Forty-Year-Old Charlie Brown Special Out-shines Lady Gaga In the Ratings

November 29th, 2013 3:18 PM

Attention everyone who loves a story about eating toast and popcorn at Thanksgiving: ABC's rerun of the 40-year-old classic cartoon "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" drew 5.3 million viewers last night, and 1.6 million in the crucial 18-49 demographic last night in the 8 pm hour.

The next hour, ABC put on "Lady Gaga and the Muppets" and drew only 3.6 million viewers and a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49 at 9:30 p.m. Entertainment Weekly noted Lady Gaga’s previous ABC holiday effort, A Very Gaga Thanksgiving, aired in this same slot two years ago, but had a 78 percent higher rating (5.4 million total viewers, 1.6 rating). They found "zero chemistry" between Gaga and Kermit the Frog:

Let’s be real: the Lady Gaga & the Muppets’ Holiday Spectacular is a cross-promotional commercial. Gaga gets to perform songs from her new album ARTPOP, and the Muppets remind us why we love them long enough to get excited for this spring’s big-screen Muppets Most Wanted. That doesn’t mean the special is boring — on the contrary, it’s delightful! Yet it’s still a commercial, making me feel the way I feel after watching a charming Black Friday ad: equal parts warm, fuzzy, cynical, and depressed by consumerism overtaking the so-called “holiday spirit.

The real ratings winner was the NFL on NBC: 18 milliion viewers watched the Ravens squeeze by the Steelers.