Ratings: ‘Grimm’ finale, ‘The Originals’ finale improve; ‘Masters of Illusion’ premieres okay

There were a few finales that aired on primetime TV last night, and for the most part, we’d say that a familiar tradition held: The numbers went up! While there are some shows clearly in need of a ratings lifeline moving forward, they can at least boast that they ended on a high note.

The good news – The two-hour finale of “Grimm” on Friday managed to improve by averaging a 0.9 both at 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. We’re not sure that season 6 is going to have more than 13 episodes right now, but we want the show to go out on a high note if next season is its last on NBC.

Meanwhile, “The Originals” ended season 3 by rising to a 0.4 in the demo. This helps to show that it’s still capable of getting this number, which may be especially important when you consider that it is likely going to be 2017 before you see the series on the air again. Also on The CW, “Masters of Illusion” got off to a respectable debut in a 0.4. In its own finale “Shark Tank” (1.2) held steady, and even “Beyond the Tank” improved up to a 0.8. We still don’t think it’s going to be back given that almost everything that was renewed by ABC fares better by a fairly decent margin.

The bad news – There really isn’t any other than “Undercover Boss” sinking to a 0.7. Overall, it was a nice Friday night, and the last one of the key May sweeps period. It’ll be a while before we have a chance to talk about the night again.