Author Archive
 

 

THE SKED NETWORK SCORECARD – 1/3/14

  NBC:  GRIMM gained 0.2 from its last extremely low airing to reach 1.4, but the number isn’t as good as it looks, since it’s down 0.2 from its 1.6 in the previous week.  DRACULA fell 0.2 from its last airin...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

Behind the Friday Box Office – 1/3/13

  OPENINGS:  PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE MARKED ONES (Paramount) was an experiment in several ways–the first installment of the franchise to be a spin-off and not a direct sequel, the first released out of the Hallowee...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

OSCARLAND: The National Society of Film Critics Dances To Its Own Beat

  The National Society of Film Critics is the only major group that withholds its honors until after year-end, and for the most part its choices today were as idiosyncratic as its scheduling.  With the exception of Best A...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

BEHIND THE WEEKEND BOX OFFICE – 1/5/13

  OPENINGS:  PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE MARKED ONES (Paramount), with its $18.2M weekend, made less at 2867 theatres than the first Paranormal made at 760, a little more than 4 years ago.  It was also well below the $29M w...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Season Premiere Review: “Downton Abbey”

  DOWNTON ABBEY:  Sunday 9PM on PBS In its fourth season as the most successful regular series in PBS history, DOWNTON ABBEY operates as smoothly as a well-staffed ancestral estate.  Even though the larger subject of the...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED NETWORK SCORECARD – 1/5/14

  The night was dominated by football and its aftereffects, but there were some other (dimmer) bright spots.  Note:  we don’t yet have a rating for the PBS season debut of Downton Abbey. FOX:  Our projection is th...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED: There Will Always Be An England (On US TV) – “Downton” Hits New High

  Millions of Americans desperately worried about the plight of widowed Lady Mary knew where to go for their fix of British aristocracy last night, as DOWNTON ABBEY reached yet another new historic high for PBS.  The Seas...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

UPDATED: THE SKED CABLE/NETWORK SCORECARD – 1/6/14

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  Changes from morning numbers were minor.  CASTLE slipped 0.1 to 1.7, an even lower season low, ALMOST HUMAN edged up 0.1 to 1.8, 2 of the BLACKLIST reruns moved up 0.1 to 1.0, and BEAUTY & THE BEAST ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Pilot Review: “Intelligence”

  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...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

OSCARLAND: Directors Guild Nominations Boost Scorsese and “Wolf”

  With a little over 24 hours before polls close for Oscar nomination voting (ballots must be submitted by 5PM tomorrow LA time), the big winners from today’s announcement of the Directors Guild nominees were Martin ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Pilot Review: “Killer Women”

  KILLER WOMEN:  Tuesday 10PM on ABC – Worth A Look KILLER WOMEN can’t keep up the pace of its Kill Bill-inflected opening, but it’s a fun ride nonetheless.  The premise, adapted from an Argentine forma...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Season Premiere Review: “Cougar Town”

  COUGAR TOWN:  Tuesday 10PM on TBS To quote the eternal wisdom of the COUGAR TOWN opening title card, “Season Five?  Didn’t see that coming.”  The survival of Cougar Town isn’t quite as remarkab...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Season Premiere Review: “Justified”

  JUSTIFIED:  Tuesday 10PM on FX JUSTIFIED is pure dark pleasure to watch.  Other cable series are more thematically or structurally ambitious (which is why Justified is unfairly ignored at awards time), but Graham Yost...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

UPDATED: THE SKED CABLE/NETWORK SCORECARD – 1/7/14

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  Nothing moved more than 0.1 from the morning numbers, with AGENTS OF SHIELD, NCIS and CHICAGO FIRE climbing that amount (the latter, still down for the week, moved into a tie with PERSON OF INTEREST a...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

OSCARLAND: Last Chance To Influence Oscar Voters

  The polls close for Oscar nomination votes at 5PM today LA time, amid anecdotal reports of many last-minute ballots being cast in a season crowded with contenders.  There is much last-minute maneuvering going on, from t...
by Mitch Salem