The premiere of Dollhouse gave the second season of the series a weak start, and The Cleveland Show premiered strong, among weekend premieres of geek TV shows.

Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse started its second season on Friday night (see “Dollhouse Season 2 Premieres September 25th”) with ratings similar to where it ended the season last year, a showing that only barely got the show renewed (see “Dollhouse Renewed”).  It was down significantly from its premiere showing last year, and is the lowest rated program on Friday night from a major broadcast network.

Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show (see “Family Guy Spin-off in the Works”), on the other hand, was a major hit, with 9.4 million viewers for its premiere episode on Sunday night.  This was the best premiere for a scripted series this fall; it’s already set for a second season (see “’Cleveland’ Gets New Season”).   The premiere of Family Guy was up 16% from its premiere last year.