How is CBS’ Monday comedy block doing since ‘How I Met Your Mother’ ended?

Any time a major network says goodbye to one of its biggest shows, there’s usually a void left for a bit. However the question always is, how big of a drop are we talking about? The series finale of How I Met Your Mother brought in a record high, 13.13 million viewers when it took a bow last week, making it a tough act to follow. CBS’ new show and potential HIMYM replacement sitcom Friends with Better Lives was slated right after HIMYM’s finale. Friends with Better Lives raked in about 7.6 million in its first run, not bad for a first show but that also means the show shed 6 million viewers, presumably at least half of that 6M taking to the internet to complain about Ted Mosby’s future.

Last night was the first time CBS’s Monday night lineup didn’t have HIMYM as an anchor. So how did the lineup do?
2 Broke Girls took over the 8pm timeslot from HIMYM and struggled, posting a series low 2.2 while HIMYM averaged 3.4.

This also didn’t help Friends with Better Lives as it dropped to 5.72 million viewers, at 1.8 and down 31% from its premiere.

The 9pm slot Mike & Molly gained 5% up to a 2.1 as the season finale of Mom landed a 1.9 at 9:30, off 14% from its last episode.

So it appears that that CBS has some work to do. Friends with Better Lives has some big shoes to fill, and it better get moving fast. At this point in the ratings game it’s do or die for new sitcoms, will the bleeding continue and ratings dip even more? Or will they level out and begin to grow again for CBS in this critical time slot?

It’s tough to say but our guess is they’ll grow. Most likely a huge chunk of How I Met Your Mother fans are having a bit of a hangover but will soon come around to the new show. Otherwise, if they want to watch TV at the same time, they’ll be forced to jump over to either The Voice or Dancing with the Stars. Neither of which are even remotely similar to HIMYM. So far, Lives does have a similar makeup of HIMYM and can win some fans. In the meantime, only time will tell if Friends with Better Livesturns out to be a hit or not.