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Community Corner

Studio City Shows Hold Strong in TV Ratings

Three new TV shows that film in Studio City are sticking it out in the competitive fall ratings. "The Defenders," "Better With You" and "Outsourced" all film at the CBS Radford Studios, with stars who frequent the local res

Many of the new fall TV shows film right here in Studio City.

The CBS Radford Studio lot houses productions for CBS's The Defenders, ABC's Better with You and NBC's Outsourced. The lot has also been home to classic series like Seinfeld, Will & Grace and Gilligan's Island.

Some of the stars of the new shows have already spoken to Patch about making Studio City their new home. Now the weekly TV ratings will determine if they get to stay in town or have to pack up.

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The Defenders is the most solid hit, debuting with 12 million viewers on Sept. 22 and keeping 11 million in its second week, according to TVbythenumbers.com. That's a solid following after established hits like Survivor and Criminal Minds.

Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell star in The Defenders as Las Vegas attorneys. CBS Radford's soundstages double for interiors of Nevada courthouses and casinos. Both actors are Studio City veterans, having filmed previous shows either at Radford itself or in nearby Universal City.

Find out what's happening in Studio Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Expect to keep seeing Belushi and O'Connell at the local sushi bars for the rest of the year, and future seasons as long as The Defenders ratings hold up. Sushi lunches for O'Connell may also bring his famous wife, Rebecca Romijn to town.

Better with You had a solid start with eight million viewers on Sept. 22, according to an ABC press release. That declined to 6.6 million viewers on Sept. 29 according to TVbythenumbers.com but still comparable to Wednesday night shows Cougar Town at about seven million and The Middle at about eight million.

The sitcom features three generations of couples, mom and dad (Kurt Fuller and Debra Jo Rupp), an older sibling (Jennifer Finnigan) in a long term relationship and her younger sister (Joanna Garcia) engaged to a man she just met. Rupp became a Studio City veteran shooting That '70s Show at Radford, and she could continue her tenure here at least through December.

With the lowest ratings of the trio, Outsourced may seem the most in danger of leaving town. It debuted with 7.4 million viewers on Sept. 23 according to TVbythenumbers.com, but dropped to 5.8 million viewers on Sept. 30. It is poorly reviewed, but still viewed more than more prestigious NBC comedies.

Emmy darling 30 Rock gets 5.6 million and it's in its fifth season. Community hovers around five million, although The Office can claim eight million. Outsourced will have to prove itself to remain in production, but it has a few more weeks to do so. Parks and Recreation will return midseason to take its place, so Outsourced needs to garner a following that it can take to a new night, or outshine its Thursday night predecessors.

Outsourced is a workplace comedy about an American (Ben Rappaport) leading a Mumbai call center. It employs a cast of Indian actors such as Parvesh Cheena, Rebecca Hazlewood and Rizwan Manji. Different cast members can be spotted dining at Loteria, The Counter and Artisan Cheese Gallery, or checking out books at Samuel French.

The Defenders airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on CBS, Better with You Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. on ABC and Outsourced Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. on NBC.

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