Ratings: ‘Prison Break’ Isn’t Busting Out

Fox’s Prison Break began its long walk into the sunset Friday night, with the first of its final episodes airing in a new time slot. Either people forgot to update their calendars, Prison Break lost some of its luster, or Friday night is just a graveyard for Fox, because the numbers were a big disappointment.

The first new episode of Prison Break in months drew only 3.38 million viewers and a 1.2 rating in the important 18-49 adults demo, according to TV By the Numbers. Those numbers are pretty much on par with the time slot’s previous resident, the soon-to-be-cancelled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

While Fox isn’t expecting any breakout ratings from the remaining episodes of Prison Break, the network (and Whedonites) was hoping that Prison Break could boost the ratings of the beleaguered Dollhouse as the two shows play buddies on Friday nights for the remainder of their seasons. Prison Break’s low numbers are another obstacle for Dollhouse to overcome for renewal.

Let’s play pretend for a second: put yourself in the shoes of Fox executives and let us know how you would have scheduled Dollhouse, Terminator, and Prison Break?