One of the big concerns about Rob Schneider’s latin-centric sitcom, ¡Rob!, is that it will follow the pattern of many of its predecessors: strong numbers in the first week, (expected) fall-off in the second…and then continued erosion, week after week, until an early cancellation.
So far, ¡Rob! isn’t following that mold. It certainly enjoyed very strong in large part because of its golden position following The Big Bang Theory, one of CBS’ most popular shows with almost 16 million viewers a week, and its first new show after the long holiday break. ¡Rob! was also heavily promoted on the network for weeks in advance, and was one of the first mid-season programs to debut–all this in spite of its generally negative critical reaction and ‘buzz.’
Week Two had a modest fall-off, as is always the case. But Week Three showed little additional decline; in fact, it maintained its numbers in the all-important 18-49 demo–the one the network and advertisers watch. It even increased its overall viewership by 170,00 viewers, or 1%.
It’s interesting to note that the bulk of the promotions for the new show, seen frequently on other CBS programs and the internet, have shifted slightly, giving near-equal ‘name’ attention to Cheech Marin alongside Schneider. The second and third episodes have pulled back from the relentless stereotyping into more standard sitcom fare (i.e., husbands and wives fighting ‘funny,’ goofy relatives, etc.) that, for the most part, would fit into any family laff riot (in fact, the central conflict in Episode Three is very very close to the central conflict in ABC’s Modern Family a couple of season back).
And still, Lupe Ontiveros barely speaks.
