Ratings: ‘Castle’ season 8 hits low as ‘Bachelor’ special, ‘The Simpsons’ fall

CastleLet’s just make one thing clear: Valentine’s Day is more often than not a bad night to air new programming. People are off doing other things, and for those who were home Sunday, they were probably watching “The Walking Dead” / “Talking Dead” and very little else. Judging from the reviews that show had, we certainly understand why.

It’s too bad we don’t have the ratings for the zombie drama just yet, since they would more than likely be the biggest winners of the day. Alas, that’s not available to us, so let’s just jump ahead and talk about how some other shows performed instead.

The winners – Well, “60 Minutes” improved! It posted a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic, not that we really spend a whole lot of time on here discussing the performance of news shows that are clearly not going anywhere. Also, “Madam Secretary” (1.2) and “The Good Wife” (1.0) were reasonably steady. Technically they improved, but by such a little margin that it’s hard to notice.

The losers – Let’s start with “The Bachelor” airing a Valentine’s Day special, which drew a 1.0 rating, less than half what we see the show draw for a standard installment. “Castle” aired after it, and ended up drawing a series-low 0.8 rating as a result. Viewers just aren’t used to the show airing on this night, and it’s somewhat of a shame since we thought “Witness for the Prosecution” was a fun episode. It wasn’t the strongest of the season, but it continues a winning streak set up by “Tone Death.”

Elsewhere, pretty much all of Fox’s lineup went into the toilet compared to their last airings of new episodes. “The Simpsons” had a miserable 1.3, “Family Guy” a 1.2, and “Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life” and “Bordertown” posted only 0.7 ratings. These ratings may make Fox beg for “The Last Man on Earth” to come back.

Want to get some other news when it comes to “Castle”? If you head over here, you can see our review for “Witness for the Prosecution” right away. Also, you can sign up over here to get some other TV news on all we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)

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