http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|94175|1|,00.html

'Shield' Collars Solid Ratings with Close

(Thursday, March 17 08:51 AM)

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) The addition of Glenn Close to "The Shield" attracted some curious viewers Tuesday, resulting in fairly strong ratings for the show's fourth-season premiere.

About 3.9 million people tuned in to the FX series Tuesday night (March 15), giving "The Shield" the second-biggest audience on cable for the evening (behind a "Law & Order" rerun on TNT). More than half of the audience fell in the adults 18-49 demographic prized by advertisers.

Both numbers represent improvements over last season, the least-watched of "The Shield's" three years. Last year's premiere drew only 2.8 million viewers, and the show's season average was slightly below that. The series averaged about 3.3 million viewers in each of its first two years.

Tuesday's numbers didn't quite reach the heights of the season one and two debuts, which both attracted more than 4 million people, but FX can hardly be disappointed with an improvement of more than 35 percent over last year.

The casting of Close, an Emmy winner and five-time Oscar nominee, as the new captain in "The Shield's" fictional L.A. precinct of Farmington has brought some renewed buzz to the series. The rest of the cast, including Emmy winner Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey, remains intact.


*******************************************




[link:ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?collid=575167642203&page=1&sort_order=0|My G