STRONG RATINGS FOR SEASON FINALE OF UNDER THE DOME

CBS’s summer drama Under the Dome closed out its first season Monday night with 11.84 million tuning in, according to Nielsen Research. The finale also produced a 2.8 rating and an 8 share among viewers 18-49. Nevertheless, it was overshadowed by the series premiere of Fox’s Sleepy Hollow, which drew a 3.4 rating and a 9 share in the key demo, highest for any network. It even edged out ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, which debuted for the 2013-14 season with a 3.2/9 in the demo but drew a total audience of 16.19 million for its two-hour telecast. (It peaked in the 9:30 p.m. half hour with 16.84 million viewers. Critics, meanwhile, were expressing disappointment with Under the Dome‘s season finale. Tim Donnelly in the New York Post remarked that the producers cut the action “on a cliffhanger so intense our necks are chafing … well and good for setting up the future of the show. … But what it didn’t do was give us many answers, or even hints to real answers, to mull over in the interim about this mysterious dome.” Brian Lowry in Variety described the episode as “underwhelming … empty, silly and tedious.”