NBC COMEDIES BOMB

Wednesday was a truly tragic night for NBC's new back-to-back comedies Tina Fey's "30 Rock" and John Lithgow's "20 Good Years" as both shows dipped from their already disappointing premieres last week (8,13 and 7,05 million respectively) to critical lows (5,85 and 5,1 million). Last year's failed drama "E-Ring" that aired in the same timeslot averaged 9,55 million viewers. What is the morale here? Shows about TV do not fly.

The most watched program of the evening was once again "Dancing with the Stars" results show that did not axe anyone due to Sara Evan's surprise exit last week.

CBS's procedural "Criminal Minds" continues to close in on ABC's mystery drama "Lost". One year ago, Mandy Patinkin series was watched by a little over 12 million viewers while more than 21 million tuned into "Lost". This year however, both shows posted a little over 16 million in a neck-to-neck race that ended with "Minds" winning in total viewers and "Lost" winning in 18-49 demo. Was it the hatch?

Finally, ABC's "The Nine" joins NBC comedies in the loser club. The freshman drama lost 40% of "Lost" audience and then continued to lose viewers as the hour progressed.