‘24’s’ numbers start to add up

Fox aired two hours of “24” Monday night, and the ratings were impressive, especially for a fifth-season drama that’s usually been written off as a cult show. So has it been able to do what another baroque espionage drama, ABC’s “Alias,” never did -- become a bona fide hit after a rocky start?

The numbers are looking that way. This week, the second hour of the spy drama with Kiefer Sutherland actually carried the 9 p.m. time slot in the ages 18 to 49 demographic (5.9 rating/14 share; 14 million total viewers), according to early figures from Nielsen Media Research.

Granted, the competition isn’t much to talk about these days. Donald Trump is a candidate for early termination with NBC’s “The Apprentice” (4.0/9; 9.8 million total viewers), and CBS’ Jenna Elfman sitcom atrocity, “Courting Alex,” retained just 79% of the generous demo lead-in from “Two and a Half Men” (5.7/13; 17.1 million). ABC was stuck with “Supernanny” (3.8/9; 9.7 million).

But Fox’s strategy of unspooling “24” in rapid bursts, with no repeats, seems to be working. Through the first 12 episodes this season, the series has spiked 11% in the demo (to a 5.9/13 average), a fairly unusual achievement for a long-in-the-tooth show. And the ratings this week were good enough to give Fox its first Monday demo win in more than nine months (5.3 average rating vs. 4.9 for CBS).

In the 10 p.m. hour, CBS’ “CSI: Miami” sunk to one of its lowest ratings of the season (6.0/15; 18.2 million), while only emergency medical attention could have rescued ABC’s premiere of “Miracle Workers” (3.4/9; 8.5 million), or, as the Islander prefers to think of it, “Extreme Makeover: Transplant Surgery Edition.”

Bochco bounced

from ‘Commander’

Stephen Bochco hasn’t had a great year. First his Iraq drama “Over There” got frog-marched off FX; then EW.com reported Friday that Bochco’s out as show runner of ABC’s troubled White House drama, “Commander in Chief.”

Dee Johnson will take over the show, though Bochco will retain an executive producer credit. (This makes the third creative honcho at “Commander”; creator Rod Lurie was shown the door last fall.) ABC confirmed the switch; Bochco, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.

If we’re not mistaken, this marks the first time Bochco won’t be running at least one current TV series since at least 1981, back when “Hill Street Blues” went on the air.

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