Halloween ratings: tricks not treats

Ugh.

Can we just forget about Friday night? Pretend it didn't happen? Surely, the networks wouldn’t complain.

Let's say only what needs to be said, and say it quickly, so we can go back to checking the latest poll numbers (Pennsylvania is narrowing!).

On Halloween night, with many viewers otherwise occupied, every major broadcast network show was down from its last airing. CBS easily dominated with its crime block, winning every hour. An "NCIS" repeat that replaced "The Ex-List" in the 9 p.m. slot tied an original “Numbers” (10.6 million, 2.3) as the highest-rated show of the night.

NBC fell to a scary degree. "Crusoe" (4.2 million, 0.8) dropped 38%. Its lead-in left the newly transplanted "Lipstick Jungle" (3.2 million, 0.9) stood up and standing in the cold at 10 p.m., down 55% from its Wednesday night average, and down 40% from "Life" in the slot.