Smallscreen News

NBC's 'Marriage Ref' and Fieri show back for new season, sadly so is WDYTYA

By April MacIntyre Apr 6, 2010, 16:24 GMT

Food Network star: Guy Fieri - Guy Fieri © Sylvain Gaboury / PR Photos

NBC's Jerry Seinfeld and Tom Papa-hosted 'The Marriage Ref' and mega-hot Guy Fieri's 'Minute To Win It' are back for another season, which is good news.

But NBC also is dragging back the maudlin and self-absorbed 'Who Do You Think You Are?' which shows how special the famous people are by digging up their old ancestors.

The show that makes the special more special because, well even their dead relatives were special.

If you like this sort of thing, Henry Louis Gates on PBS does this premise so much better on "Faces of America."

Highlight's from this season of WDYTYA included Sarah Jessica Parker saying "OMG" over and again as she was taken from an ancestor's California Gold Rush (he died, no real accounts of him) to Salem, where an ancestor was ALMOST killed for being a witch but had good timing. OMG!

"The Marriage Ref" excels with the wide variety of funny guests who weigh in on people's marriages, and Fieri's "Minute to Win It" is a family show and features Guy- 'nuff said. 

From executive producer Jerry Seinfeld, "The Marriage Ref" is delivering a 3.0 rating, 8 share in adults 18-49 and 7.2 million viewers overall to date in its Thursday 10 p.m. ET slot in "most current" figures from Nielsen Media Research. "The Marriage Ref" is averaging a 93 percent retention of its lead-in from "30 Rock" in 18-49 and is up 7 percent versus that lead-in in total viewers. "Marriage Ref" has also consistently over-delivered in key upscale demos, currently ranking in the top 10 among all primetime network series in its concentration of homes with $100K+ incomes in its adult 18-49 audience.

The competition series "Minute to Win It" hosted by Guy Fieri is averaging a 2.0 rating, 6 share in adults 18-49 and 6.0 million viewers overall in "most current" results for its regular Sunday telecasts to date. Those "Minute To Win It" Sunday editions have been building from half-hour to half-hour by an average of 29 percent in 18-49 rating and 25 percent in total viewers. A "Minute To Win It" encore also ran in the 8 p.m. ET hour on Wednesday of last week and finished #2 among the major networks in the time period in adults 18-49 and total viewers.

What do you make of these NBC shows? Talk back please.