In the original version of this post, I wrote about the big success of Jeff Dunham on Comedy Central -- last Thursday night, his new show The Jeff Dunham Show drew 5.3 million viewers, the highest ever premiere for a show on that network. However, I mistakenly thought the show aired Friday and compared the ratings to shows on other networks that night. I sincerely apologize if that confused readers. Here's the story as it should have been written in the first place.Jeff Dunham's success was surprising and quite a feat. As my mother might say, "Go figure." The Jeff Dunham Show.
And the number of viewers got even better later that night when a repeat of the show aired -- 7.9 million viewers.
I have to admit that I didn't see the show. Apparently, Dunham had a Christmas special for Comedy Central in 2008 that was a ratings bonanza, the most watched program ever for Comedy Central with 6.6 million total viewers. Clearly, the man has a lot of popular appeal.
Here's a clip from that special so you can get an idea of what all the excitement's about:
Comedy Central has locked up Jeff Dunham earlier this year with a big contract that includes this series, as well as specials, DVDs and a live tour. You gotta wonder, though, if NBC, CBS, Fox or ABC wouldn't try to get him off cable and see if he had even greater appeal on a bigger platform.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-25-2009 @ 5:32PM
Greg said...
Was this the repeat of the Jeff Dunham show? I ask because the Jeff Dunham show comes on Thursdays and Dollhouse comes on Friday nights, not the same night.
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10-25-2009 @ 5:41PM
Adrian said...
You have your nights mixed up. Dunham was on Thursday night.
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10-25-2009 @ 6:34PM
StephNebs said...
Yeah, his show definitely premiered on Thursday!
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10-25-2009 @ 7:03PM
Matt said...
even though I didn't write it, this basically sums up all of my feelings about that terrible, terrible show...
http://videogum.com/archives/hate-watching/the_jeff_dunham_show_is_the_wo_097221.html
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10-25-2009 @ 7:32PM
CMG said...
I appreciate that you went back and edited your blog entry... but frankly, you probably should have just tacked on a "mea culpa, I got the nights mixed up. Ignore this whole thing" and left it at that. Or, just delete the blog entry and try again.
The strikethroughs really don't help. All they do is make the whole thing really hard to follow, and now there really isn't any point to the entry.(comparing the ratings of two shows on two different nights on two different channels?)
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10-25-2009 @ 9:12PM
MJL said...
Better luck next time, Allison!
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10-25-2009 @ 11:07PM
wulfn1 said...
I was disappointed after watching the whole show. I expected more from Dunham. Every show I have ever seen him do, was over the top funny and well thought out.
The weekly show lacked the usual spark of wit and the differentiation of voices between the puppets and Jeff's own voice wasn't there. Over all I wished I had just repeated watching the concert they broadcast prior to the premiere. I got the feeling Jeff wasn't writing his own lines anymore and if he suddenly became that "triumph" rottweiler puppet and the show morphed into that, everything would suddenly make sense .
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10-31-2009 @ 9:13PM
Diane said...
I'm sorry, but Jeff and his guys just left us bored. In fact, we turned off the 2nd show after Achmed's funeral. (Thought we should stay around just to show respect) My husband and I are huge fans of Jeff, but we will wait for his stage shows where he is one or one with his puppets. His monologues and individual puppet conversations are what make him. Hope you do well Jeff, but we won't be watching.
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