Author Archive
 

 

THE SKED REVIEW: “Saturday Night Live” with Kerry Washington

  For Jay Pharoah and Kenan Thompson–but especially Pharoah–this week must have felt like alternate-universe SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, because with Kerry Washington as host, suddenly he was the show’s featured...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

BEHIND THE FRIDAY BOX OFFICE – 11/1/13

  OPENINGS:  Stop me if you’ve heard this before:  an expensive action-adventure will need to overperform internationally in order to get past its red ink.  With Thor 2 opening in just a week, ENDER’S GAME (...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Network Scorecard – 11/1/13

  Not so fast, NBC. NBC:  Fridays are looking a lot less rosy than last week had suggested.  After 0.7 for the I HEART VAMPIRES special the network rushed onto the air, GRIMM had 1.5 for its 2d episode of the season, dow...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Ender’s Game”

  ENDER’S GAME:  Watch It At Home – Breaks The Rules, But Doesn’t Win the Game You don’t often see a $110M (plus marketing) YA adventure, intended to kick off a new movie franchise, as resolutely o...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED: No Happy Ending For “The Client List”

  Lifetime’s cancellation of THE CLIENT LIST after two seasons is unusual enough to be worthy of some note. Here’s the thing:  Client List was still, despite some ratings dip in Season 2, a clear success for L...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED: ABC Culls the Herd

  It was high time for ABC to make decisions about its new sitcoms, and now it has.  Both THE GOLDBERGS and TROPHY WIFE have received full 9-episode back orders, and SUPER FUN NIGHT a more half-hearted order of 4 addition...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/31/13

  It’s never good news for the networks when the calendar brings typically low-rated Halloween–lots of parents and others with other plans–into November sweeps. ABC:  By 8PM most kiddies were back from t...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Network Scorecard – 10/30/13

  The other networks are glad to see the last of the World Series. FOX:  Per Mitch Metcalf:  with a 5.4 preliminary number, WORLD SERIES GAME 6 might end up around a 6.0 adult 18-49 rating in the official nationals, ju...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

OSCARLAND: Xmas at Marty’s

  The big news this week in Oscarland was the confirmation that Martin Scorsese’s WOLF OF WALL STREET (Paramount), starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill and many more, which wasn’t finish...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/29/13

  An atypical night yielded some unusual results. NBC:  Adding a second hour of THE VOICE inevitably boosted the night for NBC, which took Tuesday by half a rating point, a wider margin than last week.  But that Voice episod...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Sunday Cable Scorecard – 10/27/13

  AMC:  In the single least-surprising development of the season (perhaps the century), THE WALKING DEAD has just been renewed for a 5th season.  Slightly more surprisingly, it appears as though Scott M. Gimple, with sur...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/28/13

  The World Series had surprisingly little meaningful effect on the other networks. FOX:  WORLD SERIES GAME 5 had a preliminary 3.8, which probably won’t go much beyond a 4 in final numbers.  There hasn’t been a ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

NIELSENWAR: Last Stop Before Sweeps

  As we approach the start of November sweeps on Halloween night, most of the networks are locking in their back order/cancellation plans, with one conspicuous exception. First, some big-picture numbers: Network Weekly Ave...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/27/13

  For viewers not watching sports or zombies last night–however few of them there were–TV offered a gangbusters episode of The Good Wife and a superb hour from Masters of Sex (although the less said about Homeland,...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

BEHIND THE WEEKEND BOX OFFICE – 10/27/13

  OPENINGS:  BAD GRANDPA (Paramount) romped to 1st place at the multiplexes this weekend with $32M, but perhaps more notably, it also made $8.4M in just 16 overseas territories.  That’s the same level as Jackass 3D...
by Mitch Salem