11:00. Even though it didn't have to go up against Dancing with the Stars like in previous years, this will be down considerably from last spring's 1.9 finale. (Last spring's finale also had to lead out of Great News (0.7/0.8), while this one got a Voice recap (1.1).)

• CBS' NCIS (1.2) ended the season even or narrowly down, leading into a repeat (0.7) and the return of newsmagazine 48 Hours: NCIS (0.5). The CW's The Flash (0.8) ended the season well, but it was no help to The 100 which was stuck at 0.3. Fox went with a movie (0.4/0.5).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 5/15/18

FINALS UPDATE: The Middle (1.5), NCIS (1.3) and Chicago Med (1.0) adjusted up while The 100 (0.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS was all the way back to normal with NCIS (1.2) in the week after Pauley Perrette's departure. Following it was a two-hour season finale for NCIS: New Orleans, with a rare 1.0 in the 9/8c hour (though still worse than what Bull usually did here) followed by a 0.8 at 10/9c.

• On Fox, a seven-season run for New Girl (0.6/0.6) ended quietly, up a tenth from last week while leading out of a MasterChef Junior recap special (0.5).

• ABC was very close to last week with Roseanne (2.6), The Middle (1.4), Black-ish (1.2), Splitting Up Together (1.0) and For the People (0.5). NBC was up with The Voice (1.4) but down with Chicago Med (0.9), while Rise finished its run with its usual 0.7 in the middle. And the CW matched last week with The Flash (0.7) and The 100 (0.4).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 5/8/18

FINALS UPDATE: The Voice (1.3) and Chicago Med (1.1) adjusted up while Bull (1.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NCIS said goodbye to original cast member Pauley Perrette with a season high-tying 1.6 demo rating, up at least four tenths from last week. The boost definitely carried through to Bull (1.3), which was up two tenths, but NCIS: New Orleans (0.8) somehow dropped at 10/9c.

• Even a much bigger NCIS was unable to faze Roseanne (2.6), as it matched last week's final and beat last week's prelim. The Middle (1.5) and Black-ish (1.2) also tied last week, but the network was down a tenth in the second half of the evening with Splitting Up Together (1.0) and For the People (0.5).

• Fox's Lethal Weapon (0.8) was up in what turned out to be Clayne Crawford's final episode, while a move to doubling up at 9/8c did nothing for New Girl (0.5/0.5). NBC (1.2/0.7/1.0) matched last week and the CW was actually on the upswing with both The Flash (0.7) and The 100 (0.4).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 5/1/18

FINALS UPDATE: Roseanne (2.6) and Chicago Med (1.0) adjusted up while The 100 (0.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Back from a week off, the gigahit days came to an end for Roseanne (2.5), which shed close to a quarter of its demo rating from two weeks ago. This single week-to-week drop wouldn't have looked so severe if Johnny Galecki hadn't been on the episode two weeks ago, but the show is now in a territory where we can't completely rule out it falling out of 300 A18-49+ territory for the season (though it would need more steep drops to come).

• Later in the night, The Middle (1.5) took a similar drop (in its case compared with three weeks ago). Black-ish (1.2) and Splitting Up Together (1.1) were actually up from the Alex, Inc. night two weeks ago, and down just a tenth from when they led out of The Middle three weeks ago. And For the People clawed its way back up to 0.6 at 10/9c.

• CBS' dramas (1.2/1.1/0.9) were also back from a week off and basically matched two weeks ago, but things got really ugly for Fox's Lethal Weapon (0.7), LA to Vegas (0.5) and New Girl (0.5), as well as The Voice (1.2) on NBC. Rise stayed at 0.7 and Chicago Med (0.9) inched down.

• On the CW, The Flash matched last week's 0.6, while The 100 will be hoping to hang onto a second straight 0.4 in finals.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 4/10/18

FINALS UPDATE: Roseanne (3.5), The Middle (2.0) and Lethal Weapon (0.9) adjusted up while Black-ish (1.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's Roseanne (3.4) stayed in giga-hit territory in week three, dropping by 0.5 in the prelims for a low-teens decline week-to-week. The other comedies The Middle (1.9), Black-ish (1.4) and Splitting Up Together (1.2) followed in similar fashion, with SUT falling just a bit farther behind its Black-ish lead-in this time. At 10/9c, the aura finally wore off for For the People, which crashed back to the 0.6 it pulled in the last week pre-Roseanne.

• On Fox, New Girl (0.7) was back for its final season at 9:30, airing its first new episode in over a calendar year. It didn't look particularly different from what The Mick had been doing in the hour, and fell behind everything it did last season. Lethal Weapon (0.8) also returned from hiatus on Fox, dropping to a new season low in its first episode since Daylight Saving Time.

• ABC may have gotten some help from lighter competition on the other two networks; NBC's The Voice (1.3) was in recap special mode (though Rise (0.8) and Chicago Med (1.1) held steady), while CBS went with an NCIS repeat (0.7) and a two-hour Elton John special (1.0/0.9). On the CW, The Flash returned to a new low 0.6.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 4/3/18

FINALS UPDATE: Rise (0.8) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's Roseanne revival phenomenon (3.9) came only part of the way back to ratings reality in week two, staying very close to what was the previous highest regular episode on broadcast this season: 4.1 for The Big Bang Theory's season premiere. It's a little steeper drop than the typical week two of a new show, but still a smaller decline than Will and Grace saw in its second week back. Considering the unthinkable point it was starting from, that goes down as a win.

• This week, Roseanne was only a half hour, and The Middle (2.2) returned to begin its final stretch of episodes at 8:30. That was easily a season high for Middle, and its first time in the twos since January 2016. The 9:00 hour fell hard with much-reduced lead-in support, but Black-ish (1.5) still tied with the season premiere for the second-biggest episode of the season. And Splitting Up Together (1.4) once again exhibited great retention at 9:30. For the People (0.8) was down just a tenth at 10/9c.

• A few viewers migrated back to the other networks, as NBC's The Voice (1.8), Rise (0.9) and Chicago Med (1.1) were all up a notch from last week. CBS' Bull (1.2) and Fox's LA to Vegas (0.7) also edged up.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 3/20/18

FINALS UPDATE: The Middle (1.4), The Voice (2.2) and LA to Vegas (0.7) adjusted up while The Flash (R) (0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC drama newbie Rise (1.1) made the move to its regular 9/8c slot after The Voice, dropping a tenth from last week's 10/9c premiere. Normally that would be a good week two hold (assuming it holds in finals), but the timeslot probably got easier on balance with the move to an earlier hour after a live-heavy The Voice lead-in (2.1). Chicago Med (1.2) continued its impressive season by ticking up from Rise at 10/9c.

• A week before the Roseanne revival shakes up ABC Tuesday, comedies The Middle (1.3), Fresh Off the Boat (1.0) and Black-ish (1.1) all had solid rebounds. However, week two was not kind to legal drama For the People (0.6), which gave up two crucial tenths.

• CBS was repeats (0.8/0.8/0.6), and the Lethal Weapon hiatus continued while The Flash began a break of its own. That left Fox's LA to Vegas (0.6) / The Mick (0.7) hour along with the CW's Black Lightning (0.5) as the only originals on those nets. LA to Vegas fell to a new low at 9/8c, but The Mick actually grew from it with its first 0.7 in over a month.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 3/13/18

FINALS UPDATE: Black-ish (0.9), NCIS (1.5), The Voice (2.3) and This Is Us (2.8) adjusted up while Rise (1.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• For the second straight season, NBC used a This Is Us finale (2.7) in mid-March to preview the show that will take over its timeslot next week. This year, that show was the high school drama Rise (1.3). That's not too promising, but it did manage to fare better than last year's Trial and Error preview (1.4/1.0 with a 3.4 lead-in). It matched the Chicago Justice preview that followed the penultimate This Is Us (3.0) last year, but that may not be the case after finals (Rise has a 1.4 -> 1.1 breakdown).

• ABC had its own drama premiere going head-to-head with Rise, but For the People managed just a 0.8 at 10/9c, with little help from a low-end ABC comedy night (as The Middle (1.1) and Black-ish (0.9/0.8) both dipped to season lows). This was better than anything we've seen from Kevin (Probably) Saves the World in quite awhile, but presumably it's got to hold up really well from here.

• Fox's Lethal Weapon had the night off (posting 0.5 for a repeat at 8/7c), but comedies LA to Vegas (0.7) and The Mick (0.6) were unfazed. CBS' Bull (1.2) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.0) both upticked, leading out of an even NCIS (1.4). And the CW matched last week with The Flash (0.7) and Black Lightning (0.5).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 2/27/18

FINALS UPDATE: Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.6) and The Voice (2.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• After lots of premieres on Monday, it was mostly the usual early winter lineups returning from the Olympics on Tuesday. The big exception was NBC's Tuesday premiere of The Voice (2.3), which was basically even in Plus with last year's spring premiere (2.6). Unlike Monday, it did not hold up as well vs. the fall Tuesday premiere (2.7) which was paired with the huge This Is Us premiere. Later in the night, This Is Us (2.5) and Chicago Med (1.4) were pretty close to normal levels in their returns.

• ABC's The Middle (1.2) and Fresh Off the Boat (0.9) were both even with three weeks ago, while Black-ish (0.7) snuck in another repeat as it prepares to double up on For the People's premiere night in two weeks. Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.5) managed a small rebound after last week's ugliness against the Olympics.

• It was a low-end night for pretty much everyone else, with Fox's comedy hour of LA to Vegas (0.7) and The Mick (0.6) both dipping to new lows leading out of Lethal Weapon (1.0). The CBS dramas (1.2/1.1/0.9) all returned below average, as did The Flash (0.7) and Black Lightning (0.5) on the CW.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 2/6/18

FINALS UPDATE: NCIS (1.5) and Bull (1.2) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC's This Is Us got a modest uptick to 2.7 in the only episode after its Super Bowl showcase but before the Winter Olympics hiatus, tying its highest rating of 2018. Its surrounding programs Ellen's Game of Games (1.9) and Chicago Med (1.5) were also on the upside.

• It was a down night for most of the other broadcasters, as most shows returned from a week off against the State of the Union. ABC's The Middle (1.2) dropped two tenths and Fresh Off the Boat (0.9) one, while Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.5) fell to an ugly new low at 10/9c. Black-ish (1.0) managed to match two weeks ago.

• CBS was down across the board with NCIS (1.4), Bull (1.1) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.9), while Fox lost a tenth with Lethal Weapon (1.1) but was even at 9/8c with LA to Vegas (0.8) and The Mick (0.7).

• And week four of the CW's Black Lightning couldn't hold onto last week's State of the Union bounce, reverting to the 0.6 it got two weeks ago.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 1/16/18

FINALS UPDATE: Modern Family (R) (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The CW's new Tuesday lineup saw a below-average return for The Flash (0.8) and full retention at 9/8c for newbie Black Lightning (0.8). Excluding the November crossover, it started out well above anything Legends of Tomorrow or any of the non-Flash superhero shows did during the fall.

• Elsewhere, it was a repeat night for CBS, and the lack of NCIS was seemingly a good thing for pretty much everyone in the 8/7c hour. The biggest riser was Fox's Lethal Weapon (1.2), up two tenths to tie its season high. Week three of LA to Vegas (0.9) and The Mick (0.8) were up by a tenth later in the night.

• Ellen's Game of Games (2.2) was also on the upswing, but This Is Us (2.5) fell a bit at 9/8c and Chicago Med (1.5) perked up at 10/9c.
  

• And on ABC, The Middle (1.4) was the lone mover, picking up a tenth while everything else matched last week.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 1/9/18

FINALS UPDATE: Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.6) and The Flash (R) (0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC megahit This Is Us (2.7) returned to the 9/8c hour, pairing with the new unscripted smash Ellen's Game of Games (2.1) for the first time. Game of Games was down a touch vs. last week's 2.2/2.4 opener, while This Is Us was narrowly below its 2.8 fall finale (and down in raw/up in Plus vs. last year's 3.0 winter opener). Chicago Med (1.4) rounded out the slightly down night.
  

• On Fox, there was a pretty sizable week two drop for LA to Vegas (0.8), which found itself at the high end of what The Mick has been doing this season. This is a blow to its chances of emerging as a stronger show than the fall comedies. Its surrounding programs Lethal Weapon (1.0) and The Mick (0.7) were each down a tick.

• It was also a down night for the ABC comedies, as The Middle (1.3) and Fresh Off the Boat (1.0) gave back their winter bounces and Black-ish (1.0) inched down at 9/8c. The repeat of Modern Family at 9:30 (0.8) was also down a notch, leading into steady Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.7).

• CBS held up relatively well on the second Tuesday of the new year, with NCIS (1.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.0) both even surrounding a one-tenth drop from Bull (1.2).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 1/2/18

FINALS UPDATE: Bull (1.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC got a blockbuster start from the Tuesday premiere of Ellen's Game of Games (2.2/2.4), which went bigger than all but the earliest weeks of The Voice's fall season. It helped lift Chicago Med (1.5) to a new season high in the 10/9c hour.

• On Fox, new 9/8c sitcom LA to Vegas (1.1) was well ahead of anything that The Mick and Brooklyn Nine-Nine had done in the slot this fall. A typical post-premiere drop probably puts it in The Mick territory or maybe even a little better, which would be nice. It got some help from the biggest Lethal Weapon (1.1) since week two of the season, and The Mick held onto an 0.8 in its transition to the 9:30 half-hour.

• ABC got a winter bounce in the 8:00 hour with The Middle (1.5) and Fresh Off the Boat (1.2) both hitting their best ratings since the season premieres. There was not quite as much momentum later in the night with Black-ish (1.1), a repeat of Modern Family (0.9) and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.7).

• And CBS got a little uptick from NCIS (1.5) but was pretty close to normal later on with Bull (1.2) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.0).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/12/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers and analysis coming shortly.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/5/17

FINALS UPDATE: NCIS (R) (0.9) and Chicago Med (1.2) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• In the middle of their Thursday Night Football hiatus, NBC comedies Will and Grace (1.8) and Superstore (1.1) returned for Christmas episodes leading out of The Voice (1.8), and both did pretty close to their usual deliveries on Thursday. With a reduced lead-in, Chicago Med (1.1) shed a couple tenths at 10/9c.

• ABC's lineup returned after sitting out last week and mostly sitting out two weeks ago, and it was not a good look overall; The Middle (1.2), Fresh Off the Boat (0.9), Black-ish (1.0) as well as newbies The Mayor (0.7) and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.6) all tied their Halloween lows.

• Fox's Lethal Weapon (1.0), The Mick (0.8) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.7) all matched last week, meaning the comedies held onto their upticks. On the CW, Legends of Tomorrow (0.6) was the first of the superhero shows to show a little growth vs. two weeks ago before the crossover, while The Flash was back down to 0.8. CBS (0.8/0.7/0.6) was in repeat mode, including a SEAL Team tryout in the 9:00 hour.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 11/21/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• On the last full-fledged entertainment night before a long holiday weekend, NBC introduced Chicago Med (1.3) into the Tuesday mix at 10/9c. It was down just a tenth from last year's premiere, but it also had a way bigger lead-in from This Is Us (2.5) than it usually had on Thursday last season. Still, it looks like a solid bet that the show will improve noticeably on previous occupant Law and Order True Crime. At 8/7c, The Voice (1.7) continued a down week by matching Monday's performance episode.

• ABC featured the two-hour finale of Dancing with the Stars (1.3), which was a touch lower than what the show has usually been doing on Mondays, and significantly below the 1.8 fall finale in 2016. It had a comedy hour lead-in from The Middle (1.3) and Fresh Off the Boat (1.1), which both matched last week.

• On a night that usually sees some overall viewing slippage due to the start of the holiday, there were a few down shows, including the NCIS twins (1.4 for the mothership and 0.9 for New Orleans, which had a lot more 10/9c competition than usual) as well as The Flash (0.8). And some shows matched last week, like everything on Fox (1.0/0.7/0.6), Bull (1.1) and Legends of Tomorrow (0.5).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 11/14/17

FINALS UPDATE: Fresh Off the Boat (1.1), Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.7) and The Flash (1.0) adjusted up while Bull (1.1) and Law and Order True Crime (0.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was a slightly up Tuesday for all things NBC, from The Voice (2.0) to This Is Us (2.6) to the finale of Law and Order True Crime (1.0).

• Meanwhile, ABC had a couple downticks, including The Middle (1.3) at 8/7c and a more crucial one for Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, which was back to its 0.6 low from two weeks ago (when it was against the World Series). The other comedies were even, leaving The Mayor at 0.7 for the third week in a row.

• On CBS, NCIS: New Orleans (1.1) was up a tenth while the other two dramas were steady (1.5/1.2). Everything on the other two networks matched last week, which meant The Mick was stuck at 0.7 again.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 11/7/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Middle (1.4) adjusted up while The Mayor (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• After a brutal Halloween/World Series combo last Tuesday, the broadcasters got most of the way back to normal this week. That included a 0.5 rebound for chart-topper This Is Us (2.5), but it's still going to finish at least a couple tenths behind its lowest pre-Halloween point of the season. The penultimate episode of Law and Order True Crime (0.9) was also on the uptick.

• On CBS, it was a best-since-season-premiere night for NCIS (1.5), leading into Bull (1.2) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.0) which were at more typical levels.

• The only down show of the night was The Mick (0.7), returning from two weeks off due to the World Series and eyeing a season low. Brooklyn Nine-Nine remained mired at 0.6, but Lethal Weapon (1.0) was up a notch.

• On ABC, everything was up a tenth from last week: The Middle (1.3), Fresh Off the Boat (1.0), Black-ish (1.1), The Mayor (0.8) and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.7).

• The CW's The Flash (0.9) also got back to normal after a soft showing last week, as did Legends of Tomorrow (0.5).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 10/31/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Middle (1.2) and World Series (6.0) adjusted up while Law and Order True Crime (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Halloween converged with a monstrous Game 6 of the World Series (4.9/5.0/5.5), leading to a slew of ratings declines on the other broadcasters. This game should probably be expected to adjust up a little more than usual, since it ended before midnight ET/9:00 PT.

• The worst decline came from This Is Us (2.0) on NBC, since it had the added triple whammy of a The Voice recap special (1.0) as a lead-in. Its newbie lead-out Law and Order True Crime (0.8) was down two tenths, mimicking The Brave's drop on Monday. 

• CBS was down two tenths across the board with NCIS (1.2), Bull (1.0) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.9). ABC's 8:00 hour of The Middle (1.1) and Fresh Off the Boat (0.9) was also down two tenths, but the remaining programs Black-ish (1.0), The Mayor (0.7) and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.6) lost just one.

• The second-biggest drop on broadcast came from CW's The Flash (0.7), which was down three tenths after a great showing last week. Its lead-out Legends of Tomorrow (0.4) shed one tenth.