Now the terrific "Friday Night Lights" is in serious trouble. NBC needs to pull the show immediately and re-launch it in the spring. Imagine: airing a show called "Friday Night Lights" on Friday night starting in January. Then, all the families who would normally go to a high school football game on Fridays in the fall could watch a show about that very same thing on Friday nights. It's so obvious, it's no wonder NBC hasn't thought of it. You can watch the second episode at NBC.com. (It includes commercials.) Maybe you can watch the pilot too, but I couldn't find it there. And maybe I spoke too soon about "Veronica Mars." It's not doing too spiffy either.
The overnights, per MediaWeek's Marc Berman:
8 p.m.
1. Dancing With The Stars (ABC -- 90m episode) -- 19.99 million
2. NCIS (CBS) -- 15.57 mil
3. Baseball (FOX) -- 7.81 million
4. Friday Night Lights (NBC) -- 6.28 million
5. Gilmore Girls (CW) -- 4.61 million
9 p.m.
1. Dancing (con't) (ABC) -- 19.99 mil/Help Me Help You -- 10.3 million
2. The Unit (CBS) -- 13.02 mil
3. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC) -- 11.31 million
4. Veronica Mars (CW) -- 2.99 million
10 p.m.
1. Law & Order: SVU (NBC) -- 13.76 million
2. Boston Legal (ABC) -- 10.12 mil
3. CSI repeat (CBS) -- 10.02 mil
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Fall TV Roundup
Tonight is the debut of "30 Rock" and the John Lithgow comedy, the last of the significant fall premieres. (I haven't seen advances.) Every network has already made a flurry of changes, but I'll still take a moment to give my rundown.
NEW SHOWS YOU SHOULD WATCH:
1. Friday Night Lights -- the second episode did everything I hoped for: it began at Sunday service (where a new football coach would have to appear and which made emotional sense since the local star quarterback had just been paralyzed in a terrible on-field accident). And the show ended with the kickoff of the Friday night game, meaning they're not wedded to showing the actual games. What matters are the characters and it's a great mix, from the paralyzed quarterback and his girlfriend, to the deer-in-the-headlights replacement, the drunk player, the brash talking black kid (the closest to a cliche on the show but hopefully he'll deepen), the coach who fears for his job (played by Kyle Chandler in the role of his career) and the constant din of the townsfolk who offer advice everywhere he turns. This is nuanced, gripping, emotional, subtle and wonderful stuff. And again, it's nice to see people who pray appear on TV who aren't freaks or polygamists or hypocrites. This show is in ratings trouble so the sooner you start watching the better. NBC would be foolish to dump this one.
2. Heroes -- the last thing I wanted was another serialized drama in my life (but are serialized dramas really any more of a commitment than, say, "Grey's Anatomy?"). But this one is goofy fun. Long term, I'm worried about them teasing this out or wondering if they'll have a new overall adventure each season or what. In short, I have no idea what's going on but all the characters (except the cartoonist who can paint the future) are interesting. I'd like to stop watching, but can't.
3. The Nine -- only seen one episode, but I thought the pilot was great. Lots of good characters. As long as they don't dwell in the past (what happened during that bank robbery???) this could be good.
WHEN DOES ONE PLUS ONE EQUAL .8?
That would be when you merge the WB and UPN into CW. They've just sent out a press release insisting they're doing great in their core demos of women aged 18-34. But I don't care: this network combined the biggest hits of two weblets but it seems almost to have disappeared in front of our eyes. And virtually every show (excepting Veronica Mars) is floundering creatively. I've also been disappointed in them since I discovered a big reason they renewed One Tree Hill over Everwood (both shows shaky but Everwood better creatively) was because One Tree Hill had all sorts of in-show product placements. They are probably the most eager show on TV when it comes to exploiting this. Ugh. They've already moved their night of "urban" comedies from Sunday to Monday. But neither of their two new shows has worked and everything else looks moribund except for America's Next Top Model. And if I really believed they broke up Laura and Luke, I'd be fine with it; but in fact I just know it's a stunt until they get back together or marry during May Sweeps.
BEST MOVES
Moving "Grey's Anatomy" to Thursday and pairing it at the last minute with "Ugly Betty" was the programming move of the year. Paid off in spades. ABC now owns Thursday creatively, CBS is second and NBC -- which owned Thursday for literaly two decades -- is dead. I also think the obvious pairing of "Gilmore" and "Veronica" could give that second show a fourth season. Football to Sunday was huge for NBC.
WORST MOVES
Debuting "Friday Night Lights" during the first night of post-season baseball. If ever a show should mimic the Fox formula it's this one: put the show on hiatus and debut it again in January during the Super Bowl hype. Let it be a mid-season show with all new episodes a la "24." Let football fans relish it when there's no football on. Duh. And get it away from the deadly Tuesday spot. This show deserves better.
Just as dumb is the decision to show six episodes of "Lost" and then put it on hiatus until spring. (And I've seen the absurd pilot of the show that's replacing it. It'll never fly.) The numbers were quite down for the season debut and I thought the episode was ludicrous, even by "Lost" standards. Fans are going to leave it in droves during the break and may never come back.
Networks have been saying for years they want to program year-round but mostly what they mean is fill up the schedule with reruns and put on reality shows in the summer. Ain't working. FOX is the way of the future. Different shows in fall and spring. Program during the summer with miniseries and specials and reality shows and summer-type series. And stop throwing away Saturday night.
WHAT I'M WATCHING
SUNDAY NIGHT
The Wire is the best -- and most demanding -- show on TV. You've got to start at the beginning and pay attention. But boy is it worth it. A slow burner with so many great characters you don't know where to turn.
Dexter -- I've Tivo'd them but haven't watched yet. So sue me. But it has very good reviews and I feel sorry for Showtime, which is making good shows but can't seem to get traction.
I skim through Desperate Housewives sometimes and I haven't watched The Simpsons in years except to catch certain guest stars and the Halloween special. Still pretty good, but surely they should have called it a day years ago. 60 Minutes for the occasional piece and still haven't sampled Brothers & Sisters.
MONDAY NIGHT
Everybody Hates Chris -- a sweet, funny show. Others I know got bored with it, but I find it consistently enjoyable. I'm not crushed if I miss it, but it's good.
Heroes -- good silly fun though I'm worried about it long term.
How I met Your Mother -- not every week and not a great show, but I really like the cast, especially Neil Patrick Harris. And any show that features people from Buffy AND Freaks & Geeks is a winner in my book.
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip -- still too "momentous" for me -- everything feels like the fate of the world depends on their silly sketches. And the glimpses we see of those sketches are convincing -- they seem just as tired and lame (but believeable)as the typical SNL. But it's very well-acted and written and slickly done so I'm sorry to see it collapsing so soon, even if I'll stop watching in a bit.
Prison Break -- I'm over it. Jumped the shark when that prison guard caught Scofield and instead of taking him in decided he wanted a piece of the buried treasure. I'll still dip in sometimes (and that's surprisingly easy to do for this and ALL serialized shows, actually) and Wentworth Miller is a fine, fine actor. But it should have been a season long telenovela and then called it a day. Five years of this? Crazy.
TUESDAY NIGHT
Friday Night Lights -- the best new show on TV
Gilmore Girls -- the dialogue is still solid and it's not as off-the-rails as the last two years (Paris, for one, seems like a real person again rather than a cartoon and I like Lane's pregnancy). But the central storyline is ridiculous. They will marry Lorelai and Luke. I almost wish they wouldn't at this point. But her new "romance" with her ex feels like a stalling tactic. Should have ended last season with their wedding. Three great, sterling years available on DVD -- the rest is a very mixed bag. And for God's sake, when are they going to acknowledge that Michelle and the town fussbudget are both gay? It's just creepy at this point.
Veronica Mars -- stil waiting to dive in on DVD. I know, I'm a jerk.
House -- not always, but when I watch, always fun.
WEDNESDAY
Lost -- I literally got bored during the "Prisoner"-like season premiere and fast-forwarded through half the action. I knew it was in trouble when I got broed reading all the season preview stories and saw the endless lists of questions they came up with and realized I didn't care about a single one. The only reason I watched the show (the only reason anyone watches any show) is because I liked the characters. Then they betrayed who those characters were or just ignored them and added dozens more. And now they're going to show six episodes and then put it on hold for months? They lost me. (The replacement show -- Day Break -- is simply ludicrous.)
The Nine -- looking forward to episode two.
Bones -- keep meaning to watch but haven't quite done it yet. Good chemistry with the leads.
Jericho -- surprised it has maintained an audience. The biggest sleeper of the year. I thought the pilot was solid but didn't see how it could be maintained. I'll have to dip back in.
THURSDAY
"My Name Is Earl" -- the sweetest show on TV, with the recent "Freaks" episode an excellent example of what they do best.
"The Office" -- finally, finally enought episodes have aired to let them develop their own identity and enough time has passed since the brilliant BBC series (that is literally one of the five best sitcoms of all time) so I can now appreciate this show on its own.
Grey's Anatomy -- I dip in sometimes, but I'm not faithful. Too much of a soap for me to fully embrace. It took ER six years to get this relationship-y.
Ugly Betty -- I'm not sold yet, but it's a fun cast and another show with a sweet tone.
FRIDAY
Battlestar: Galactica -- the savviest, most fascinating and complex drama on the air. Really.
Dr. Who -- strictly for fans of the original but a lot of fun.
DeGrassi -- cause I want to know what the kids are thinking.
SATURDAY
Rodeo -- yep, rodeo.
LATE NIGHT
Letterman and Jon Stewart every night. I tape the rest when there's a particular guest or music act I want to see. Leno is unbearable, Conan will be a fine replacement and Craig Ferguson is growing on me.
And in the midseason, I'm a faithful watcher of Idol and 24. So, did I miss anything?
NEW SHOWS YOU SHOULD WATCH:
1. Friday Night Lights -- the second episode did everything I hoped for: it began at Sunday service (where a new football coach would have to appear and which made emotional sense since the local star quarterback had just been paralyzed in a terrible on-field accident). And the show ended with the kickoff of the Friday night game, meaning they're not wedded to showing the actual games. What matters are the characters and it's a great mix, from the paralyzed quarterback and his girlfriend, to the deer-in-the-headlights replacement, the drunk player, the brash talking black kid (the closest to a cliche on the show but hopefully he'll deepen), the coach who fears for his job (played by Kyle Chandler in the role of his career) and the constant din of the townsfolk who offer advice everywhere he turns. This is nuanced, gripping, emotional, subtle and wonderful stuff. And again, it's nice to see people who pray appear on TV who aren't freaks or polygamists or hypocrites. This show is in ratings trouble so the sooner you start watching the better. NBC would be foolish to dump this one.
2. Heroes -- the last thing I wanted was another serialized drama in my life (but are serialized dramas really any more of a commitment than, say, "Grey's Anatomy?"). But this one is goofy fun. Long term, I'm worried about them teasing this out or wondering if they'll have a new overall adventure each season or what. In short, I have no idea what's going on but all the characters (except the cartoonist who can paint the future) are interesting. I'd like to stop watching, but can't.
3. The Nine -- only seen one episode, but I thought the pilot was great. Lots of good characters. As long as they don't dwell in the past (what happened during that bank robbery???) this could be good.
WHEN DOES ONE PLUS ONE EQUAL .8?
That would be when you merge the WB and UPN into CW. They've just sent out a press release insisting they're doing great in their core demos of women aged 18-34. But I don't care: this network combined the biggest hits of two weblets but it seems almost to have disappeared in front of our eyes. And virtually every show (excepting Veronica Mars) is floundering creatively. I've also been disappointed in them since I discovered a big reason they renewed One Tree Hill over Everwood (both shows shaky but Everwood better creatively) was because One Tree Hill had all sorts of in-show product placements. They are probably the most eager show on TV when it comes to exploiting this. Ugh. They've already moved their night of "urban" comedies from Sunday to Monday. But neither of their two new shows has worked and everything else looks moribund except for America's Next Top Model. And if I really believed they broke up Laura and Luke, I'd be fine with it; but in fact I just know it's a stunt until they get back together or marry during May Sweeps.
BEST MOVES
Moving "Grey's Anatomy" to Thursday and pairing it at the last minute with "Ugly Betty" was the programming move of the year. Paid off in spades. ABC now owns Thursday creatively, CBS is second and NBC -- which owned Thursday for literaly two decades -- is dead. I also think the obvious pairing of "Gilmore" and "Veronica" could give that second show a fourth season. Football to Sunday was huge for NBC.
WORST MOVES
Debuting "Friday Night Lights" during the first night of post-season baseball. If ever a show should mimic the Fox formula it's this one: put the show on hiatus and debut it again in January during the Super Bowl hype. Let it be a mid-season show with all new episodes a la "24." Let football fans relish it when there's no football on. Duh. And get it away from the deadly Tuesday spot. This show deserves better.
Just as dumb is the decision to show six episodes of "Lost" and then put it on hiatus until spring. (And I've seen the absurd pilot of the show that's replacing it. It'll never fly.) The numbers were quite down for the season debut and I thought the episode was ludicrous, even by "Lost" standards. Fans are going to leave it in droves during the break and may never come back.
Networks have been saying for years they want to program year-round but mostly what they mean is fill up the schedule with reruns and put on reality shows in the summer. Ain't working. FOX is the way of the future. Different shows in fall and spring. Program during the summer with miniseries and specials and reality shows and summer-type series. And stop throwing away Saturday night.
WHAT I'M WATCHING
SUNDAY NIGHT
The Wire is the best -- and most demanding -- show on TV. You've got to start at the beginning and pay attention. But boy is it worth it. A slow burner with so many great characters you don't know where to turn.
Dexter -- I've Tivo'd them but haven't watched yet. So sue me. But it has very good reviews and I feel sorry for Showtime, which is making good shows but can't seem to get traction.
I skim through Desperate Housewives sometimes and I haven't watched The Simpsons in years except to catch certain guest stars and the Halloween special. Still pretty good, but surely they should have called it a day years ago. 60 Minutes for the occasional piece and still haven't sampled Brothers & Sisters.
MONDAY NIGHT
Everybody Hates Chris -- a sweet, funny show. Others I know got bored with it, but I find it consistently enjoyable. I'm not crushed if I miss it, but it's good.
Heroes -- good silly fun though I'm worried about it long term.
How I met Your Mother -- not every week and not a great show, but I really like the cast, especially Neil Patrick Harris. And any show that features people from Buffy AND Freaks & Geeks is a winner in my book.
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip -- still too "momentous" for me -- everything feels like the fate of the world depends on their silly sketches. And the glimpses we see of those sketches are convincing -- they seem just as tired and lame (but believeable)as the typical SNL. But it's very well-acted and written and slickly done so I'm sorry to see it collapsing so soon, even if I'll stop watching in a bit.
Prison Break -- I'm over it. Jumped the shark when that prison guard caught Scofield and instead of taking him in decided he wanted a piece of the buried treasure. I'll still dip in sometimes (and that's surprisingly easy to do for this and ALL serialized shows, actually) and Wentworth Miller is a fine, fine actor. But it should have been a season long telenovela and then called it a day. Five years of this? Crazy.
TUESDAY NIGHT
Friday Night Lights -- the best new show on TV
Gilmore Girls -- the dialogue is still solid and it's not as off-the-rails as the last two years (Paris, for one, seems like a real person again rather than a cartoon and I like Lane's pregnancy). But the central storyline is ridiculous. They will marry Lorelai and Luke. I almost wish they wouldn't at this point. But her new "romance" with her ex feels like a stalling tactic. Should have ended last season with their wedding. Three great, sterling years available on DVD -- the rest is a very mixed bag. And for God's sake, when are they going to acknowledge that Michelle and the town fussbudget are both gay? It's just creepy at this point.
Veronica Mars -- stil waiting to dive in on DVD. I know, I'm a jerk.
House -- not always, but when I watch, always fun.
WEDNESDAY
Lost -- I literally got bored during the "Prisoner"-like season premiere and fast-forwarded through half the action. I knew it was in trouble when I got broed reading all the season preview stories and saw the endless lists of questions they came up with and realized I didn't care about a single one. The only reason I watched the show (the only reason anyone watches any show) is because I liked the characters. Then they betrayed who those characters were or just ignored them and added dozens more. And now they're going to show six episodes and then put it on hold for months? They lost me. (The replacement show -- Day Break -- is simply ludicrous.)
The Nine -- looking forward to episode two.
Bones -- keep meaning to watch but haven't quite done it yet. Good chemistry with the leads.
Jericho -- surprised it has maintained an audience. The biggest sleeper of the year. I thought the pilot was solid but didn't see how it could be maintained. I'll have to dip back in.
THURSDAY
"My Name Is Earl" -- the sweetest show on TV, with the recent "Freaks" episode an excellent example of what they do best.
"The Office" -- finally, finally enought episodes have aired to let them develop their own identity and enough time has passed since the brilliant BBC series (that is literally one of the five best sitcoms of all time) so I can now appreciate this show on its own.
Grey's Anatomy -- I dip in sometimes, but I'm not faithful. Too much of a soap for me to fully embrace. It took ER six years to get this relationship-y.
Ugly Betty -- I'm not sold yet, but it's a fun cast and another show with a sweet tone.
FRIDAY
Battlestar: Galactica -- the savviest, most fascinating and complex drama on the air. Really.
Dr. Who -- strictly for fans of the original but a lot of fun.
DeGrassi -- cause I want to know what the kids are thinking.
SATURDAY
Rodeo -- yep, rodeo.
LATE NIGHT
Letterman and Jon Stewart every night. I tape the rest when there's a particular guest or music act I want to see. Leno is unbearable, Conan will be a fine replacement and Craig Ferguson is growing on me.
And in the midseason, I'm a faithful watcher of Idol and 24. So, did I miss anything?
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Off To See "Borat" (Finally!)
Missed it at Cannes and I've been regretting it ever since. Also been busy filing that Lewis Black feature and waiting for Joe Torre's press conference so can't blog today.
Popularity Of "Battlestar: Galactica" Plateaus
UPDATE: Per MediaWeeek's Marc Berman, the season two premiere of "Battlestar: Galactica" in July of 2005 drew 3.1 million viewers. So the season three premiere audience of 2.2 million is a drop of 900,000 viewers or a massive 30%. That is quite disappointing, but again keep in mind it's premiering opposite first run major network shows during the height of the fall TV season, instead of opposite reruns in January and July.
Season three of "Battlestar: Galactica" premiered on Friday and despite massive amounts of publicity and growing critical acclaim, the show barely scored higher than the average episode of Season 2.5. Per SciFi, the show rached 2.2 million viewers with a 1.8 HH rating. However, this is I believe the first time "BG" has gone head-to-head with the major networks. Typically, it debuted during a month of network reruns like January or the summer; this time it debuted right in the middle of the fall TV debut. So holding its own can be construed as a good sign. While its competition was modest (ABC's "Men In Trees," CBS's "Close To Home" -- which is part of a winning crime lineup -- and NBC's "Dateline") they were first-run and riding the coattails of all that fall tv premiere publicity. But don't fear: the show is an attention-getter and surely has excellent demos among young men and the wealthy and well-educated, so "BG" is safe through at least season five.
As for the show itself, I thought it was enjoyably grim. They couldn't have made the Iraq parallels any stronger if they'd named the world New Baghdad instead of New Caprica. But typically they raised all sorts of emotionally complex issues, like showing us the conflicted feelings of a human (Jammer) who'd become a policeman for the Cylons; Starbuck dealing with her half-human, half Cylon child born essentially of rape; suicide bombings and all those terrific scenes with top Cylon models in the same room duplicated again and again. (Dean Stockwell sure is having fun.) I just hope they don't end the resistance in two episodes and jump back to the original format of being on Galactica and running from the Cylons. Don't make this massive switch and then just drop it. And don't worry: that's a fat suit that Apollo is wearing. (At least now I feel like I could have a shot of dating him.)
Season three of "Battlestar: Galactica" premiered on Friday and despite massive amounts of publicity and growing critical acclaim, the show barely scored higher than the average episode of Season 2.5. Per SciFi, the show rached 2.2 million viewers with a 1.8 HH rating. However, this is I believe the first time "BG" has gone head-to-head with the major networks. Typically, it debuted during a month of network reruns like January or the summer; this time it debuted right in the middle of the fall TV debut. So holding its own can be construed as a good sign. While its competition was modest (ABC's "Men In Trees," CBS's "Close To Home" -- which is part of a winning crime lineup -- and NBC's "Dateline") they were first-run and riding the coattails of all that fall tv premiere publicity. But don't fear: the show is an attention-getter and surely has excellent demos among young men and the wealthy and well-educated, so "BG" is safe through at least season five.
As for the show itself, I thought it was enjoyably grim. They couldn't have made the Iraq parallels any stronger if they'd named the world New Baghdad instead of New Caprica. But typically they raised all sorts of emotionally complex issues, like showing us the conflicted feelings of a human (Jammer) who'd become a policeman for the Cylons; Starbuck dealing with her half-human, half Cylon child born essentially of rape; suicide bombings and all those terrific scenes with top Cylon models in the same room duplicated again and again. (Dean Stockwell sure is having fun.) I just hope they don't end the resistance in two episodes and jump back to the original format of being on Galactica and running from the Cylons. Don't make this massive switch and then just drop it. And don't worry: that's a fat suit that Apollo is wearing. (At least now I feel like I could have a shot of dating him.)
Monday, October 09, 2006
How The NY Times Blew Their Big Entertainment Story Of The Day
The New York Times did a major piece today on Warner Bros., a studio that's had a very tough year, thanks to flops like "Lady in the Water," "The Ant Bully" and "The Poseidon Adventure." This weekend is the first weekend they can hold their heads high, thanks to the $27 million opening of "The Departed." But the article is filled with questionable assumptions and one doozy of a misjudgment.
First, the headline (not written by the writer, presumably) says "After Big Flops, Warner Hopes For 'Sleeper' Hits With Smaller Films." Now even in today's inflated Hollywood, $90 million for a gangster drama is hardly a "small" film. And surely NO movie starring Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg in major roles could ever be described as small. No, Scorsese is not a big commercial director, which is all the more reason to acknowledge this as a major commercial, accessible film by his standards. Furthermore, the words "sleeper hit" can never describe a movie that opens on more than 3000 screens. It just shows a complete lack of understanding about the business.
Then you have the odd claim that Tim Burton was not an obvious choice to direct "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and Johnny Depp was not an obvious choice to star. In what universe? They seemed like the IDEAL people to shepherd that movie and everyone said so when it was announced. Gee, Johnny Depp was only coming off the biggest hit of his career -- the family friendly "Pirates of the Caribbean." (Not to mention the appealing "Finding Neverland.") Why WOULDN'T he be your first choice to play Wonka? Tim Burton -- part of the Warner Bros. family -- was equally obvious to direct and perfectly suited to the quirky story. Sure, give credit to WB for not panicking when Depp delivered such a bizarre performance (and turning it into a smash hit). But the actual decision to hire those two was a no-brainer.
The NYT claims that WB's travails this year reveal that tentpole movies (big budget extravaganzas like "Superman Returns," the Harry Potter movies and "Poseidon") are not sure things, after all. Uh, we've known that was true for as long as Hollywood has been making movies. Only an idiot would think that fact was brought to light somehow this year.
Oddly, the NYT article then says the pressure is on to cut marketing costs at Warner Bros., when a constant criticism (included in the article via director Bryan Singer) has been the poor marketing effort by the studio. Spending the money wisely is always important, but there is hardly any proof that the studio's problems arise from spending TOO MUCH money on marketing. That can depress profits but it won't turn hit films into failures. So this news makes no sense and could in fact make it harder for WB to dig itself out of this hole.
But what really got my goat was the opening anecdote:
"When Harry Met Sally" was the turning point for the Castle Rock production company, a shingle built around the talents of director Rob Reiner. Rather famously, they were running out of money and literally down to their last penny when this romantic comedy was released on July 14, 1989. If it wasn't a hit, they would be out of business and "Seinfeld" (which was developed by Castle Rock and debuted almost one year later, in May of 1990) might never have existed. In short, the job of Alan Horn and all his friends rested on the fortunes of this movie. I am certain the opening weekend numbers are engraved on his heart.
Technically, Horn is right: "When Harry Met Sally" grossed $1,094,453 on its opening weekend. But it did that on just 41 screens, grossing a sensational $49,207 per screen. Even today, that is a terrific per screen average for a limited release. It ranked #12 and almost hit the Top 10 and it was only playing on 41 screens. Every movie in the Top 10 was on more than 1000 screens. If "When Harry Met Sally" opened on 41 screens today and did that well, the Variety headline would be that it looks like Castle Rock has a major hit on their hands.
The second weekend, they expanded the movie to 775 screens and it ranked #3 (right behind the blockbusters "Lethal Weapon 2" and "Batman"). "When Harry Met Sally" grossed $8.8 million for a terrific $18,000 per screen average. It was a massive, out of the box hit from the moment it hit theaters to terrific critical acclaim. And this was 17 years ago -- those same per screen averages would look great today. Putting them in the context of 1989, they are outstanding. Alan Horn's suggestion that this movie needed to be nurtured along after a timid opening and that the media would have crushed it is absurd. This was a blockbuster breakthrough for everyone involved, from Rob Reiner to Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. And Horn knows it.
What made Alan Horn lie and pretend the most important movie of his career was a sleeper film that opened weakly and had to be given TLC before it blossomed into a hit? I don't know. What made the New York Times swallow that lie and make it the lead of their story? I don't know, but probably just lazy reporting. They took Horn at his word. And when you're dealing with Hollywood, that's always a mistake.
First, the headline (not written by the writer, presumably) says "After Big Flops, Warner Hopes For 'Sleeper' Hits With Smaller Films." Now even in today's inflated Hollywood, $90 million for a gangster drama is hardly a "small" film. And surely NO movie starring Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg in major roles could ever be described as small. No, Scorsese is not a big commercial director, which is all the more reason to acknowledge this as a major commercial, accessible film by his standards. Furthermore, the words "sleeper hit" can never describe a movie that opens on more than 3000 screens. It just shows a complete lack of understanding about the business.
Then you have the odd claim that Tim Burton was not an obvious choice to direct "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and Johnny Depp was not an obvious choice to star. In what universe? They seemed like the IDEAL people to shepherd that movie and everyone said so when it was announced. Gee, Johnny Depp was only coming off the biggest hit of his career -- the family friendly "Pirates of the Caribbean." (Not to mention the appealing "Finding Neverland.") Why WOULDN'T he be your first choice to play Wonka? Tim Burton -- part of the Warner Bros. family -- was equally obvious to direct and perfectly suited to the quirky story. Sure, give credit to WB for not panicking when Depp delivered such a bizarre performance (and turning it into a smash hit). But the actual decision to hire those two was a no-brainer.
The NYT claims that WB's travails this year reveal that tentpole movies (big budget extravaganzas like "Superman Returns," the Harry Potter movies and "Poseidon") are not sure things, after all. Uh, we've known that was true for as long as Hollywood has been making movies. Only an idiot would think that fact was brought to light somehow this year.
Oddly, the NYT article then says the pressure is on to cut marketing costs at Warner Bros., when a constant criticism (included in the article via director Bryan Singer) has been the poor marketing effort by the studio. Spending the money wisely is always important, but there is hardly any proof that the studio's problems arise from spending TOO MUCH money on marketing. That can depress profits but it won't turn hit films into failures. So this news makes no sense and could in fact make it harder for WB to dig itself out of this hole.
But what really got my goat was the opening anecdote:
When the romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally” was released in July 1989, it made just $1.1 million during its opening weekend. But Alan F. Horn, whose film company produced the movie, was confident that, given time, it could be a hit.This is hogwash. I don't know what's worse: Horn's decision to lie about a movie so important to his career or the New York Times' failure to call him on it and even make that lie the focus of their article.
He was right. The movie earned $93 million at the domestic box office that summer.
“If it was today, the headline in Variety would have been ‘When Harry Met Disaster,’ ” Mr. Horn said in an interview. “They would have killed us after that first weekend and I don’t think we would have had a chance to build that movie. In today’s climate it wouldn’t have had a chance to breathe.”
"When Harry Met Sally" was the turning point for the Castle Rock production company, a shingle built around the talents of director Rob Reiner. Rather famously, they were running out of money and literally down to their last penny when this romantic comedy was released on July 14, 1989. If it wasn't a hit, they would be out of business and "Seinfeld" (which was developed by Castle Rock and debuted almost one year later, in May of 1990) might never have existed. In short, the job of Alan Horn and all his friends rested on the fortunes of this movie. I am certain the opening weekend numbers are engraved on his heart.
Technically, Horn is right: "When Harry Met Sally" grossed $1,094,453 on its opening weekend. But it did that on just 41 screens, grossing a sensational $49,207 per screen. Even today, that is a terrific per screen average for a limited release. It ranked #12 and almost hit the Top 10 and it was only playing on 41 screens. Every movie in the Top 10 was on more than 1000 screens. If "When Harry Met Sally" opened on 41 screens today and did that well, the Variety headline would be that it looks like Castle Rock has a major hit on their hands.
The second weekend, they expanded the movie to 775 screens and it ranked #3 (right behind the blockbusters "Lethal Weapon 2" and "Batman"). "When Harry Met Sally" grossed $8.8 million for a terrific $18,000 per screen average. It was a massive, out of the box hit from the moment it hit theaters to terrific critical acclaim. And this was 17 years ago -- those same per screen averages would look great today. Putting them in the context of 1989, they are outstanding. Alan Horn's suggestion that this movie needed to be nurtured along after a timid opening and that the media would have crushed it is absurd. This was a blockbuster breakthrough for everyone involved, from Rob Reiner to Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. And Horn knows it.
What made Alan Horn lie and pretend the most important movie of his career was a sleeper film that opened weakly and had to be given TLC before it blossomed into a hit? I don't know. What made the New York Times swallow that lie and make it the lead of their story? I don't know, but probably just lazy reporting. They took Horn at his word. And when you're dealing with Hollywood, that's always a mistake.
Keith Olbermann's Ratings Continue To Rise
Are people getting smarter or just waking up? Whatever the reason, Olbermann's intelligent but passionate cries of the heart are gaining him a sizable audience. But he's still half the size of Bill O'Reilly's ratings.
Stupidest Headline Of The Day
"Sienna Miller apologizes to Pittsburgh."She calls the town "Shitsburgh" in the latest issue of Rolling Stone but now says the quote was "taken out of context." In what context would it be nice of her to say "Shitsburgh?" Was she saying, "Boy, some people call this town Shitsburgh, but I think it's great"? I don't think so.
Overnight TV Ratings
The full figures aren't in, but "Desperate Housewives" won the night and "Brothers & Sisters" is stabilizing a bit. But can ABC accept a show that loses more than a third of the viewers from one of its biggest hits?
David Hasselhoff Has New Hit Single...And Not In Germany
Sure, it's just the UK. But still: the Hoff is back on the music charts. He first debuted the song "Jump In My Car" on "America's Got Talent," performing it alongside KITT because, hey, it's not like Hasselhoff has any shame or lacks a sense of humor. I almost thought it was a joke, but now it debuts at #3 on the British charts. And you can't top this: the name of his label is Skintight. On the album charts, The Killers debut at #1 just above Evanescence.
Enough With The Lists
I love lists. Who doesn't? I even owned and read The Book of Lists once. And I don't mind if any publication takes the time to come up with a list. If The Weekly Standard does a list of top Washington scandals, fine. If The Christian Science Monitor does an annual hot list of top saints, great. What I can't handle is OTHER media outlets treating these lists as if they're news. The BBC -- a rather august news organization, don't you think? -- has a headline saying "'GoodFellas' Named Greatest Movie." Makes sense to me: it's certainly the Scorsese movie I've watched the most and while "Raging Bull" is right there with it, let's be frank and admit it's pretty punishing (in a good way) and that "GoodFellas" is its equal in almost every way. But who said? The AFI? The BFI? Is it time for that every-five-years poll of film critics around the world? Nope, it's a list compiled by Total Film magazine. No, I've never heard of them either and I read a lot of British magazines and go to the UK regularly. It's not even Empire, for heaven's sake. Is a list by the un-august Total Films magazine really worth reporting on by the BBC? I don't think so. But it's not as bad as the list the BBC covered a week earlier. This one was a list of the Top 100 "landmark" films which included -- rightly, given the criteria they set forth -- "Deep Throat." And who made this list? The Radio Times. THE RADIO TIMES. Because no one knows movies like a magazine covering radio.
"Star Trek" Auction Massive Success
A model of the Starship Enterprise used in the opening credits of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" went for $576,000. McCoy's uniform went for $144,000. Who knew Trekkies had money?
Les Miserables Becomes Longest Running Musical In The World
It hits 21 years in the West End and I'm glad. One can bemoan the many musicals that copied its formula. One can even be surprised at the fact that the creators haven't produced anything nearly as good (dreadful Miss Saigon, okay Martin Guerre) since and don't seem likely to change that with their upcoming musical "Pirate Queen." You can even mock the idea of turning Victor Hugo's epic into a musical in the first place. But I still find the show extremely enjoyable and filled with very good to great songs: "On My Own," "One Day More," "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," "Do You Hear The People Sing?" and on and on. It's great stuff. Amusingly, the show has now run longer than the 20 year span covered in the book. Alternately, "The Phantom of the Opera" celebrates 20 years in the West End and that really is mindless dreck with one decent song ("Music of the Night"). "Phantom is a powerhouse commercially of course. It's been seen by nore than 100 million people, compared to Les Miz's 54 million people. But when they say "Phantom's" box office of $1.7 billion is larger than the box office for "Titanic," they're wrong, for the moment. "Titanic" grossed $1.8 billion worldwide. (And of course more on DVD.) In unrelated news, Andrew Lloyd Webber has just paid off a 35 million pound mortgage.
Weekend Box Office -- Final Figures
Martin Scorsese did enjoy the biggest weekend of his career with "The Departed." And Popsurfing was right again to second-guess Box Office Prophets and predict the comedy "Employee of the Month" would do much better than $3 mil thanks to the massive young fanbase for Dane Cook. The Top 10 per BOP:
1. The Departed -- $27 million total
2. Texas Chainsaw massacre: The Beginning -- $19.1 mil total
3. Open Season -- $16 mil ($44.1 mil total)
4. Employee of the Month -- $11.8 mil total
5. The Guardian -- $9.6 mil ($32.5 mil total)
6. Jackass Number Two -- $6.4 mil ($62.7 mil total)
7. School For Scoundrels -- $3.4 mil ($14 mil total)
8. Gridiron Gang -- $2.3 mil ($36.6 mil total)
9. Jet Li's Fearless -- $2.2 mil ($21.7 mil total)
10. The Illusionist -- $1.8 mil ($34.1 mil total)
1. The Departed -- $27 million total
2. Texas Chainsaw massacre: The Beginning -- $19.1 mil total
3. Open Season -- $16 mil ($44.1 mil total)
4. Employee of the Month -- $11.8 mil total
5. The Guardian -- $9.6 mil ($32.5 mil total)
6. Jackass Number Two -- $6.4 mil ($62.7 mil total)
7. School For Scoundrels -- $3.4 mil ($14 mil total)
8. Gridiron Gang -- $2.3 mil ($36.6 mil total)
9. Jet Li's Fearless -- $2.2 mil ($21.7 mil total)
10. The Illusionist -- $1.8 mil ($34.1 mil total)
Major Networks Discover Saturday Night
ABC has had such success airing college football on Saturday nights - a night all three major networks had abandoned to reruns -- that they're thinking of airing basketball on the night. Imagine that: original programming SEVEN nights a week. That's pretty bold. What drove me nuts was this comment from a tallking head:
“Up until this season, no one has come up with an answer to how to successfully program Saturday nights,” Muszynski said. “Event sports programming could be a way of solving that problem.”No one ever knew how to successfully program Saturday nights? Right, except for the four decades when the networks DID successfully program Saturday nights with obscure little shows like All In The Family, MASH, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Carol Burnett Show, Gunsmoke (the biggest TV hit of all time), Perry Mason, The Lawrence Welk Show, Flipper, Get Smart, My Three Sons, Mission: Impossible, Adam 12, Emergency, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, TJ Hooker, Golden Girls, Amen, The Commish, Sisters, Walker Texas Ranger, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, and the show that will still be running long after we're all gone: Cops.
Ws YouTube Right To Censore Michelle Malkin's Video?
Nope. Dumb, unnecessary and gives her more attention.
Off To Interview Lewis Black
While I'm gone, can you spot the massive lie/shoddy reporting in this New York Times article on Warner Bros. studio?
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Bill O'Reilly Beats Bob Woodward
When Bill O'Reilly had Bob Woodward on his talk show, O'Reilly joked that he was angry Woodward would keep him from having a #1 book. But for once, O'Reilly will happily admit he's wrong. The latest New York Times bestseller list has O'Reilly debuting at #1 with his new tome "Culture Warrior" and Woodward debuting at #2 with his heavily hyped, revelation-heavy "State of Denial." Interestingly, the wife of VP candidate John Edwards debuts at #4 with her memoir about battling breast cancer. (And just to balance things out, U2 on U2 debuts at #7.)
On the fiction list, Cormac McCarthy's wildly acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel "The Road" debuts at #4, surely a record for him. And perhaps whimsical mystery author Alexander McCall Smith has overextended his franchise with one too many different series: his latest book is already down to #20.
On the fiction list, Cormac McCarthy's wildly acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel "The Road" debuts at #4, surely a record for him. And perhaps whimsical mystery author Alexander McCall Smith has overextended his franchise with one too many different series: his latest book is already down to #20.
Weekend Box Office -- The Biggest Hit Of Marty's Career
"The Departed" is the biggest hit of Martin Scorsese's career. It will open to about $27 million and should easily top "The Aviator's" $102 million total. If only Marty's stupid producer hadn't boasted that it should make $30 million to $40 million, his triumph would be complete. And Popsurfing proves to have outwitted Box Office Prophets again: they said Dane Cook's "Employee of the Month" would only gross a total of about $3 million on the weekend. I figured since Cook was a massive online hit and extremely popular among young people that this was wackily out of touch. Assuming they saw tracking numbers I didn't, I hedged my bet a little, but in fact it looks likely to gross $13 million for the weekend. Per BOP, the estimated Top 10 based on Friday:
1. The Departed -- $27.6 million total
2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning -- $18.3 mil
3. Open Season -- $15.8 mil ($44 mil total)
4. Employee of the Month -- $13 mil
5. The Guardian -- $9.9 mil ($32 mil total)
6. Jackass Number Two -- $7 mil ($63 mil total)
7. School For Scoundrels -- $3.9 mil ($14 mil total)
8. Gridiron Gang -- $2.3 mil ($36 mil total)
9. Jet Li's Fearless -- $2.2 mil ($21 mil total)
10. The Illusionist -- $2.1 mil ($$34 mil total)
1. The Departed -- $27.6 million total
2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning -- $18.3 mil
3. Open Season -- $15.8 mil ($44 mil total)
4. Employee of the Month -- $13 mil
5. The Guardian -- $9.9 mil ($32 mil total)
6. Jackass Number Two -- $7 mil ($63 mil total)
7. School For Scoundrels -- $3.9 mil ($14 mil total)
8. Gridiron Gang -- $2.3 mil ($36 mil total)
9. Jet Li's Fearless -- $2.2 mil ($21 mil total)
10. The Illusionist -- $2.1 mil ($$34 mil total)
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Tower Records Is All But Dead
Judge orders the chain "liquified" to pay off debt. However, the Sunset Boulevard store is to be sold for $12 million. It's unclear to me whether that means it will continue under new management with the Tower Records name. Could a similar thing happen for one or both of the New York stores? No other record chain comes even close to Tower Records in depth and quality and music-loving atmosphere. Practically the first thing I did when I moved to New York was go to Tower Records. I hung out there for hours on end going through the piles of CDs. I even went on a date with an employee of Tower, which is as close as I could get to dating the store itself. I even love their shopping bags, which are so strong and durable I use them (double-bagged) to cart my mail home. I'm heart-broken.
New Documentary Prompts Renewed Focus On Cardinal Mahony
Pathetic. Pathetic that it would take a documentary film to help law enforcement realize that people like Cardinal Mahony can and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Maybe they won't be convicted -- these cases are very difficult to win -- but it's been clear for many years that there is overwheleming evidence of a conspiracy in the Catholic Church to protect child molesters. And they need a movie to remind them of this?
Friday, October 06, 2006
American Idol Winner Taylor Hicks Sets Record
His debut album hasn't even come out yet, and some fly-by-night indie label is trying to cash in by releasing "A Tribute To Taylor Hicks." Hilarious. Even better, the cover art is a rip-off of the "American Idol" logo and apparently they're doing one for Catherine McPhee as well. I see a lawsuit.
Weekend Movie Preview
I'll be too caught up in baseball to see many movies. But here are the predictions from Box Office Prophets. By the way, I chastised the producer of Martin Scorsese's new movie for making the ridiculous prediction that it should gross at least $30 million on its opening weekend, since this is far more than any Martin Scorsese movie has ever grossed in its first wide release. BOP predicts it will hit a far more reasonable "$27 million, which would have been a huge triumph for him if his producer hadn't raised the bar. And one quibble: BOP says "Employee of the Month" will gross $3.4 million. I think that severely underestimates the appeal Dane Cook has with young people. Maybe it won't break $10 mil, but it will do much better than that, I think.
Favorite Obscure Albums
I'm a sucker for this sort of thing: The Guardian asked 49 rock stars, producers, intelligentsia etc. to offer up their obscure gems -- those CDs they can toss on the stereo that invariably prompts people to say, "What IS this?" and then write down the name and head out to the record store. It's the print version of that scene from "High Fidelity" where they play The Beta Band and count the seconds before customers start buying the CD. (Hey, I wonder how they'll do that scene in the new Broadway musical version of the movie?) You'll read about everything from Shuggie Otis and The Electric Prunes and if you're like me, you'll immediately write down a few titles that intrigue you and head out to the record store. Of course, I do suffer from some sort of artistic inferiority complex: I hate it when people reference some brilliant, acclaimed novel as if everybody has read it or a classic film that everyone presumably has seen or a terrific album that of course everyone owns (if they're cool); I hate it, that is, when I haven't seen, read or listened to it and immediately run out and do so because I don't want anyone else to know about some gem when I don't.
Best of all, the Guardian has a contest urging you to submit your own obscure gem for consideration. Naturally, I couldn't resist and the first CD to spring to mind was "It's The Talk Of The Town and Other Sad Songs" by Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
I don't know why or how I stumbled across this obscure gem -- was it the eye-catching album cover that used a pulp fiction cover (complete with a seen-it-all dame lugging groceries home)? Whatever the reason, I bought this collection and fell in love with these versions of standards from the Twenties to the Forties (including "I Cover The Waterfront," "In Other Words, We're Through," and "Hummin' To Myself" long before I figured out where it had come from.
The opener -- "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" is an instrumental with Roland Brunt on tenor sax delivering a brashly straightforward melody that stops people in their tracks every time. It's followed by tunes like "Detour Ahead" delivered in hard-to-place accents that catch your ear with their slightly off deliveries and rhythmic choices -- who the hell is singing and where are they from? I didn't know, but this oddball curio grew and grew on me until I loved it. To add to the tantilizing mystery, there were hints in the very brief liner notes that several other albums existed by this group. But I could never track them down.
Finally, years later they put out a cheap boxed set with all three albums by the Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (the other two don't measure up, but are still fine) along with liner notes that explained its origin. Apparently, the Broken Dreams Orchestra was founded by Gert-Jan Blom in 1983 (formerly with De Snackbarfavorieten, De IJsbrekers and Big Bamboo, we're conveniently informed). It held an annual festival in Amsterdam where apparently a group of hep-cat swingers dressed up in period clothing and swung these tunes. Many of them don't speak English, so a number of these tunes are being sung phonetically or at least patterned heavily on earlier versions.
That explains much of this album's odd appeal: it's classic Tin Pan Alley from the early part of the US century that crossed over to Amsterdam, heard and loved and celebrated many years later and then sent back to us in refracted form, filled with strange, wonderfully off pronunciations but still somehow cutting to the heart of the matter. "It's the TALK...of the town." Until you hear that line uttered with despair in a thick accent that is filled with longing and regret in a voice that yearns to tell you how much it is hurting but can barely get the words out, well you haven't really heard that song. The oddly jaunty "You Broke The Only Heart That Ever Loved You" works for opposite reasons: is the singer blithely unaware of what the song is about, determined to overcome his sadness or pretending to be happy when in fact his heart is broken? And "I Cover The Waterfront" sounds exactly like it should, if it were being performed by Marlene Dietrich in a bombed out German cabaret during the war.
This is such a unique and strange little album that it's no surprise they couldn't catch lightning in a bottle with their two subsequent releases. I'm also pleased they seemed to have called it a day --though for all I know the festival is still an annual event. Though I doubt it. Nostalgia, reverence for great songs, the lovingly distorted image of America during the Great Depression, the sheer joy of dressing up in costumes and singing with a big band. The French helped us see our Westerns and gangster movies in a new light. And these kids from Amsterdam deliver up these songs with an innocent air of discovery that puts the "hip," ironic and faux-zoot suit swingers of the early Nineties to shame. Maybe that's what makes this album so special: it's the sound of people falling in love with a music and an era that has already faded away long, long ago. It's the ultimate in unrequited love.
Best of all, the Guardian has a contest urging you to submit your own obscure gem for consideration. Naturally, I couldn't resist and the first CD to spring to mind was "It's The Talk Of The Town and Other Sad Songs" by Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
I don't know why or how I stumbled across this obscure gem -- was it the eye-catching album cover that used a pulp fiction cover (complete with a seen-it-all dame lugging groceries home)? Whatever the reason, I bought this collection and fell in love with these versions of standards from the Twenties to the Forties (including "I Cover The Waterfront," "In Other Words, We're Through," and "Hummin' To Myself" long before I figured out where it had come from.
The opener -- "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" is an instrumental with Roland Brunt on tenor sax delivering a brashly straightforward melody that stops people in their tracks every time. It's followed by tunes like "Detour Ahead" delivered in hard-to-place accents that catch your ear with their slightly off deliveries and rhythmic choices -- who the hell is singing and where are they from? I didn't know, but this oddball curio grew and grew on me until I loved it. To add to the tantilizing mystery, there were hints in the very brief liner notes that several other albums existed by this group. But I could never track them down.
Finally, years later they put out a cheap boxed set with all three albums by the Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (the other two don't measure up, but are still fine) along with liner notes that explained its origin. Apparently, the Broken Dreams Orchestra was founded by Gert-Jan Blom in 1983 (formerly with De Snackbarfavorieten, De IJsbrekers and Big Bamboo, we're conveniently informed). It held an annual festival in Amsterdam where apparently a group of hep-cat swingers dressed up in period clothing and swung these tunes. Many of them don't speak English, so a number of these tunes are being sung phonetically or at least patterned heavily on earlier versions.
That explains much of this album's odd appeal: it's classic Tin Pan Alley from the early part of the US century that crossed over to Amsterdam, heard and loved and celebrated many years later and then sent back to us in refracted form, filled with strange, wonderfully off pronunciations but still somehow cutting to the heart of the matter. "It's the TALK...of the town." Until you hear that line uttered with despair in a thick accent that is filled with longing and regret in a voice that yearns to tell you how much it is hurting but can barely get the words out, well you haven't really heard that song. The oddly jaunty "You Broke The Only Heart That Ever Loved You" works for opposite reasons: is the singer blithely unaware of what the song is about, determined to overcome his sadness or pretending to be happy when in fact his heart is broken? And "I Cover The Waterfront" sounds exactly like it should, if it were being performed by Marlene Dietrich in a bombed out German cabaret during the war.
This is such a unique and strange little album that it's no surprise they couldn't catch lightning in a bottle with their two subsequent releases. I'm also pleased they seemed to have called it a day --though for all I know the festival is still an annual event. Though I doubt it. Nostalgia, reverence for great songs, the lovingly distorted image of America during the Great Depression, the sheer joy of dressing up in costumes and singing with a big band. The French helped us see our Westerns and gangster movies in a new light. And these kids from Amsterdam deliver up these songs with an innocent air of discovery that puts the "hip," ironic and faux-zoot suit swingers of the early Nineties to shame. Maybe that's what makes this album so special: it's the sound of people falling in love with a music and an era that has already faded away long, long ago. It's the ultimate in unrequited love.
Overnight TV Ratings -- "Ugly Betty" Still Pretty
ABC probably expected "Grey's Anatomy" to be a strong second to "CSI" but both shows are flourishing -- proving that good TV will always find an audience. (And when two hits can coincide, it makes it all the crazier that the networks have abandoned an entire night -- Saturday -- to reruns and DVDs.) But "Ugly Betty" -- moved at the last minute from Friday to Thursday in teh smartest programming move of the season -- is doing just that opposite "Survivor." And talk about loyal fans! "ER" continues to win its timeslot despite weak lead-ins. But if "Shark" can get stronger, "ER" might be in trouble again. Here are the overnight ratings, per MediaWeek's Marc Berman.
8 p.m.
1. Survivor (CBS) -- 15.79 million
2. Ugly Betty (ABC) -- 14.18 million
3. My Name Is Earl (NBC) -- 9.91 million/The Office (NBC) -- 8.77 million
4. Baseball (FOX) -- 5.79 million
5. Smallville (CW) -- 4.6 million
9 p.m.
1. Grey's Anatomy (ABC) -- 22.46 million
2. CSI (CBS) -- 21.22 million
3. Deal Or No Deal (NBC) -- 9.49 million
4. Supernatural (CW) -- 3.32 million
10 p.m.
1. ER (NBC) -- 14.61 million
2. Shark (CBS) -- 13.76 million
3. Six Degrees (ABC) -- 9.65 million
8 p.m.
1. Survivor (CBS) -- 15.79 million
2. Ugly Betty (ABC) -- 14.18 million
3. My Name Is Earl (NBC) -- 9.91 million/The Office (NBC) -- 8.77 million
4. Baseball (FOX) -- 5.79 million
5. Smallville (CW) -- 4.6 million
9 p.m.
1. Grey's Anatomy (ABC) -- 22.46 million
2. CSI (CBS) -- 21.22 million
3. Deal Or No Deal (NBC) -- 9.49 million
4. Supernatural (CW) -- 3.32 million
10 p.m.
1. ER (NBC) -- 14.61 million
2. Shark (CBS) -- 13.76 million
3. Six Degrees (ABC) -- 9.65 million
Barry Manilow Shocker!
Barry Manilow's "The Greatest Song of the Fifties" debuted at #1 and was his biggest non-greatest hits hit in many, many years. The sequel -- "The Greatest Songs of the Sixties" debuts October 31. And now, in a stunning development, Manilow has revealed that he might in fact record "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies." "Well, it seems like there should be one," Manilow told Billboard about this bombshell revelation. But what will be next? "The Greatest Songs of the Forties" or "The Greatest Songs of the Eighties?" (Actually, Manilow would be wiser to do the Forties first. He could tackle "Paper Doll," "Heartaches," "In The Mood" (yep, there are lyrics), "The Gypsy," "Rider in the Sky," "I'll Never Smile Again," and even "White Christmas," along with a host of others that would be a lot more interesting for him to tackle than, say, "You Light Up My Life." Oh God, he WILL record "You Light Up My Life," won't he?
"A Chorus Line" -- The Reviews
The New York Times says the initial thrill at seeing the show again quickly fades. The New York Post says of course it doesn't have the joy of discovery, but it's still great fun. The New York Post headlines its review "Embalming Fluidity" but gives it two and a half stars, especially for people who've never seen it before. Time Magazine is delighted the show doesn't seem dated. And Variety says it's a lovingly mounted replica. Sounds like it will skip right past the New York crowd and appeal to the tourists.
Newspaper Websites Explode In Popularity
Apparently, young people do want to read the news -- just not in print. No explanation here why The Washington Post would be surging so much and nothing on whether the NYTimes decision to partition off sections for subscribers only is hurting it. Still, at least it's good news people are supplementing their "Daily Show" fix with some actual news stories. And of course the unspoken reason for all this online buzz is blogging: thousands and thousands of wildly popular websites like Americablog that send people to news stories at major outlets again and again and again.
Rod Stewart Must Be Stopped
I've mostly ignored Rod Stewart's foray into the Great American Songbook. I love the standards, I love great singers like Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles and Ella and Dinah and so on, I always enjoy being happily surprised when pop stars tackle them and do a good job (like Boz Scaggs and Sting, for instance) and the songs I've heard by Rod have been so horrific and the reviews so consistently scathing I know the less I hear them the better. Why spoil my admiration for the great album 'Every Picture Tells A Story" by listening to that stuff?
But now Rod has recorded classic rock songs for his new album and I just saw him performing on Leno. He sang Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" and it was truly horrifying. Rod pranced about the stage in a silky smoking jacket sort of thing, he had three female black backup singers so he wouldn't miss a cliche, he literally danced off-stage like a cartoon character for the guitar solo and every time he sang about the "rain coming down on a sunny day" he mimed rain falling down with one hand like a very bad contestant on Star Search. Oh, and he was flat and out of tune and out of breath. It was absolutely horrifying. It gave a bad name to rock and roll, to singers, to senior citizens, to just about everyone. I don't say this to be mean. But Rod Stewart has been coasting for 30 years on the good will engendered by his great album "Every Picture Tells a Story" (buy it, really) and its immediate sequels, especially "Gasoline Alley." Every time he tries to make a comeback, the nice critics say it's in the spirit of that classic. I could ignore his tawdry ravaging of the standards because it seemed so far afield of his real work that it seemed to have little to do with him. But watching Stewart gasp through a CCR gem like "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" was upsetting and awful. Rod Stewart must be stopped.
But now Rod has recorded classic rock songs for his new album and I just saw him performing on Leno. He sang Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" and it was truly horrifying. Rod pranced about the stage in a silky smoking jacket sort of thing, he had three female black backup singers so he wouldn't miss a cliche, he literally danced off-stage like a cartoon character for the guitar solo and every time he sang about the "rain coming down on a sunny day" he mimed rain falling down with one hand like a very bad contestant on Star Search. Oh, and he was flat and out of tune and out of breath. It was absolutely horrifying. It gave a bad name to rock and roll, to singers, to senior citizens, to just about everyone. I don't say this to be mean. But Rod Stewart has been coasting for 30 years on the good will engendered by his great album "Every Picture Tells a Story" (buy it, really) and its immediate sequels, especially "Gasoline Alley." Every time he tries to make a comeback, the nice critics say it's in the spirit of that classic. I could ignore his tawdry ravaging of the standards because it seemed so far afield of his real work that it seemed to have little to do with him. But watching Stewart gasp through a CCR gem like "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" was upsetting and awful. Rod Stewart must be stopped.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Overnight TV Ratings -- "Lost" Is Back But Not Bigger Than Ever
"Lost" lost some steam in season two and it hasn't rebounded yet. But season three opened ok, but 25% lower than last season's opener. Meanwhile, Fox and CW and everyone else is making so many changes to their schedules I can't keep up. Here are the overnights:
8 p.m.
1. Dancing With The Stars (ABC) -- 17.49 million
2. Jericho (CBS) -- 10.83 million
3. Bones (Fox) -- estimated 7.9 million
4. America's Next Top Model (CW) -- 5.25 million
5. Friday Night Lights repeat (NBC) -- estimated 4.3 million
9 p.m.
1. Lost (ABC) -- 18.82 million
2. Criminal Minds (CBS) -- 15.19 million
3. House repeat (Fox) -- 8.89 million
4. The Biggest Loser (NBC) -- 7.15 million
5. One Tree Hill (CW) -- 3.09 million
10 p.m.
1. CSI: NY (CBS) -- 15.73 million
2. The Nine (ABC) -- 11.91 million
3. Kidnapped (NBC) -- estimated 4.8 million
8 p.m.
1. Dancing With The Stars (ABC) -- 17.49 million
2. Jericho (CBS) -- 10.83 million
3. Bones (Fox) -- estimated 7.9 million
4. America's Next Top Model (CW) -- 5.25 million
5. Friday Night Lights repeat (NBC) -- estimated 4.3 million
9 p.m.
1. Lost (ABC) -- 18.82 million
2. Criminal Minds (CBS) -- 15.19 million
3. House repeat (Fox) -- 8.89 million
4. The Biggest Loser (NBC) -- 7.15 million
5. One Tree Hill (CW) -- 3.09 million
10 p.m.
1. CSI: NY (CBS) -- 15.73 million
2. The Nine (ABC) -- 11.91 million
3. Kidnapped (NBC) -- estimated 4.8 million
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