RATINGS: ‘The Shroud,’ ‘Tao of Rodney’

There is little to write home about in the ratings race for the week of May 4, the fourth week of new episodes for Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. The two shows continued the trend of lower numbers, following the rest of SCI FI Channel’s programming (and much of television as a whole this year).

Stargate SG-1 did manage to gain a tenth of a ratings point with “The Shroud,” earning a 1.2 average household rating at 8 p.m. The episode has been well-received by fans, scoring only second to “The Pegasus Project” in GateWorld’s polls.

Stargate Atlantis failed to maintain all of its lead-in audience for the first time in recent memory, with “Tao of Rodney” earning a 1.1 rating. This is down two-tenths of a point from the previous week, and the lowest rating to date for the 3-year-old show.

Nevertheless, the shows remained SCI FI Channel’s top-rated dramatic hours. ECW wrestling led the cable network for the week with a 1.6, according to SCI FI Wire, while a pair of movies tied SG-1‘s 1.2 rating.

New series Painkiller Jane, which followed Atlantis in the 10 p.m. time slot, failed to make SCI FI’s weekly top ten list (which started at 0.9 ratings).

After taking off this week for Memorial Day weekend, brand new episodes of Stargate continue Friday, June 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific! The next six weeks will also see no less than ten Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis marathons, leading up to the Atlantis season finale and the SG-1 series finale on June 22.

(Thanks to Morjana for the tip!)