Most people guessed The Voice would spell a real ratings bringer for some of NBC’s other programming when it returned to the schedule. True to form, last night’s episode of NBC's hit singing competition managed to push NBC’s sitcoms, Go On and The New Normal, into some legitimately decent ratings.
Both The New Normal and, especially, Go On are exceptionally watchable comedies, and it was painful for fans to watch the ratings falter from week to week before hitting pretty low view counts. However, The Voice’s return has certainly helped both comedies, with Go On bringing in a sizeable 5.6 million total viewers and a 2.1 rating Tuesday night and The New Normal bringing 3.6 million total viewers and a 1.4 ratings share. Go On’s numbers may also have been boosted by the Courteney Cox guest appearance NBC has been teasing for a while, now.
According to EW, both comedies are expected to get renewal orders over at the network. NBC’s mini comedy block runs from 9-10 p.m. ET and both shows still have a ways to go to actually be competitive during the timeslot. While Go On managed to squeak past New Girl on Fox, NBC’s shows aren’t really competing at all with ABC’s Dancing with the Stars results (over 13 million total viewers) and CBS’ NCIS: LA (over 14 million total viewers). The good news is that Go On's 2.1 rating is just shy of the 2.3 rating Dancing's episode earned. Still, the network may have one big hit, but it’s still going to be a long, hard row to hoe.
