‘Sons of Anarchy’ season 5: Did Thanksgiving Week leave a mark?

Whenever you look at the ratings for a show, there are a number of variables to always keep in mind, whether it be the lead-in, the competition, or even if there is some other sort of special occasion going on in the world.

At this time every year, there is one excuse that always trumps all when it comes to lower viewing figures: the Thanksgiving holiday. This is traditionally one of the weaker spans of time for many shows, since families sometimes as early as Tuesday travel in order to be with loved ones elsewhere in the country for eat turkey, socialize, and occasionally avoid TV talk altogether since everyone has varying interests.

So how did all of this impact “Sons of Anarchy” season 5 this week? Like many other shows on TV at the moment (“New Girl” is a prime example), it ended up taking a bit of a hit. Despite 90 minutes that set the tone perfectly for what is sure to be an absolutely insane final two episodes of the season, the adventures of Jax and SAMCRO this week pulled a 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which is a decrease of slightly less than 10% from the week before. The positive news? This was still strong enough for the show to be #1 on the night in the timeslot by a pretty wide margin; and yes, we are even including broadcast shows in there. With the final two episodes being a little less unencumbered by holidays, you can probably expect the number to rise from here on out.

Di you expect the “Sons of Anarchy” number to go down a little bit this week, and do you admit that it is really just nit-picking over nothing to worry about it, given how dominant the show is regardless of occasional dips?