Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #3 of 2013 is on pace for $113 million, basically on pace with the same weekend the last few years.  It is a weekend of Jessica Chastain: starring in the top two films of the weekend, an over-performing horror film opening at #1 and carrying the #2 film on her […]

  It was a bad night on the networks to be anything but sports.  Note:  the football and baseball numbers below are adjusted to estimate where the final numbers will be after western time zones are taken into account tomorrow. ABC:  ONCE UPON A TIME proved once and for all that Disney doesn’t interfere with […]

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques shouldn’t be taken as full TV pilot reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content […]

      NETWORK FINALS:  The 8PM ANGEL FROM HELL burn-off lost 0.1 in final numbers, while the NCIS: LA rerun went up the same.       Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  The season finale of Starz’s OUTLANDER gained 0.04 from its last airing 2 weeks ago to 0.19. […]

> CARRIE the musical is no longer a joke, and since it’s been a reliable punchline for almost a quarter of a century (a book about Broadway disasters was titled “Not Since Carrie“), that’s quite an accomplishment. Carrie carried a load of baggage before it even opened to a paying Broadway crowd. The original novel […]

The 30th weekend of the year is looking like $174 million for the top 12 films, a bit lower than last weekend ($181 million) but much better than the average for this weekend the past few years ($137 million) when summer normally really starts to sputter (The Watch and Cowboys & Aliens were released this […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Strong overseas grosses for Captain America: The Winter Soldier continue to pad Disney’s lead over Warner Brothers in worldwide box office to date (Disney has $929 million compared to $861 million for Warner Brothers).  Fox is next with $723 million, and Sony has pulled to over $600 million with Heaven Is for Real this weekend. […]

A genuine changing of the guard. NBC:  REVOLUTION slipped a bit last night (to 3.2), but it commandingly beat up both CBS and ABC, and is looking like a true hit, at least in the short term.  THE VOICE, of course, provided a dominating 4.5 lead-in that didn’t hurt. CBS:  This was supposed to be […]