Ratings: ‘Revenge’ season 3 up; ‘The Simpsons’ gets huge post-NFL numbers

Clearly, “The Simpsons” knew what they were doing when it comes to Sunday night’s lineup. The latest episode of the animated juggernaut aired following the NFL Playoffs on Sunday night, and it delivered quite a wallop in the ratings with such guest stars as Judd Apatow, Leslie Mann, and Seth Rogen.

While this number could be adjusted down when final numbers are released (since this often happens when you are dealing with shows that air after football), right now “The Simpsons” is listed as drawing a 5.2 rating and over 12 million viewers. This, if it holds, would easily be enough for the show’s best ratings of the entire season. It has some leeway that it will still be strong even if there are some downward adjustments.

On a different note, ABC probably feels pretty good about itself right now, as well. “The Bachelor: Countdown to Juan Pablo” drew a 1.8, which isn’t bad for a prequel special to a season that hasn’t even started yet. Also, “Revenge” matched that same rating, which is its best performance in quite a while (thanks to a combination of not having NFL football or “The Walking Dead” to compete with for a change).

Finally, the peaceful battle between “The Good Wife” and “The Mentalist” is still worth watching, given that CBS could cancel one of the two shows after this season. While “The Mentalist” (1.5) has a slightly better number, the acclaim for “The Good Wife” could give it the edge if the ratings stay close to each other.

We’ll have some more ratings news throughout the coming weeks, so be sure to keep checking back for some more on that.