Christoper Guest to Adapt Brit Comedy for ABC
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, ABC, Arrested Development, Ratings,
Christopher Guest, the genius behind films like For Your Consideration, Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman, will be involved in creating a comedy pilot for ABC. But wait, it gets better because Arrested Development creator, Mitch Hurwitz, is also involved. If the result is only a fraction as good as Arrested or any of Guest’s films, it will be 100 times better than most of the stuff on television. Of course, you have to wonder if it will suffer Arrested‘s curse of low ratings and an early cancellation. The comedy is an adaptation of the The Thick of It, a British series. Guest has been away from TV for quite some time—you may remember his mid-80s stint on Saturday Night Live, but his last work for television was a 1993 HBO remake of Attack of the 50-Foot Woman. The Thick of It takes a humorous spin on the ins and outs of a member of Congress.
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Gallery: Christoper Guest to Adapt Brit Comedy for ABC
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American Idol Announces Big Name Guests
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Music, Prime Time, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Ratings,
As if American Idol needs any more fuel for the already astronomical ratings, the producers have announced some very special guest stars. If you tuned in last night for the first eliminations, you saw former American Idol Fantasia Barrino perform. But wait—there’s more! Ryan Seacrest also announced last night that there would be many big name stars showing up as special guests this season. Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Jon Bon Jovi, Martina McBride, Diana Ross, Barry Gibb and Lulu and Peter Noone. It’s unclear what the theme will be for each show these performers contribute to, but the star wattage is impressive. Other fun tidbits from Thursday’s program include the announcement that Fantasia will star in The Color Purple on Broadway (with a quick glimpse of producer Quincy Jones), as well as the use of Chris Daughtry’s (another former Idol) song “Home” for the send-off of the eliminated contestants. Another former finalist will show up next Thursday—Kellie Pickler will be on hand to perform her single “I Wonder.”
(You can find all the American Idol 6 posts here.)
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Gallery: American Idol Announces Big Name Guests
Switcheroo for ‘Deal’ and ‘Crossing Jordan’
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Games, Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, NBC, American Idol, Apprentice, The - Donald, Medium, Ratings,
Here’s one of those things that totally confuses viewers—moving a show to another day and time. The latest is the switch in days between Deal or No Deal and Crossing Jordan. So, the Wednesday night edition of Deal will move to Sundays, and Crossing Jordan will get the bump to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. The change will make Sundays a bit different, with Grease: You’re the One That I Want at 8:00, Deal or No Deal at 9:00, and The Apprentice at 10:00. Whether or not the move will increase ratings, we’ll just have to see. Jordan will now be in good company with the other Wednesday dramas: Friday Night Lights and Medium. Of course, that also puts Jordan in competition with American Idol, which is currently the ratings king.
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Gallery: Switcheroo for ‘Deal’ and ‘Crossing Jordan’
Will ‘Lost’ Get Canned?
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Lost, Ratings, Renewals,
I’ve been reading too much doom-and-gloom about the falling ratings that Lost has been experiencing. Many are predicting that the series won’t last much longer because less people are watching these days. I would love to know why people aren’t tuning in anymore. Is it the sheer frustration that some questions get answered while creating new questions… with still so many unsolved mysteries? To me, that just keeps me tuning in for more. There’s a lot of confusing information, but it’s heading somewhere. And don’t viewers want to be there in the end, when all of the information we’ve been presented with clicks into place?
This latest article, posted on Yahoo, predicts that Lost may be “killed off before its time.” Marc Berman, a TV analyst for Media Week Online, says that “Lost is the tragedy of the season.” He adds that ABC “really prematurely put the nail in the coffin. It’s too late to save it.” Ratings have gone from over 20 million in the beginning, to just 12.8 million for this week’s show. That is a significant drop, to be sure… but come on, there are so many sub-par shows out there that keep getting renewed. Are we to believe that viewership for these shows is stellar, or is Lost just too dang expensive to keep producing if the ratings don’t support it? Berman is predicting that the show will be back for one more season, but doesn’t expect it to go beyond that. Other reasons for the slip in ratings—the new 10:00 p.m. time, without a strong lead-in, and the break between “mini-seasons” that caused the series to lose momentum.
Read More | Yahoo! News
Gallery: Will ‘Lost’ Get Canned?
‘Identity’ Game Show Returns in March
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Games, Prime Time, NBC, Ratings, Renewals,
Remember that new game show, Identity, with Penn Jillette? It only aired for a week, then seemed to vanish into oblivion. If you’ve been missing it, fear not—it returns to the schedule in March. The week it aired earned decent ratings, debuting with 12.3 million viewers on December 18th. Overall, the show averaged 9.3 million viewers during the week. Good enough to bring it back, it seems. Identity will return to the roster on Friday, March 16th at 9:00 p.m. Subsequent weeks, it will air on Fridays at 8:00 p.m., replacing 1 vs. 100. If you didn’t catch the show, it’s basically a game of first-impressions and stereotypes. Contestants must identify which of 12 strangers fits a certain trait—the episode I saw had contestants determining the occupation of each person. The prize for correctly matching the trait with each person is $500,000. Eh, not a thrilling show, but Penn makes it entertaining and it could easily become a guilty pleasure.
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Gallery: ‘Identity’ Game Show Returns in March
The Black Donnellys Gets Bumped Up a Week
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, NBC, Heroes, Ratings,
Fans of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip are about to see the show bumped off the schedule one week earlier than originally planned. NBC was to premiere the new drama The Black Donnellys in early March, but instead moved the broadcast up a week. The midseason replacement will take over Studio 60‘s Monday night slot at 10:00 p.m. Donnellys is expected to be a hit, partly because its from the team who created the film Crash and partly because its lead-in will be Heroes. Look for The Black Donnellys on Monday, February 26th. NBC has not yet announced when Studio 60 will reappear on the schedule, making fans nervous that it may never return. Studio 60 has not proven to be much of a ratings winner, with only 7 million viewers; 8.58 million if you factor in delayed viewing. Heroes will take a break following the March 5 cliffhanger, and returns in April and May to finish out the season.
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Gallery: The Black Donnellys Gets Bumped Up a Week
American Idol Suffers Hit to Ratings
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Ratings,
Well, okay, so American Idol didn’t take a huge ratings hit, but it did suffer a dip nonetheless. The show titled “Best of the Rest” earned them the lowest ratings of the season. Of course, the dip was just a drop in the bucket. The talent show still grabbed 27.9 million viewers, and that’s for their lowest rated episode. Still not too shabby. The show is certain to rebound nicely, as we are now moving beyond those dreadful first-round auditions and focusing on the Hollywood “boot camp.” This is the point where I can start watching the series. I just can’t bear to sit through the horrible singing, for just a glimpse of the people who actually have some talent. They say it makes good TV, I just think it’s tedious to sit through. I like American Idol, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t have the patience for those early shows. Once the finalists are selected, I’m in in for the long haul.
(You can find all the American Idol 6 posts here.)
Read More | E! Online
Gallery: American Idol Suffers Hit to Ratings
Sarah Silverman Program Gets Renewed
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, Cable, Cable/Satellite, Ratings, Renewals,
I just reported last week about the phenomenal ratings that the new Comedy Central show, The Sarah Silverman Program enjoyed. Unbelievable enough, after just two episodes, the comedy network ordered a second season. Comedy Central announced today that the second season will include fourteen episodes total, seven of which will air in the fall. The two episodes that have aired drew an average of 1.7 million viewers, with a timeslot win for 10:30 - 11:00 p.m for men ages 18-24. With solid numbers, the network couldn’t pass it up. Lauren Corrao, Comedy Central’s executive vice president for original programming and development said of the renewal, “The exceptional critical acclaim combined with the fantastic ratings has created a new Thursday night destination for our viewers. The show is smart, innovative, irreverent and politically incorrect—that, to me, is the purest example of a Comedy Central success.”
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Gallery: Sarah Silverman Program Gets Renewed
Lost Viewership Down
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, American Idol, Lost, Ratings,
Can you believe it? Lost viewership is actually down—are people tired of the show, tired of the two months of waiting, or just plain tired from the new 10:00 p.m. timeslot? The debut show last Wednesday brought in 14.7 million viewers, but that’s a drop from the 2 million the show averaged during the first half of the season. The series did win the ages 18-49 demographic, but overall, CSI: NY won the timeslot. One thing is for sure, had Lost been up against American Idol, it would likely not have done as well in the ratings. No word on how ratings were for the lead-in special that recapped Lost. This latest retelling brought perspective from series’ creators/producers and was a good refresher given the long hiatus from the first half of the season.
Read More | AOL News
Gallery: Lost Viewership Down
Survivor: Fiji Grabs 17 Million Viewers
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Prime Time, Reality, ABC, CBS, NBC, My Name Is Earl, Survivor, The Office, Ratings,
Hey, not too shabby for an aging franchise. The latest installment of Survivor—Survivor: Fiji—earned almost 17 million viewers on its Thursday debut. This is the series’ fourteenth season, and it certainly doesn’t seem to be losing any steam. And this comes despite any new gimmicks (like the social experiment of last season). Survivor: Fiji took the top spot for 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. So, that means it beat out Ugly Betty by a fair amount—9% for households, 35% for viewers 25-54, 23% for 18-49 year-olds, and 17% total viewers. Similarly, it bested NBC’s showing of My Name is Earl and The Office, earning 35% more of the adults ages 18-49. Despite the significant viewership, it did fall short in one category: the 18-34 demographic, where it came in third, following Ugly Betty and Earl/The Office. I am one of the few who did not watch the latest installment. My loyalty lies with Earl and The Office, and quite frankly, I’ve grown tired of Survivor‘s concept and host.
Read More | Reality TV World
Gallery: Survivor: Fiji Grabs 17 Million Viewers
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