ABC’s ‘Live in Front of a Studio Audience’ sees huge ratings drop

The second installment of Norman Lear and Jimmy Kimmel’s “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” on ABC faced a huge ratings dip Wednesday night.

The 90-minute nostalgic tribute to 1970s sitcoms “All in the Family” and “Good Times” pulled in just 5.8 million viewers, Deadline reports. That’s a steep drop from last May’s premiere presentation, which showcased episodes of Lear’s “Family” and its spinoff “The Jeffersons” and grabbed an average 10.4 million total viewers.

The “All in the Family” live show featured returning stars Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker, Marisa Tomei as Edith Bunker, Ellie Kemper as Gloria and Ike Barinholtz as Mike “Meathead” Stivic. It was preceded by a “Good Times” adaptation that featured “Saturday Night Live” star Jay Pharaoh as Jimmie “J.J.” Walker, Andre Braugher as James Evans and Viola Davis as his wife, Florida, who was originally played by the late Esther Rolle. Actor John Amos — who played James Evans in the 1974-1979 series — made a surprise appearance as an alderman.

The plunge left ABC in third place in Wednesday’s network ratings. Fox won the night thanks to quirky singing competition “The Masked Singer,” which drew 8.33 million viewers in the second half of its two-hour season finale and 6.43 million in the first hour. Second place went to CBS, which drew 6.43 million eyeballs for the season finale of “Survivor: Island of the Idols,” followed by 4.49 million viewers for a post-finale reunion show.

NBC finished in fourth place with an average 3.3 million viewers for a three-hour block of repeats of “Ellen’s Greatest Night of Giveaways.”