Author Archive
 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Arrow”

  The success of ARROW was a big win for CW and for DC Comics this season.  The appeal of CW’s single-girl soaps was running thin, while DC has been reeling from the otherworldly success of arch-rival Marvel’s...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “CSI”

  As of this week, there’s just one CSI left standing on CBS, and after 13 years, it’s the original recipe.  Having survived the bump in its creative road a couple of seasons ago when the misguided hire of Lau...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED 2013 UPFRONTS: The New CW Schedule – Grid & Instant Analysis

  The mini-est of broadcast networks blew up its schedule in a big way, with changes for CW on every one of the 5 nights per week it programs.  Let’s see what it’s done: MONDAY 8PM:       HART OF DIXIE 9...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S WEDNESDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 5/15/13

It was another dim night for most of network TV. FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL tied its Wednesday series low 2.9 for the third week in a row.  That was down 2 full ratings points from last year’s parallel night.  Last night, ins...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED 2013 UPFRONTS: CW Promos – “Reign”

  CW has released a :30 promo and a little more than a minute of REIGN, the teen Mary, Queen of Scots soap that will have the showcase spot on its schedule next fall, Thursday 9PM after The Vampire Diaries.  Here’s ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED 2013 UPFRONTS: CW Promo – “The 100”

  We have a short clip from CW’s midseason series THE 100, about a group of teens returning to a post-apocalyptic Earth. Our heroine, it seems, is Octavia, the rebellious standout in the (as usual for CW, very pretty...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED 2013 UPFRONTS: CW Promo – “Star-Crossed”

  The final bit of Upfronts material released by CW is a brief clip from its midseason series STAR-CROSSED, about an alien and a human in love. A group of nervous, ostracized teens (presumably the aliens) are bused into a ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY MOVIE REVIEW: “Star Trek: Into Darkness”

  STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS:  Worth A Ticket – Another Satisfying Trip On the Enterprise J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot cohorts, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, did a bang-up job rejuvenating the Star Trek fra...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Chicago Fire”

  NBC is all-in on CHICAGO FIRE.  Not only has it given the show a plum spot for the fall on Tuesdays with The Voice as its lead-in, it’s ordered a police-oriented spin-off for midseason.  All this enthusiasm is a ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Grey’s Anatomy”

  As hard as it is to create a compelling, successful television series, it’s much harder to keep one going year after year, after cast changes and writer changes and timeslot changes and network management changes a...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “The Vampire Diaries”

  I get it:  teen vampires, ick.  THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is never going to win a major Emmy–it’s never even going to win a Golden Globe.  But there isn’t a long-running show on television that hums along ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

UPDATED: THE SKED’S THURSDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 5/16/13

  Last night’s festival of season/series finales was also a riot of off-hour running times, and there will be more than the usual number of afternoon adjustments once final numbers are on.  The analysis below featur...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THURSDAY BOXOFFICE: “Star Trek” Doesn’t Go So Boldly

  The Hollywood Reporter has the Thursday boxoffice for STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS (Paramount) at $13.5M, which given the strong reviews and general hype would be a tad disappointing.  Comparisons with the 2009 Star Trek ar...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

MEMORIAL DAY FRIDAY BOXOFFICE: “Fast & Furious 6” Runs Over “The Hangover 3”

  It wasn’t even a contest, let alone a drag race. FAST & FURIOUS 6 (Universal) had a sensational $36M Thursday night/Friday, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline.  That’s better than the $34.4M op...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Elementary”

  ELEMENTARY is a very classy, enjoyable network procedural that has the misfortune of existing at the same time as the altogether more dazzling BBC/PBS Sherlock, which has the same premise:  Sherlock Holmes as a modern-d...
by Mitch Salem