Author Archive
 

 

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: “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
 

 

 

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
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Nikita”

  With its endless governmental and quasi-governmental conspiracies and its sci-fi technology, NIKITA has always flirted with sheer silliness, and in its Season 3 finale the show went all the way.  Its ratings have also f...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED’S FRIDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 5/17/13

  Only one show last night topped a 1.5 rating. ABC:  An 8PM SHARK TANK only managed a 1.2, but the 9PM season finale zoomed up to a 1.9, easily the highest-rated show of the night (but down a tick from last week).  2d h...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

BEHIND THE FRIDAY BOXOFFICE – 5/17/13

  OPENINGS:  STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS (Paramount) is the first underperformer of the summer, and there will be plenty of harrumphing and speculation about why that is.  With Sunday likely to be much weaker than last week...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: SNL with Ben Affleck

  In contrast to last week’s Kristin Wiig-fest, tonight’s season finale of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE didn’t give victory laps to all the franchise characters Bill Hader and Fred Armisen have contributed to the ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

BEHIND THE WEEKEND BOXOFFICE – 5/19/13

  OPENINGS:  In order for STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS (Paramount) to hit its $70.6M weekend studio estimate (and $84.1M over 4+ days), it will need to have the best Sunday hold in the top 10 by a substantial margin.  Paramo...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Mr. Selfridge”

  Think of MR. SELFRIDGE as the methadone to Downton Abbey‘s pure heroin.  It’s not remotely the real thing, but it serves to feed the craving through these many months until Downton returns in January 2014. ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 5/19/13

Live awards shows have been surging in the DVR age, and last night it happened again. ABC:  The BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS blew away the competition with a 3.6 (peaking at 3.9 in the 9-9:30PM half-hour), the show’s highest r...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED’s Fall TV Ratings Predictions – Monday

  The Upfronts are over, which means the real Upfronts are about to begin–that is, the networks’ advance sale of advertising time (usually about 80% of the season’s total) for the Fall 2013 TV season.  A...
by Mitch Salem