What’s Hot: Wednesday Ratings

Welcome to the Top 12, Danny, Alexis and Michael?? Despite the somewhat shocking news that larger than life Texan Michael Sarver had advanced, “American Idol” helped Fox dominate the Wednesday night ratings. 24.5 million people tuned in to see the results, and although there was a big drop-off to “Lie to Me” at 9pm, it was enough to give Fox the victory.

What’s Hotter: Criminal Minds

I like to picture this show as the little show that could. For such a highly rated series, it doesn’t seem to get a lot of buzz or stories in the media. All the team at BAU do is pull in big numbers every week, even against the No. 1 show on television (“Idol”). 15 million viewers is nothing to sneeze at, especially for a show in its fourth season. The show’s only gotten better with the addition of Joe Mantegna (who took over when Mandy Patinkin left.) CBS does the best job of counterprogramming Idol, with the success of “Criminal Minds” on Wednesdays and the 1-2 punch of “NCIS” and “The Mentalist” on Tuesdays.

What’s Definitely Not Happening:

Once one of the flagships of NBC, “Law & Order” pulled in just over 7 million viewers last night, down from its last fresh episode. Dick Wolf’s stable of series has helped pad NBC’s bottom line for many years, but will this show keep going next year as it chases “Bonanza” for the longest running primetime drama of all time? “Law & Order” is in its amazing 19th season, but with Jay Leno occupying 5 nights of real estate at 10pm starting this fall, it’s no sure bet to be back for a 20th…

Thursday Sizzlers:

Grey’s Anatomy: 9pm ET on ABC It’s the conclusion to the much-hyped crossover episodes with spinoff “Private Practice,” and was that McDreamy punching McSteamy in the promo last week? Wow! And if that isn’t enough, Faye Dunaway drops in too.

America’s Best Dance Crew: 10pm on MTV It’s down to the final four teams. Could this be the season an all-female team breaks through and gets the win? Our money is on a Beat Freaks – Quest Crew finale with the ladies taking it all…

The Millionaire Matchmaker: 10pm on Bravo We can’t get enough of Patti and her over-the-top dating advice. Go ahead, just try to turn away from the TV as she’s dressing down millionaires and telling her women to show off their breasts to lure in the guys….