The Rugrats Movie

On CBS


Commercial TV Premiere Seen On CBS,
With Extra Scenes

Left: A little something for Jay Leno -- listings from the 11/23/2001 TV page in the St. Petersburg Times. Can you spot what is wrong with the listings for The Rugrats Movie?
(©2001 Times Publishing Company.)

The Rugrats Movie finally had its commercial TV debut in the US during the Thanksgiving weekend, on Friday, 11/23/2001, at 8PM ET / PT, 7PM CT / MT, on most CBS stations.

The CBS telecast was scheduled for 2 hours, and there were no cuts. As a matter of fact, the film was actually expanded, in order to fill the 2-hour time slot perfectly. It is common practice for TV versions of short-length theatrical films to have exclusive extra footage, designed to better fill the film's 2-hour time slot. Billed as "never before seen footage", the extra material involved 2 musical numbers, with each lasting about 2 minutes each. The first number involved Stu and Didi having a nightmare about Dr. Lipschitz, taking place after the circus commercial and before the runaway train scene. The other number took place in the woods, after Angelica's "Not all dogs go to heaven" line -- here, the Rugrats sing an army chant while they tow the Reptar wagon up the hill.

How much time is best for the film? Considering its short length, there's practically no perfect time frame. First of all, Nick has about 6.5 minutes of commercials and fillers per half-hour for THEIR use (this excludes the opening and closing credits of shows). If Nick has scheduled the film for 2 hours, then it would have 13 minutes to fill, assuming that the film is seen uncut, with about 26 minutes of commercials. But if Nick schedules the film for only 90 minutes, then Nick will have to cut about 11 minutes out of the film, in order to fit about 20 minutes of commercials into the 90-minute period.

The CBS telecast was padded with the extra numbers, as well as a 5-minute 'NSYNC mini-concert that preceeeded the film (this was a teaser for their 60-minute special, following the film), and a preview of Jimmy Neutron, near the end. And of course, CBS had more ad time than Nick.

To my knowledge, all CBS stations have broadcasted the film, though in the Great Plains states (at least, Oklahoma), many stations have interrupted the film at various points for severe weather bulletins, and have even displayed a map on the screen during the duration of the film.

And for Canadian viewers, the film was seen only on CBS -- since no other Canadian channel was televising it that night, it was not "sim-subbed" by a Canadian broadcaster. Sim-subbing is where a program on an American station is replaced with the same, identical program from the Canadian station, if that station has scheduled the show at the same time as the American station.

While this is the first time a commercialised version of the film is seen in the US, we should keep in mind that, once again, the Canadians have beaten the US in the global Rugrats race.

YTV had the world TV premiere of The Rugrats Movie on Monday, 5/2/2001 at 6PM ET, as part of special Victoria Day programming, which also included a 2-hour Rugrats marathon, preceeding the movie. YTV has scheduled the film for 2 hours, but considering the original length (81 minutes) and the CRTC's regulation on commercials (8 minutes per hour), there was a lot of time to fill. The film on YTV actually lasted about 95 minutes, and that is including the commercial breaks. It should also be noted that YTV has shown the original theatrical version, not the CBS extra footage version.


How Well Did It Do?

Or, rather, "How low could it go?"

The popularity of the Rugrats, and a little help from 'NSYNC, was not enough to bring in good ratings for CBS.

Yes, CBS has won the November sweeps in 2001. But the Nielsen ratings for The Rugrats Movie was nowhere as successful.

On the night of the film's telecast, it came in fourth place during the 8PM and 9PM hours. Here are the figures:

8PM ET to 9PM ET:

First (Win): "Providence" (NBC)
Second (Place): "America's Funniest Home Videos" (ABC)
Third (Show): "Big Daddy" first half (Fox)
Fourth: "The Rugrats Movie" first half (CBS)
Fifth: "Sabrina" / "Maybe It's Me" (WB)
Sixth: "Wayne's World" first half (UPN)

9PM ET to 10PM ET:

First (Win): "Dateline NBC"
Second (Place): "Big Daddy" second half (Fox)
Third (Show): "Thieves" (ABC)
Fourth: "The Rugrats Movie" second half (CBS)
Fifth: "Reba" / "Raising Dad" (WB)
Sixth: "Wayne's World" second half (UPN)

For the week, The Rugrats Movie came in at # 85, the worst-rated program on CBS that week. The 'NSYNC special that followed had slightly-better ratings, at # 78.

But, if there's any consolation, 3.1, while they're in the over-the-air netherworld, is considered top-10 territory for cable networks -- Rugrats episodes on Nick usually score around 2.0 to 3.5 in the cable ratings. On this same week (of 11/19/2001), a Rugrats episode on Nick was ranked # 6 in the cable Nielsens, but only had 2.5 ratings points. That week, Rugrats appeared three times in the cable top 10, with # 6 being the highest for the show.

Also, breaking it down demographically, The Rugrats Movie was the top show in its time slot for little kids, and the second best among teens. This passage from a CBS press release explains it:
On Friday (11/27/2001), CBS was first in children 2-11 (5.5/20), second in teens (2.5/10) -- and compared to the same night last year, CBS was up +244% in children 2-11 and +92% in teens. "The Rugrats Movie" posted a 3.1/6 with 6.00m viewers and 6.0/20 in children 2-11. From 8:00 to 10:00 PM, CBS was first in children 2-11 and second in teens. Compared to the 8:00-10:00 PM time period last year ("The Fugitive"/"CSI"), "[The] Rugrats [Movie]" was up +300% in children 2-11 and +111% in teens.

Here are the complete results for the week of 11/19/2001. A " * " denotes a one-time-only presentation. The rating is the percentage of the nation's estimated 105.5 million TV homes Each ratings point represents 1,055,000 households.

(Results © 2001 The Associated Press and Nielsen Media Research. Source: SF Gate.)

1. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 14.4, 15.2 million homes

2. "ER," NBC, 13.9, 14.6 million homes

3. "Friends," NBC, 12.7, 13.4 million homes

4. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 12.4, 13.1 million homes

5. "Becker," CBS, 11.9, 12.6 million homes

6. "Law & Order," NBC, 11.8, 12.4 million homes

6. "NFL Monday Night Football: NY Giants at Minnesota," ABC, 11.8, 12.5 million homes

8. "60 Minutes," CBS, 11.7, 12.4 million homes

9. * "Friends," NBC, 11.5, 12.2 million homes

10. "Judging Amy," CBS, 10.9, 11.5 million homes

11. "The West Wing," NBC, 10.8, 11.4 million homes

12. "JAG," CBS, 10.5, 11.1 million homes

13. "Frasier," NBC, 10.3, 10.9 million homes

13. "The Practice," ABC, 10.3, 10.8 million homes

13. "Will & Grace," NBC, 10.3, 10.8 million homes

16. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC, 10.2, 10.8 million homes

17. * "Fox Movie-Sunday: Star Wars Episode #1," Fox, 9.8, 10.3 million homes

18. "NFL Monday Showcase," ABC, 9.7, 10.2 million homes

19. * "CBS NFL National Post Game," CBS, 9.6, 10.2 million homes

20. "Survivor: Africa," CBS, 9.5, 10.0 million homes

21. "Yes, Dear," CBS, 9.4

22. "The King of Queens," CBS, 9.2

22. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," NBC, 9.2

24. "CBS Sunday Movie: You've Got Mail," CBS, 9.1

25. * "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 9.0

26. "The District," CBS, 8.8

27. "Dateline NBC-Tuesday," NBC, 8.7

27. "NYPD Blue," ABC, 8.7

29. "Family Law," CBS, 8.6

29. "The Wonderful World Of Disney: The Santa Clause," ABC, 8.6

31. "Providence," NBC, 8.5

32. "Dateline NBC-Friday," NBC, 8.2

32. "The Guardian," CBS, 8.2

34. "Crossing Jordan," NBC, 8.1

35. "60 Minutes II," CBS, 7.7

35. "Scrubs," NBC, 7.7

37. "Boston Public," Fox, 7.6

38. * "Jennifer Lopez in Concert," NBC, 7.4

38. "Touched By an Angel," CBS, 7.4

40. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire-Monday," ABC, 7.2

41. * "Law & Order," NBC, 7.0

42. "Philly," ABC, 6.9

43. "My Wife and Kids," ABC, 6.5

43. * "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," CBS, 6.5

43. "Weakest Link," NBC, 6.5

46. "Ally McBeal," Fox, 6.4

47. "Spin City," ABC, 6.2

47. "Third Watch," NBC, 6.2

49. "Alias," ABC, 6.1

49. * "Garth Brooks Live! 2," CBS, 6.1

51. * "America's Funniest Home Videos," ABC, 6.0

51. * "CBS NFL-Thursday Post Game," CBS, 6.0

51. "Ed," NBC, 6.0

54. "According to Jim," ABC, 5.9

55. "Dharma & Greg," ABC, 5.8

55. "Weakest Link-Sunday," NBC, 5.8

57. "20/20-Wednesday," ABC, 5.5

57. "The Amazing Race," CBS, 5.5

59. "24," Fox, 5.4

59. "Bernie Mac," Fox, 5.4

59. "Cops 2: Coast to Coast," Fox, 5.4

59. "The Drew Carey Show," ABC, 5.4

63. "That '70s Show," Fox, 5.3

63. * "Weakest Link-Sunday," NBC, 5.3

65. "7th Heaven," WB, 5.1

66. "Grounded For Life," Fox, 4.9

66. "Whose Line is it Anyway?-Wednesday," ABC, 4.9

68. * "Fox Movie-Friday: Big Daddy," Fox, 4.7

68. "NBC Saturday Night Movies: It's a Wonderful Life," NBC, 4.7

68. * "Thieves," ABC, 4.7

71. * "ABC College Football-Saturday:Various Teams and Times," ABC, 4.6

71. "Cops: Coast to Coast," Fox, 4.6

71. "That '70s Show 2," Fox, 4.6

74. * "Who Wants to be a Millionaire-Thursday," ABC, 4.5

74. "Titus," Fox, 4.5

76. * "Once and Again," ABC, 4.4

77. "Undeclared," Fox, 4.2

78. * "NSYNC Live!," CBS, 4.1

78. "Smallville," WB, 4.1

80. "Enterprise," UPN, 3.8

81. "Gilmore Girls," WB, 3.5

82. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," UPN, 3.4

83. * "World Wrestling Federation Smackdown!," UPN, 3.3

84. * "24," Fox, 3.2

85. "Angel," WB, 3.1

85. * "CBS Friday Movie: Rugrats: The Movie," CBS, 3.1

87. "Girlfriends," UPN, 3.0

87. "The Parkers," UPN, 3.0

89. "One On One," UPN, 2.9

90. * "Being Mick," ABC, 2.8

90. * "Charlie Brown Thanksgving," ABC, 2.8

90. * "Fox Movie-Thursday: The Wedding Singer," Fox, 2.8

93. "The Hughleys," UPN, 2.7

94. * "Whose Line is it Anyway?," ABC, 2.6

95. * "Reba," WB, 2.4

96. "Dawson's Creek," WB, 2.3

97. "Ripley's Believe It Or Not," WB, 2.2

97. "Special Unit 2," UPN, 2.2

97. "The Steve Harvey Show," WB, 2.2

100. "Roswell," UPN, 2.1

101. "Felicity," WB, 2.0

101. * "Sabrina," WB, 2.0

103. * "Raising Dad," WB, 1.8

104. * "Maybe It's Me," WB, 1.7

104. "Nikki-Sunday," WB, 1.7

106. "Nikki," WB, 1.6

106. "Off Centre," WB, 1.6

106. * "Smallville," WB, 1.6

109. * "Loves Music, Loves to Dance," Pax, 1.2

109. * "Weakest Link," Pax, 1.2

111. "Diagnosis Murder-Wednesday," Pax, 1.1

111. "Doc-Sunday," Pax, 1.1

111. "UPN's Movie Friday: Wayne's World," UPN, 1.1

114. "Candid Camera-Wednesday," Pax, 1.0

114. "Diagnosis Murder-Monday," Pax, 1.0

114. "Diagnosis Murder-Tuesday," Pax, 1.0

114. "Pax Big Event: All I Want For Christmas," Pax, 1.0

114. "Touched By an Angel-Monday," Pax, 1.0

114. * "Twice Upon a Christmas," Pax, 1.0

120. "Candid Camera-Sunday," Pax, 0.9

120. "Touched By an Angel-Wednesday," Pax, 0.9

122. "Miracle Pets-Monday," Pax, 0.7

123. "Doc-Tuesday," Pax, 0.6

123. * "Miracle Of the Cards," Pax, 0.6

125. * "It's a Miracle," Pax, 0.5

125. * "Tangerine Bear," Pax, 0.5


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