Fall 2013 Scorecard: NBC earns rare victory week with ‘Sound of Music,’ ‘Scandal’ and ‘Dads’ get orders cut

Last week was all about NBC. The network managed to win every day of the week, a rare feat for any broadcast network and especially for the eternally struggling peacock. While Monday victories are expected, the Christmas in Rockefeller Center and The Sound of Music - Live specials propelled NBC to rare Wednesday and Thursday wins.

The Rockefeller tree-lighting ceremony had its best numbers in seven years, while The Sound of Music was the best non-sports broadcast for NBC in ... well, forever. The live musical drew 18.5 million viewers and a huge 4.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic. That’s astounding, considering it was a three-hour show. Carrie Underwood might not have gotten good reviews, but with a success like this, I wouldn’t be surprised to see NBC try to do it again. They certainly like all that American Idol talent rival Fox has produced. (They have also tapped Kelly Clarkson for a special, which airs Wednesday.)

The other good news for NBC is that The Blacklist mid-season finale did so well that the show earned a second season. This may be looking too far ahead in the future, but NBC really should keep it after The Voice next year.

Over at ABC, the network had to cut Scandal’s season to 18 episodes. The show has been doing well, so this came as a shocker. However, star Kerry Washington is pregnant, so that likely was the reason.

And Fox continued to play around with its January schedule. Sleepy Hollow has earned a two-hour season premiere, which will air on Jan. 20. This botched the planned two-night premiere for The Following, so the Kevin Bacon series’ second episode won’t air until the following Monday.

The network also cut Dads’ back order from nine to six, so its first season will only have 19 episodes. Personally, I only watch the show because it kills time before Brooklyn Nine-Nine and I probably laugh once, if that.

This week in weird TV news, E! announced a show called Botched, which will focus on two Real Housewives husbands fixing plastic surgery mistakes. E! must be working hard to give Joel McHale more Soup punchlines.

image: NBC

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