CBS is the most stable of the major broadcast networks, and honcho Les Moonves had stated last week that he expected to launch only around 2 dramas and 2 comedies in the fall, so unsurprisingly, the network has followed its 3-year deal to renew THE BIG BANG THEORY and its agreement to bring back […]

  Welcome to Upfronts week, when the broadcast networks (or what’s left of them) announce their Fall schedules and attempt to generate billions of dollars worth of excitement from advertisers.  It’s harder than ever to authoritatively analyze the thought process that goes into a broadcaster’s cancellation, renewal and pick-up decisions, because network ad revenues directly […]

  If #6seasonsandamovie is going to happen for COMMUNITY, it won’t be at NBC, which finally fired the bullet that’s been aimed at Dan Harmon’s show seemingly every season since it went on the air.  That doesn’t necessarily mean Community is dead, since there have been murmurs of a possible move to cable or a […]

  CBS had been riding high on the back of some special events like the NCAA Tournament and the How I Met Your Mother finale, but last week it crashed to earth, falling three-quarters of a ratings point from the previous week and into 2d place.  That left all the broadcast networks looking fairly dismal.  […]

  Has there ever been a #1 network as screwed up as this year’s edition of NBC? Full Season To Date (through May 3) 18-49 Rating Average:  2.04 (#1), Down 13.7% From Last Season Season Grade:  D+ What Happened:  Sunday:  NBC is at the top of the broadcast networks for one and a half reasons.  […]

  Only those involved will likely ever know the details, but ABC and 20th Century Fox Television worked out whatever they needed to, and the result was a pick-up of LAST MAN STANDING and orders for 2 additional 20th sitcoms: CRISTELA has a  nice backstory:  ABC had originally made a script deal with comic Cristela […]

  Once again, CW demonstrated that it operates under different economics than the other broadcast networks.  Much of its revenue comes from episodes streamed online via Netflix and Hulu, which makes sometimes puny on-air ratings acceptable.  Also, virtually everything it airs is produced by one of its in-house studios, Warner Bros Television or CBS Television […]

  Just a day after NBC announced the end of its Thursday Must-See-TV block of comedies, FOX is breaking up its Animation Domination Sundays with a pair of live-action sitcoms.  There are plenty of changes to the FOX line-up on the way, and here’s a quick breakdown: MONDAY:  Matching the new Batman prequel GOTHAM with […]