Author Archive
 

 

EARLY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: “Bad Grandpa” Holds Well For Easy Win

  Considering its genre and target audience, BAD GRANDPA (Paramount) did very well in its second day, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, slipping just 4% to $12M.  By comparison, the three Jackass movies went d...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED REVIEW: “Saturday Night Live” with Edward Norton

  Edward Norton, a very fine actor who’s shown occasional comic chops, is the oddest choice to host SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE in recent memory.  It’s been a long, long time since he was anywhere near the forefront o...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

BEHIND THE FRIDAY BOX OFFICE – 10/24/13

  OPENINGS:  BAD GRANDPA (Paramount) cost only $15M to produce, and although that’s somewhat misleading (when worldwide marketing is added, the total cost becomes more like $75M+), it’s still headed for easy s...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/24/13

  NBC:  The regular Friday line-up got off to a solid start.  GRIMM, at 1.8, was just about where the show had been last spring (and up 0.2 from last season’s finale).  The better news was that DRACULA looks to be...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Season Premiere Review: “The Carrie Diaries”

  THE CARRIE DIARIES:  Friday 8PM on CW When THE CARRIE DIARIES was almost unaccountably renewed by CW despite its awful ratings, even by that network’s standards (supposedly because of online and DVR strength as we...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Bad Grandpa” Does Good

  Amid its very public internal tumult today, Deadline managed to post some preliminary box office numbers, and if they hold up, BAD GRANDPA (Paramount) will take over first place for the weekend.  Its reported $11.5M Fri...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “Dracula”

  DRACULA:  Friday 10PM on NBC – If Nothing Else Is On… A century of vampire movies and TV shows has taught us that undead is by no means the same as lifeless, but NBC’s new excavation of DRACULA doesn&#...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Season Premiere Review: “Grimm”

  GRIMM:  Friday 9PM on NBC Although it’s technically in the action genre, action hasn’t turned out to be what GRIMM does best, which made tonight’s rat-a-tat Season 3 premiere feel somewhat off-brand. ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED: FOX Midseason Schedule – “Idol” Gets Shorter and More

  FOX announced most of its midseason decisions today, and there were a few surprises.  Biggest was the reduction of AMERICAN IDOL‘s Thursday night results show to 30 minutes, with the new sitcom SURVIVING JACK at 8...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED: Ratings That Mean Something… and Ratings That Don’t

  Every Sunday now, the networks issue press releases to celebrate the giant gains made by shows during the full week following their initial airing, ratings known as “L7.”  Armed with numbers from a couple of...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

UPDATED: THE SKED NETWORK/CABLE SCORECARD – 10/24/13

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  WORLD SERIES GAME 2 ended up at an adjusted 3.6, just where we expected and slightly above last year’s Game 2.  There weren’t a lot of additional adjustments, but a couple of them were si...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “Reign”

  REIGN:  Thursday 9PM on CW Previously… on REIGN:  Before there were vampire teens or telekinetic teens or alien or witch or werewolf teens, there were royal teens.  In 1557, 15-year old Mary Queen of Scots (Adel...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY FILM REVIEW: “The Counselor”

  THE COUNSELOR:  Not Even For Free – A Deluxe Pedigree, But Only Cut-Rate Nihilism The first “uh-oh” moment in THE COUNSELOR comes early, perhaps 10 minutes in.  We’ve barely been introduced to R...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY FILM REVIEW: “Blue Is the Warmest Color”

  BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR:  Buy A Ticket – A 3-Hour Deep Dive Into A Character’s Soul BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR is relentlessly, sometimes suffocatingly intimate.  By that I don’t mean its celebrated,...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

UPDATED: THE SKED NETWORK/CABLE SCORECARD – 10/23/13

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  WORLD SERIES GAME 1 ended up adjusted to 4.2, a bit below where we anticipated but still 0.6 above last year’s Game 1.  Nothing else moved more than 0.1 from the morning numbers, but it’s...
by Mitch Salem