Author Archive
 

 

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “House of Lies”

> Previously… On HOUSE OF LIES:  Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle) and his “pod” of associate management consultants (Kristen Bell, Ben Schwartz, Josh Lawson) travel the country, putting out fires for their high-p...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE REVIEW: “Lay the Favorite”

> The fundamental problem with LAY THE FAVORITE, Stephen Frears’ new film that premiered last night at Sundance, is that it’s made by people who seem to have little if any interest in gambling. And since this is a m...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED: “Da Vinci” Keeps Painting

  Starz has been exceptionally tolerant of ratings that other networks might find discouraging, and without even waiting to see how DA VINCI’S DEMONS will perform without a Spartacus lead-in, the network has already ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

UPDATED: THE SKED CABLE/NETWORK TUESDAY SCORECARD – 6/24/14

  NETWORK UPDATE:  No changes at all. TUESDAY CABLE:  Despite weeks of hype, TYRANT didn’t have much of a launch for FX with 0.6 (subsequent re-airings added 0.3 and 0.15)–and given its quality issues and lack of...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

HOLIDAY BOXOFFICE: Early Thursday Numbers – 12/22/11

> Deadline has preliminary figures for Thursday’s boxoffice, and they appear to be fairly steady with Wednesday, consistent with last year’s pattern but below 2010’s totals.  MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – G...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Krampus” Comes To Town On Slow Post-Holiday Weekend

  We’re in the 2-week void between Thanksgiving and the Awakening of the Force, and the low-budget KRAMPUS (Legendary/Universal) is the weekend’s only major studio arrival.  According to preliminary numbers at...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED NETWORK RATINGS SCORECARD – 9/26/13

  Another NBC vs CBS showdown–but this one goes the other way. CBS:  Two-thirds of a remarkable night.  The back-to-back episodes of THE BIG BANG THEORY that served as its Season 7 premiere were spectacular at 5.3/5.8,...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED: Super Bowl Ads

  Hollywood didn’t have a particularly strong presence in this year’s Super Bowl (won, for those living in a very well insulated cave, by Baltimore, which held off San Francisco 34-31), despite the fact that th...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Season Premiere Review: “Game of Thrones”

  GAME OF THRONES:  Sunday 9PM on HBO GAME OF THRONES is such an assured, expert piece of work that it’s easy to forget how many rules of conventional TV storytelling it routinely violates.  It’s not just the...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: No Vacancy At “Hotel Transylvania 2,” Solid “Intern”

  HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 (Columbia/Sony) is giving its beleaguered studio some good news, with a strong $12.8M opening day according to preliminary numbers at Deadline.  That’s better than the $11M start for the first...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

OSCARLAND: Why and Why Not? – Best Picture

  We’ve taken a tour through Best Actress and Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, and Best Director, and that leaves one last major gold statue to be handed out.  As we have all along, we ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 3.4.2018

  OPENINGS:  Both of the weekend’s R-rated arrivals had fair Saturday bumps, reflecting their older audiences.  However, that’s also the demo for Oscar viewing, so we’ll see if their Sunday estimates ar...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE REVIEW: “The First Time”

  THE FIRST TIME may be too lovable for its own good.  Jonathan Kasdan’s teen romance, which premiered in the Dramatic Competition at Sundance, couldn’t be more straightforward:  in its opening minutes, it in...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

BEHIND THE FRIDAY BOX OFFICE – 10/18/13

  OPENINGS:  When Paramount pushed the next Paranormal Activity to 2014, it seemed to give CARRIE (Screen Gems/Sony/MGM) an open field to own the Halloween movie season.  But audiences weren’t interested, and Carri...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

UPDATED: THE SKED CABLE/NETWORK TUESDAY SCORECARD – 7/1/14

  NETWORK UPDATE:  The only shifts came at 10PM, where THE NIGHT SHIFT lost 0.1 and CELEBRITY WIFE SWAP gained the same amount.  That made the margin between them a bit closer, but an 0.4 win for NIGHT SHIFT is plenty good e...
by Mitch Salem