( EW.com ) -- Well ... you ca n't say `` Cougar Town 's '' cast and producers did n't try . The third season of ABC 's comedy returned significantly lower in the ratings . In its new ( and much tougher ) time period , `` Cougar Town '' delivered 4.8 million viewers and a 1.8 adults 18-49 rating Tuesday night . This is a series low for the show ( The CW 's `` Ringer '' also had some particularly bad news , below ) . It 's arguably unfair to compare `` Cougar Town '' to its own 3.4 premiere last year ( from which it 's down 47 percent ) . The show debuted in the fall on Wednesday nights with a lead-in from top-rated `` Modern Family . '' Whereas last night 's time slot in a few short months has been haunted by the short-lived `` Man Up '' ( which premiered to a 2.4 rating ) and `` Work It '' ( 2.0 ) . `` Cougar Town 's '' 1.8 rating is about average for this slot , but that 's not great considering the two shows that mainly generated that number were cancelled . It 's lead-in , `` Last Man Standing , '' had 7.6 million viewers and a 2.0 rating . The numbers follow the show 's cast and creator Bill Lawrence traveling the country and guerrilla marketing the hell out of `` Cougar Town '' for the past month . Yesterday , Lawrence told us that he figured the show would return lower , but had hopes for the upcoming weeks . `` Here 's what I really think will happen : I think the show will not premiere as high as people hope , '' Lawrence predicted to EW . `` And what I hope will happen is what always happened on `` Scrubs '' when they brought it back . The first week , the numbers are always lower than their predecessor ... .But what would happen then , as people became educated that the show was back on , each week it would be higher . The next week , the gap would be closed . '' Also it should be noted that Valentine 's Day is pretty lousy for shows in general . Overall TV usage was down 7.3 percent last night , according to Nielsen . Meanwhile ABC 's `` The River '' ( 5.0 million , 1.7 ) is getting washed out , falling 29 percent its second week . At 10 p.m. `` Body of Proof '' ( 6.2 million , 1.2 ) was soft . No Valentine for Sarah Michelle Gellar : With only a repeat of `` Hart of Dixie '' for a lead-in , `` Ringer '' ( 1.1 million , 0.3 ) fell a stunning 40 percent from last week to a series low ( and down 50 percent from its midseason return two weeks ago ) . A 0.3 rating is like `` Remodeled '' and `` H8R '' territory for The CW . Also Tuesday : CBS won the night with `` NCIS '' ( 3.9 ) , `` NCIS : LA '' ( 3.2 ) and `` Unforgettable '' ( 2.3 ) -- all down between 3-7 percent.. Fox was second with `` Glee '' ( 2.8 ) down 15 percent , `` New Girl '' ( 3.2 ) down 9 percent and a steady `` Raising Hope '' ( 2.1 ) . NBC was third with `` Biggest Loser '' ( 2.0 ) down 13 percent to a season low and `` Parenthood '' ( 1.6 ) . See the full article at EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
` ` Cougar Town '' averaged 4.8 million viewers on Tuesday ##s . The show debuted in the US on Wednesdays with a lead - in from ` ` Modern Family '' Overall cable viewing was down 7.3 percent on Valentine 's Day , according to Nielsen .