Author Archive
 

 

THE SKED NIELSENWAR – WEEK 2

  We’ve had a second week of ratings to examine, and it’s time once again to ask:  How goes the war?  And what do we know now that we didn’t know a week ago? ANYTHING OVER 1.5 IS THE NEW 2.5.  NBC and ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED: More Bad “Neighbors” Scripts On the Way

  Typically when a network orders additional scripts for a series, it does so at the Writers Guild minimum, so it’s a very minimal investment compared to ordering additional episodes–thousands rather than milli...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED: FOX Joins the Backorder Brigade

  One trend of the early season seems to be networks willing to accept ratings from their newcomers that would have ensured cancellation just a few seasons ago.  Last week NBC gave a full-season order to The New Normal, w...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/7/12

On a night when a pulse-pounding hour of HOMELAND conclusively answered the question “Can this season be as good as the first?” (the answer is Yes), the broadcast networks continued their fall in more ways than one....
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Hell On Wheels”

  The 2nd season of HELL ON WHEELS was different, and perhaps somewhat better, than its first.  (Behind the scenes, experienced producer John Shiban was brought on to showrun with series creators Joe and Tony Gayton.)  I...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “666 Park Avenue”

A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have ha...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

BEHIND THE WEEKEND BOXOFFICE: 10/7/12

  This is why studios love franchises. OPENINGS:  TAKEN 2 (20th) almost doubled its closest competition (even though that $50M weekend estimate, like all round number estimates, may come down a bit when final numbers are ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY EARLY WEEKEND BOXOFFICE – 10/6/12

  The Saturday boxoffice news was better for some titles than others.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, TAKEN 2 (20th) held about even on Saturday, which is reasonable for an action-movie sequel.  Recent com...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED REVIEW: SNL with Daniel Craig

  The heart sank when 15 minutes into tonight’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE–the part of the show that’s still supposed to be funny–the first post-monologue sketch was a labored, silly bit that went nowhere ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

BEHIND THE FRIDAY BOXOFFICE: 10/5/12

  Liam Neeson, superstar. OPENINGS:  TAKEN 2 (20th) is on track for an opening in the high-$40Ms, which would make it the biggest weekend #1 since late July’s 2nd weekend of The Dark Knight Rises.  Since the movie ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED’S FRIDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/5/12

It’s getting to be time for the season’s first cancellation. CBS:  MADE IN JERSEY plummeted to 0.8, below even (gulp!) Fringe, and can’t be long for this world.  It probably didn’t have much effect on ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Frankenweenie”

  FRANKENWEENIE:  Watch It At Home – Tim Burton Tries To Bring His Old Creation Back to Life Tim Burton certainly can’t have planned it this way, but his new stop-motion feature version of FRANKENWEENIE serves...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY EARLY FRIDAY BOXOFFICE – 10/5/12

  TAKEN 2 (20th), as expected, is running away with the boxoffice this weekend.  Its opening day, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, is at $17.5M, not that much less than the $24.7M the original Taken made in ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Made In Jersey”

A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have ha...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Taken 2”

  TAKEN 2:  Watch It At Home – “Particular Set of Skills” Indeed   As silly sequels to mindless hits go, TAKEN 2 is fairly entertaining, at least for a while.  The first movie, of course, was a sur...
by Mitch Salem