Author Archive
 

 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “The Meg” Chews On Expectations, “Slender Man” Low, “BlacKkKlansman” OK

  THE MEG (Gravity/Warners) appears to be having the opposite box office experience from what we’ve come to associate with US/China action movies.  In the US, it’s overperforming, perhaps helped by a calendar ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

EARLY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: “Guardians” Stays Huge

  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (Marvel/Disney) held strongly on Saturday despite its massive opening day.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline and elsewhere, the outer space superhero romp dropped about 15% from Frida...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Homeland”

  What kind of show, in the end, is HOMELAND?  Focus groups are often asked simply to describe whatever it is they’ve just seen, and Homeland has tried to be a romance, a thriller, an action adventure, a story about...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 5/19/13

Live awards shows have been surging in the DVR age, and last night it happened again. ABC:  The BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS blew away the competition with a 3.6 (peaking at 3.9 in the 9-9:30PM half-hour), the show’s highest r...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

UPDATED: THE SKED CABLE/NETWORK SCORECARD – 5/6/14

  NETWORK UPDATE:  AGENTS OF SHIELD narrowly averted this morning’s series low with an 0.1 adjustment upward, but while THE VOICE was also up 0.1, that just put it at a slightly higher series low.  The rest of the morn...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

EARLY SUNDAY CABLE RATINGS: “Mad Men” Up, “Devious Maids” Soft, Wallenda Wins

  Cable ratings will be fragmentary until tomorrow, but here are some numbers worth noting: MAD MEN‘s Season 6 finale was, despite some viewers’ misgivings about this season, the show’s highest-rated fina...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/2/13

  Another false positive? ABC:  SUPER FUN NIGHT started strong last night, holding onto 75% of its MODERN FAMILY lead-in for a 3.2 rating.  However, that’s the same number The Neighbors did in its debut last year–...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

Sundance Film Festival Reviews 2025: “Train Dreams” & “Lurker”

  TRAIN DREAMS (Netflix – TBD):  Train Dreams was one of only two films acquired for wide distribution during Sundance, and while Netflix clearly regards it as an awards contender, barring overwhelming critical supp...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED REVIEW: SNL with Kevin Hart

  Comic crumbs were hard to come by on tonight’s mostly dreadful SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.  It’s a particular disappointment because after two episodes struggling with non-comedy hosts Adam Levine and Justin Bieber...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “The Big C”

The problem with making a show about someone dying of cancer is that no one really wants to watch a show about someone dying of cancer.  Viewers will roll along with the dark and disturbing, but by and large they draw the line...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

UPDATED: THE SKED CABLE/NETWORK WEDNESDAY SCORECARD – 7/23/14

  NETWORK UPDATE:  NBC’s numbers were slightly shuffled in final numbers, with AMERICA’S GOT TALENT gaining 0.1 at the expense of TAXI BROOKLYN.  The MODERN FAMILY rerun gained 0.1, but the ARROW rerun lost t...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

FRIDAY BOXOFFICE: STUDIO SCORECARD – 1/6/12

> Everyone wanted to go to the movies on the first full weekend of 2012. PARAMOUNT:  The studio went straight to its Paranormal Activity playbook to launch THE DEVIL INSIDE (pre-release screenings, months of buzz), and it ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

NIELSENWAR 2014-15: SHOWBUZZDAILY’s Fearless Fall Ratings Predictions – Friday

  Fridays aren’t the most exciting night on the broadcast network schedule, but there are some interesting changes coming next fall.  We’re following our predictions for Monday,  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thurs...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE BIJOU WEEKEND BOXOFFICE FOOTNOTES – 11/13/11

> IMMORTALS is claiming the same drop for Sunday as it had on Saturday, so that total may come down in actuals.  Even so, as long as the final amount is over $30M (which it certainly should be), that’s a win for Rela...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “Parks & Recreation”

  After 6 seasons, PARKS & RECREATION is still the most reliably lovable show on network television–maybe on all of TV.  No other series wears its heart on its sleeve as genuinely as Parks, and no ensemble provi...
by Mitch Salem