Author Archive
 

 

THE SKED MIDSEASON PILOT REPORT: FOX’s “Us & Them”

  Read All Our Fall Pilot Reports here and Midseason Pilot Reports here. US & THEM:  Midseason TBD on FOX – Potential DVR Alert   FOX’S midseason rom-com US & THEM features two of TV’s most...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Motive”

  Even among procedurals, ABC’s Canadian summer series MOTIVE was a bare-bones example of the genre–it was virtually abstract.  The show had a single gimmick:  at the start of each episode, the killer and vic...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED’S THURSDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 8/29/13

  Last night was the final Thursday of exhibition football, so the last time we have to note that the night’s preliminary TV ratings are significantly inflated by local preemptions for NFL games.  CBS: at least 10 major...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THURSDAY NIGHT BOX OFFICE: The Boy Band Weekend Begins

  The young, fanatically committed audience for ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (Sony) is the very definition of probable frontloading, so it’s no surprise that the concert doc debuted with a strong $2.7M last night at 7PM...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

BEHIND THE FRIDAY BOX OFFICE – 8/30/13

  OPENINGS:  The $8.9M start for ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (TriStar/Sony), which includes $2.7M from Thursday night, was behind only the Justin Bieber concert movie ($12.4M) among recent debuts in its genre, surpassing ef...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

BEHIND THE WEEKEND BOX OFFICE – 9/1/13

  Even though Labor Day Weekend is historically slow at the multiplex, the Monday holiday still boosted the Sunday takings for most titles. OPENINGS:  Frontloading 101:  on Thursday night/Friday, ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS U...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED’S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 9/1/13

  It was a slooooooooow Sunday on network TV. CBS:  BIG BROTHER claimed the highest number of the night on any network, but its 1.8 was down a discouraging 0.7 from last week.  UNFORGETTABLE hit a new low 1.0, down 0.1. ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

UPDATE: Behind The Holiday Weekend Box Office – 9/2/13

  OPENINGS:  ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (TriStar/Sony) continued its frontloaded box office swoon, with a 28% Sunday drop and probably another 25% today (the Monday number will likely be 75% below what the movie earned on ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED’S MONDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 9/2/13

  For the most part, Labor Day brought the networks some modest increases. ABC:  MISTRESSES may be gaining some momentum at the right time, as its 2d try at 9PM (and penultimate episode of the summer) increased a healthy ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S TUESDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 9/3/13

  An extremely stable night. NBC:  AMERICA’S GOT TALENT won the night for NBC with a 2.3, up 0.1 from last week. ABC:  The season finale of EXTREME WEIGHT LOSS tied the 1.2 both of last week and last year’s f...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: “12 Years A Slave”

  Steve McQueen (the filmmaker) doesn’t take it easy on audiences.  His first feature Hunger provided an excruciatingly detailed look at the fatal hunger strike of the Irish convict Bobby Sands, and he followed it w...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: “Prisoners”

  The prevailing atmosphere in Denis Villenueve’s PRISONERS will be familiar to anyone who’s been watching cable TV drama for the past few years.  Gloom, grief, hopelessness, helpless rage–it’s h...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: “Hateship Loveship”

  Earnest and low-key to a fault, Liza Johnson’s HATESHIP LOVESHIP might have felt more at home in the Narrative Competition at Sundance than in Toronto.  It has a dramatic recessiveness, almost a passivity, for m...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: “The Past”

  Like his Oscar-winning A Separation, Asghar Farhadi’s THE PAST is concerned with the abyss of uncertainty and mystery that lies under seemingly straightforward actions, the ever-increasing complications that bec...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: “Labor Day”

  LABOR DAY is a beautifully performed, well crafted Harlequin romance.  As such, it’s a shock coming from writer/director Jason Reitman (based on Joyce Maynard’s novel), one that goes in a completely differen...
by Mitch Salem