2019-20 TV Season

NIELSENWAR: The Fall 2019 FOX Schedule & Analysis

Posted May 13, 2019 by Mitch Salem

We’ve reached the broadcast networks’ Upfront Week… which used to be a lot more central to our television lives than it is now.  Ratings everywhere are down, and there’s no reason to think they’ve hit bottom, which has caused seismic changes in the ways networks make scheduling decisions.  Among other things, with revenues from on-air […]

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Midseason Pilots

THE SKED PILOT REVIEW: “About A Boy”

Posted February 22, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  ABOUT A BOY:  Tuesday 9PM on NBC (Preview Tonight at 11:05PM) – If Nothing Else is On… ABOUT A BOY, which NBC will preview tonight at the close of Olympics coverage ahead of its regular timeslot premiere on Tuesday, has a daunting pedigree.  It’s based on the excellent 2002 Paul Weitz/Chris Weitz feature film […]

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2014-15 TV Season

NIELSENWAR 2014-15 Trailer Review: ABC’s “American Crime”

Posted May 13, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  AMERICAN CRIME:  Sunday 9PM Midseason on ABC THE FACTS:  John Ridley, this year’s Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar winner for 12 Years A Slave, has written a serialized crime drama very specifically about race, in which a Latino teen is arrested for the murder of the son of Timothy Hutton and Felicity Huffman. WHAT IT’S […]

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2016-17 TV Season

NIELSENWAR UPFRONTS: Fall CW Schedule

Posted May 19, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  CW will continue to be DC Comics (and Greg Berlanti) TV. For a network that only ordered three new shows (two of them for fall), CW has made quite a few changes in its new schedule, with DC Comics properties anchoring 4 nights of the week (and veteran Vampire Diaries the 5th) for stability, but […]

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2014-15 TV Season

NIELSENWAR 2014-15 Trailer Review: ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat”

Posted May 14, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  FRESH OFF THE BOAT:  Midseason TBD on ABC THE FACTS:  Based on the memoir of chef Eddie Huang, it’s the story of a Chinese-American family that moves from Washington, where there’s a thriving Asian community, to Orlando, Florida, where there isn’t one.  The focal point is young Eddie, but the heavy lifting comes from […]

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Midseason Pilots

THE SKED Pilot Review: “Intelligence”

Posted January 7, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  INTELLIGENCE:  Preview Tonight at 9PM, then Monday 10PM on CBS starting January 13 – If Nothing Else Is On… Gabriel Black (Josh Holloway), the hero of CBS’s midseason entry INTELLIGENCE, follows in the TV footsteps of Chuck and the autistic character from Alphas by having a brain directly wired into all electronic signals in […]

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2014-15 TV Season

NIELSENWAR 2014-15 Trailer Review: FOX’s “Hieroglyph”

Posted May 12, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  HIEROGLYPH:  Midseason TBD on FOX THE FACTS:  Ancient Egyptian fantasy-adventure, given a direct-to-series order by FOX.  The series creator is Travis Beacham, a screenwriter of Pacific Rim and the remake of Clash of the Titans, and let’s pretend that’s something to boast about. WHAT IT’S SAYING:  There will be mystery, magic, palace intrigue and […]

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Articles

THE SKED: “About A Boy” Has Blah Post-Olympics Preview

Posted February 23, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  Everyone knows that the shine of a post-Olympics “preview” berth doesn’t last long–just ask 2012’s Go On and Animal Practice.  But it’s at least supposed to provide a new show with a strong sampling.  Ironically, last night’s WINTER OLYMPICS ratings were so disastrous (2.6 in preliminary numbers–see Mitch Metcalf’s Skedball post for details)  that ABOUT A […]

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