Author Archive
 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “True Blood”

  This was, for the most part, a solid rebuilding season for TRUE BLOOD.  The show survived a replacement in showrunners when series creator Alan Ball stepped down after 5 years–and then a replacement of that replac...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Crossing Lines”

  The peril of dotting a season finale with cliffhangers is that if the show is canceled, they’ll never be resolved.  That may very well be the dilemma for fans of NBC’s summer drama CROSSING LINES, which clos...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “Low Winter Sun”

  LOW WINTER SUN:  Sunday 10PM on AMC Previously… on LOW WINTER SUN:  Detroit Detective Frank Agnew (Mark Strong), along with fellow Detective Joe Geddes (Lennie James), have murdered Geddes’s partner, a thir...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

BEHIND THE WEEKEND BOX OFFICE – 8/18/13

  OPENINGS:  If a movie like THE BUTLER (Weinstein) can make back most of its production cost in a single weekend (and The Help did the same 2 years ago), why aren’t there more movies like The Butler?  The answer i...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

EARLY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: “The Butler” Stays In Charge

  Preliminary figures at Deadline give THE BUTLER (Weinstein) a commanding victory over its competition.  Very impressively, on Saturday Butler reportedly increased its take by about 10% over Friday, putting it on target ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “The White Queen”

  THE WHITE QUEEN:  Saturday 9PM on Starz Previously… on THE WHITE QUEEN:  Lady Elizabeth Woodville (Rebecca Ferguson) was a widow with two children who captured the lust, and then the heart, of England’s Kin...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

BEHIND THE FRIDAY BOX OFFICE – 8/16/13

  OPENINGS:  Comparisons between THE BUTLER (Weinstein) and The Help 2 years ago are somewhat skewed by the fact that Help opened on a Wednesday, so it had already earned $9.9M before its $26M weekend.  Nevertheless, an...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “The Butler” Serves “Kick-Ass 2″” and The Rest

  If preliminary numbers at Deadline hold, what was supposed to be a fairly competitive box office weekend will instead be a romp for THE BUTLER (Weinstein).  It’s claiming a $9M Friday, which should give it at leas...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THURSDAY NIGHT BOX OFFICE: A Lot of Silence

  All four of this weekend’s wide releases began with Thursday night screenings last night, but only KICK-ASS 2 (Universal) reported the results.  Kick Ass 2 started with a $1.3M Thursday (screenings started at 8PM)...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S PRELIMINARY THURSDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 8/15/13

  Don’t get too comfortable with this morning’s numbers.  Per Mitch Metcalf:  “Because of local pre-emptions for NFL preseason games, each network except for FOX should decline in the official nationals...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY FILM REVIEW: “The Butler”

  THE BUTLER:  Worth A Ticket – Superb Acting Elevates A History Lesson THE BUTLER, in its form and earnestness, recalls the days of prestige TV movies and miniseries that used to be associated with the Hallmark Hal...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED: “Duck Dynasty” Season Premiere Takes Flight

  Amazingly, the phenomenon that is DUCK DYNASTY may still not have peaked.  Last night’s Season 4 premiere on A&E hit a new high, with 11.8M viewers (more than 2M more than April’s Season 3 finale), and a...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED’S WEDNESDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 8/14/13

  A troublesomely low night for NBC. NBC:  AMERICA’S GOT TALENT took a sizable 0.4 hit last night, down to a season low 2.1.  That wasn’t good for CAMP, which tied its 1.0 low.  As to Camp, although one might th...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Broadchurch”

  BROADCHURCH:  Wednesday 10PM on BBCAmerica Previously… on BROADCHURCH:  In the small Dorset town of Broadchurch, the body of 11-year old Danny Latimer has been found on the beach, just as the local police force h...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Franklin & Bash”

  FRANKLIN & BASH made a few cosmetic changes for its third summer on TNT, but nothing to disrupt the show’s basic air of genial dishevelment.  The most high-profile move was bringing in Heather Locklear as new ...
by Mitch Salem