‘Madam Secretary’ episode 12: Why ‘Standoff’ is a huge episode for Tea Leoni, cast

So far through its first season, “Madam Secretary” has served as a modest hit for CBS. The show fares reasonably well in the ratings; while its viewership count is very high, the figures in the 18-49 demographic due for the most part leave a little something to be desired.

So what makes Sunday night such an important one for the show? To us, this is going to be a major indicator of what the show’s popularity truly is. Due to the NFL playoff schedule, there will be no overrun that gives the show a ratings boost. Also, it will be airing its first new episode in a month, and you have to hope that you did enough in the first 11 episodes to have viewers hooked and interested in coming back.

For the time being, we would say that this show is tracking at least fairly well towards a renewal, with one of the biggest selling points being that it is watched by a particularly wealthy audience, and is pairing very well with “The Good Wife” in that regard. If it holds reasonably steady from the previous final ratings, we feel pretty confident about its season 2 standing.

If we were to list the hour-long CBS shows in the most danger right now of being canceled, we would say that “Stalker” leads the way, followed soon after by “CSI,” “The Amazing Race,” “Person of Interest,” and then “Hawaii Five-0.” This show is right now with “Blue Bloods” in the middle of the pack. It performs fairly well, but could do even better. “The Good Wife” would probably be in greater danger, but its critical acclaim seems to perpetually keep it protected.