2012-13 TV Schedule

[stevew]

The Following-
Not sure about the Edgar Allan Poe stuff. Seems like it could get silly. I hate kids in peril stuff. I'll watch but it could go south pretty fast.

New Girl-if you don't like this show, I hope you get pogo'd

Mindy Project-I'm cautiously optimistic they are revamping this into a good show. Duplass brothers and Brian Williams' kid are a good angle.

[PackerFanatic]

New Girl-if you don't like this show, I hope you get pogo'd

This +1000000

[mckerney]

Love New Girl.

[Radii]

Mindy Project-I'm cautiously optimistic they are revamping this into a good show. Duplass brothers and Brian Williams' kid are a good angle.


This is one of a few shows that I have on my DVR but haven't started watching yet. It sounds like its worth catching up on? For reference, I really like New Girl, and watched 3 episodes of Ben and Kate and deleted the rest without hesitation.

[stevew]

It's still a work in progress unless you're really into Mindy Kaling

[Eaglesfan27]

This +1000000

Love New Girl.

Funniest show on TV week after week.

[PackerFanatic]

I think Mindy Kaling is doing an amazing job with that show. Maybe my bias of Kaling is clouding my judgment, but I think it's pretty good - hopefully others feel the same to keep it around!

[EagleFan]

I agree with this... I loved the pedigree of the show, and I thought the pilot was great, but that idea should have been a miniseries, which the networks really won't do. Maybe you could have started from a different angle and ended up with that plot as part of series, but as a standalone storyline that was always a one-season arc at best imo. Even by episode 5 or 6 they were basically dragging their feet and delving into ancillary storylines. Haven't caught the last few yet, but hopefully they had the right amount of warning on their impending cancellation and were able to tie everything up nicely.

Have you been watching/catching up?

[M GO BLUE!!!]

The finale of Last Resort was meh.

It would be mildly interesting to read the original script to see how they prolonged the plots & added more fluff plotlines, but overall the show was an interesting concept with an outstanding lead actor & a few well cast characters. I'd love to see what BBC would have done with it.

[Radii]

The finale of Last Resort was meh.

It would be mildly interesting to read the original script to see how they prolonged the plots & added more fluff plotlines, but overall the show was an interesting concept with an outstanding lead actor & a few well cast characters. I'd love to see what BBC would have done with it.

Last Resort co-creator Shawn Ryan on the series finale, Beverly Hills Cop and more (http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/last-resort-co-creator-shawn-ryan-on-the-series-finale-beverly-hills-cop-and-more)

It was just so rushed, it didn't have a chance. I still liked the season overall and wish it had done a bit better and gotten at least a full season instead of the shortened one that we saw.

[kcchief19]

Last Resort co-creator Shawn Ryan on the series finale, Beverly Hills Cop and more (http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/last-resort-co-creator-shawn-ryan-on-the-series-finale-beverly-hills-cop-and-more)

It was just so rushed, it didn't have a chance. I still liked the season overall and wish it had done a bit better and gotten at least a full season instead of the shortened one that we saw.
I know this should be saved for the 2014-14 TV Schedule thread, but I fear the Beverly Hills Cop TV show may be the biggest unmitigated disaster since the Chevy Chase Show.

The movie worked because Eddie Murphy was at this peak, John Ashton and Judge Reinhold had fantastic chemistry and the soundtrack was awesome. If that had been the originally planned Sylvester Stallone movie, it wouldn't have worked. It was a stroke of luck that Eddie Murphy was plugged into a dramatic role at the last minute and added the funny.

If Murphy and the original group couldn't recreate the magic for the sequels, I doubt Shawn Ryan can do it.

[kcchief19]

The finale of Last Resort was meh.

It would be mildly interesting to read the original script to see how they prolonged the plots & added more fluff plotlines, but overall the show was an interesting concept with an outstanding lead actor & a few well cast characters. I'd love to see what BBC would have done with it.
It's a double-edged sword. It's easier to make a great limited-run series when you know you have an ending. It's impossible when you don't know.

For all it's flaws, the traditional season format of TV shows has the best payoff when it works. If a show's great, you want it to keep going and grow organically. When you have an intended 8- or 13-episode series you know is ending, it seems hard to come back and do season two well.

[BishopMVP]

Have you been watching/catching up?Not yet. Hope to knock it out in the next few days.

[stevew]

They better not have killed the group dynamic on New Girl last night.

[Radii]

DVR'ing The Americans tonight on FX. I haven't read anything about it yet, just seeing commercials for it while watching Justified has me curious enough to check it out.

[stevew]

Good to see BJ Novak on Mindy last night. Last night was the first new episode after they purged some of the cast that wasn't working.

[Critch]

I've watched the first two episodes of The Following and enjoyed it so far, two good episodes. A little doubtful they can keep up the pace for a full season, but I guess I'll have to wait to find out.

Next up for me is The Americans, dvr set and waiting.

[stevew]

The following is only going to be a 15 week serialized show each season. I'm excited for the potential of this going forward.

[Draft Dodger]

DVR'ing The Americans tonight on FX. I haven't read anything about it yet, just seeing commercials for it while watching Justified has me curious enough to check it out.

ditto.

[Radii]

They better not have killed the group dynamic on New Girl last night.

It seems like they've been heading towards that for a long time, the show has been damn good consistently since halfway through the first season, so I'm pretty hopeful that they know what they're doing here.

[stevew]

I'm in on the Americans, totally great pilot. I hope that there isn't some backlash because our "heroes" are KGB killers.

[Critch]

I'm in on the Americans, totally great pilot. I hope that there isn't some backlash because our "heroes" are KGB killers.

I'm with you, thought it was very good. Also liked that they didnt go for the "these guys are evil!" theme, so far the main characters have been fairly human.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I ended up watching "The Americans" as well last night. I thought it was decent. I will give it a shot.

[mckerney]

Does this thread work for internet TV and is anyone going to be watching House of Cards?

[stevew]

I'm gonna check it out for sure.

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm gonna check it out for sure.

Yeah, me too for sure.

[stevew]

Now that others have seen the Americans, I really felt like the garage scene at the end was really bad writing. I'm hoping that was more of a factor of it being a pilot type scene vs the rest of the show. Keri Russell will hopefully knock her role out of the park.

[kcchief19]

Does this thread work for internet TV and is anyone going to be watching House of Cards?
I was about to ask the same thing. I'm planning to check it out; early reviews are positive and I'm a longtime Kevin Spacey fan. I probably won't start watching this week but it will be interesting to see if this causes a strain on their servers.

Interesting to see if this works. Netflix paid more than $4 million an episode for 26 episodes. The first 13-episode season debuts all at once tomorrow, the second season is set for 2014. Seems like an expensive risk.

But if this and new Arrested Development episodes coming later this year work, it could be a big paradigm shift in viewing. What would be next? Cable providers buying shows exclusively for their viewers, akin to the Friday Night Lights deal?

[stevew]

I think that we could see a ton of movies get the short season adaptation.
Movie shows off the top of my head that would work.
-Road House
-Days of Thunder
-Cruel Intentions(irony)
-Good Will Hunting
And about 50000 other properties.

[DanGarion]

Really enjoyed The Americans!

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Person of Interest is pretty much the only show on that I am actually disappointed when a rerun is on. The show is just awesome.

The ending last night... just awesome.

[cougarfreak]

I was about to ask the same thing. I'm planning to check it out; early reviews are positive and I'm a longtime Kevin Spacey fan. I probably won't start watching this week but it will be interesting to see if this causes a strain on their servers.

Interesting to see if this works. Netflix paid more than $4 million an episode for 26 episodes. The first 13-episode season debuts all at once tomorrow, the second season is set for 2014. Seems like an expensive risk.

But if this and new Arrested Development episodes coming later this year work, it could be a big paradigm shift in viewing. What would be next? Cable providers buying shows exclusively for their viewers, akin to the Friday Night Lights deal?

Wait, so all 13 episodes are available today?

[ISiddiqui]

Should be.

[PackerFanatic]

Yup - all are available now, just like AD will be doing in May. I look forward to checking this out.

[BishopMVP]

The Americans got some great numbers for a cable premiere. Between that and being on FX, it's now one you can jump in to without fear of it being prematurely canceled.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ouch. A 0.9 A18-49 premiere for NBC's Do No Harm. The link notes that The Paul Reiser Show was cancelled after two episodes when pulling a 1.1 in spring 2011.

Could we see a one-and-done?

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/02/01/do-no-harm-premiere-flops-how-many-more-weeks-will-it-last-poll/167605/

[stevew]

Person of Interest is pretty much the only show on that I am actually disappointed when a rerun is on. The show is just awesome.

The ending last night... just awesome.

So we are to believe that finch originally set up john and the girl in order to eliminate the computer bug that could destroy the machine?

[ISiddiqui]

Ouch. A 0.9 A18-49 premiere for NBC's Do No Harm. The link notes that The Paul Reiser Show was cancelled after two episodes when pulling a 1.1 in spring 2011.

Could we see a one-and-done?

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/02/01/do-no-harm-premiere-flops-how-many-more-weeks-will-it-last-poll/167605/

Well, even thought they advertised the heck out of it, it looked really, really stupid.

[cougarfreak]

Watched the 2nd episode of the following today, I thought it was quite good. Also watched "The Americans" last night on the DVR, I will be following that for sure as well. House of Cards looks like it's right up my alley as well.

[PackerFanatic]

I have Do No Harm on my DVR - maybe I will wait to check it out to see if it lasts another week... ;)

[stevew]

Ouch. A 0.9 A18-49 premiere for NBC's Do No Harm. The link notes that The Paul Reiser Show was cancelled after two episodes when pulling a 1.1 in spring 2011.

Could we see a one-and-done?

‘Do No Harm’ Premiere Flops, How Many More Weeks Will It Last? (Poll) - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/02/01/do-no-harm-premiere-flops-how-many-more-weeks-will-it-last-poll/167605/)

I dvr'd but will hold off now. Meanwhile Bette White somehow pulls in close to a 2 on occasion.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I dvr'd but will hold off now. Meanwhile Bette White somehow pulls in close to a 2 on occasion.

You made me curious, so I looked. That 0.9 in the demo was worse than
Suits on USA, Archer on FX, and Buckwild on MTV. And only .1 better than King of the Nerds on TBS and Beyond Scared Straight on A&E. *just among shows in the same timeslot

On total viewers (3.12m) it would have been 3rd on cable last night, behind Suits and the 8p NCIS rerun on USA.

[mckerney]

I thought the split personality thing was already attempted with My Own Worst Enemy and failed miserably. Did they really think changing the lead from a spy to a doctor would make it work?

[samifan24]

I thought the split personality thing was already attempted with My Own Worst Enemy and failed miserably. Did they really think changing the lead from a spy to a doctor would make it work?

This is NBC we're talking about...they think anything will work.

[RainMaker]

Am I the only one who likes Suits? For a USA show, it doesn't come across as a USA show.

[JonInMiddleGA]

For a USA show, it doesn't come across as a USA show.

I'm not so sure that's a good thing (at least not for my viewing tastes).

[kcchief19]

Ouch. A 0.9 A18-49 premiere for NBC's Do No Harm. The link notes that The Paul Reiser Show was cancelled after two episodes when pulling a 1.1 in spring 2011.

Could we see a one-and-done?

‘Do No Harm’ Premiere Flops, How Many More Weeks Will It Last? (Poll) - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/02/01/do-no-harm-premiere-flops-how-many-more-weeks-will-it-last-poll/167605/)
And that's saying something ... I think the pilot for The Paul Reiser Show is without a doubt the worst television I've ever seen. I believe it followed an episode of Scrubs, and I was too lazy to grab the remote and caught the first few minutes. It was so unfunny I decided to watch it and see how long before it made me laugh. I got about 15 minutes in before I realized it wasn't going to happen.

The latest I read is that Do No Harm is the lowest rated scripted non-summer series debut in broadcast network history. The one-and-done is pretty rare ... how many times has it happened? I think it will get a second airing but I don't expect a recovery. As was discussed at the very beginning of the thread, NBC has a stockpile of replacement shows sitting around. Unfortunately they have so many bombs they may be running out.

[JonInMiddleGA]

A The one-and-done is pretty rare ... how many times has it happened?

Here's a list (http://movieline.com/2009/09/29/some-of-the-fastest-cancellations-in-television-history/2/) (partial I imagine) of some of the fastest cancellations in TV history, compiled in 2009.

Excluding the ones that never actually aired at all & the ones that may not have been intended to be full series in the first place, there's the infamous Turn-On from 1969, Emily's Reasons Why Not from 2006 (after a premiere that drew nearly double the total viewers of this current turkey), and Dot Comedy from 2002, basically an unfunny YouTube highlight reel.

Oddly enough, all three shows were on ABC.

[kcchief19]

Am I the only one who likes Suits? For a USA show, it doesn't come across as a USA show.
I'm a fan. Psych, White Collar, Burn Notice and Suits are must-sees for me every week.

I think it's pretty much in-line with the USA formula -- smart, funny self-contained episodes with easy-to-pick-up short story arcs and one broader arc that gets brushed periodically until the occasional meltdown.

The USA show that doesn't come across as a USA show for me is Necessary Roughness. I slogged my way through season one but season two just got too much for me to take Callie Thorne really grates on my nerves. If they had swapped her and Sarah Shahi from Fairly Legally I'd probably have liked both shows better.

Covert Affairs was really good to start but seemed to lose some of its charm in season 3.

[mckerney]

I'm kind of surprised The Mike O'Malley Show made it to episode 2.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm kind of surprised The Mike O'Malley Show made it to episode 2.

So was O'Malley ;)

[BishopMVP]

I have Do No Harm on my DVR - maybe I will wait to check it out to see if it lasts another week... ;)Based off what I've heard it's entirely worth it in a MST3K way. I don't know how the American public collectively divined it's atrociousness before it aired, but it apparently contains terrible acting, awkward cut-scenes, and either really easily remedied plot points or ones that are glossed over for a nonsensical reason.Am I the only one who likes Suits? For a USA show, it doesn't come across as a USA show.I'm a fan. Psych, White Collar, Burn Notice and Suits are must-sees for me every week.

I think it's pretty much in-line with the USA formula -- smart, funny self-contained episodes with easy-to-pick-up short story arcs and one broader arc that gets brushed periodically until the occasional meltdown.

The USA show that doesn't come across as a USA show for me is Necessary Roughness. I slogged my way through season one but season two just got too much for me to take Callie Thorne really grates on my nerves. If they had swapped her and Sarah Shahi from Fairly Legally I'd probably have liked both shows better.

Covert Affairs was really good to start but seemed to lose some of its charm in season 3.kcchief hits it for me, with the exception that I think (despite my love of Bruce Campbell) Burn Notice lost it, or rather reiterated it, around 2-3 seasons ago - although I will be 100% back on board if they start making fun of CSI again. (It's also a running joke when I watch with my mom/sisters why Fiona is considered attractive. Set the show in Buffalo or even Boston, sure, set it in Miami and security guys aren't exactly turning their heads.)

Psych is another show that really hasn't progressed plot-wise past season 2 or so, but I think the chemistry between the two main characters is genuine enough it can carry the show through dull patches. White Collar has done a little better job developing supporting characters, but is kind of at a crossroads, and needs a shakeup if they're going to continue on.

Suits has done the best at creating a world around the two main characters, to the point my only real complaint is why they keep trying to force the Mike/Rachel like each other, but can't be together because of X scenario... but like all USA shows it's based on a premise (Michael wants to find who burned him, Sean is a fake psychic, we don't know if Neal wants to go straight or set up for a bigger score, Mike? didn't go to Harvard Law) that's fun, but can only really hold up for a season or two before it loses any suspense.

[RainMaker]

What I mean by a USA show is that they all tend to give off a campy sort of feel to them. Royal Pains being a good example. I just feel like Suits would fit in just fine on AMC or a Premium Channel.

I'm not digging the Mike/Rachel stuff either, but I do like the scenes she is in regardless of what she's doing.

[kcchief19]

kcchief hits it for me, with the exception that I think (despite my love of Bruce Campbell) Burn Notice lost it, or rather reiterated it, around 2-3 seasons ago - although I will be 100% back on board if they start making fun of CSI again. (It's also a running joke when I watch with my mom/sisters why Fiona is considered attractive. Set the show in Buffalo or even Boston, sure, set it in Miami and security guys aren't exactly turning their heads.)
I'm with you on Burn Notice. I thought this season was easily its worst. I'm sure they thought it was artistic to put Michael through a trauma, cross a line then go on the run while fighting with his friends and family. But it really cut into the heart of the show where you know who you're rooting for and eventually things work out. This season wasn't funny, had no heart and was grueling to get through.
Psych is another show that really hasn't progressed plot-wise past season 2 or so, but I think the chemistry between the two main characters is genuine enough it can carry the show through dull patches. White Collar has done a little better job developing supporting characters, but is kind of at a crossroads, and needs a shakeup if they're going to continue on.
I'm looking forward to the new season of Psych to see if last season's cliffhanger spices things up. The chemistry of the cast is so terrific that the show is still funny and engaging, but I would like to see some jazzier plots. There are a couple of episodes of this new season I'm really looking forward to, especially the "Clue" episode. I'm not a big fan of the current Neal's father plotline, but White Collar is solid.
What I mean by a USA show is that they all tend to give off a campy sort of feel to them. Royal Pains being a good example. I just feel like Suits would fit in just fine on AMC or a Premium Channel.

I'm not digging the Mike/Rachel stuff either, but I do like the scenes she is in regardless of what she's doing.
That makes sense. I think it's hard to be quirky on the Big Four broadcast networks. Even White Collar has its quirks.

I've been an advocate for a long time that if NBC were smart, it would use its cable nets as a farm system to develop cheap, engaging shows, and if they prove to be worthy promote to the broadcast network and reward them with a budget. When you factor in reairings, The top 5 shows on USA would all beat the the average show on NBC. So move Suits to NBC, and let USA try to develop the next show. What's the worst that could happen? Suits could possibly do worse than Do No Harm did -- it's already beating it from cable.

USA has a lot of hot, underrated B-list female characters. I'm OK with Rachel on screen as much as possible.

[DanGarion]

Honestly I'm still pissed that TBS cancelled Wedding Band, thought it was a really good entertaining 60 minute adult comedy, something we don't see a lot.

[stevew]

Honestly I'm still pissed that TBS cancelled Wedding Band, thought it was a really good entertaining 60 minute adult comedy, something we don't see a lot.

I meant to DVR, so it was probably my fault. It sounded like the type of show that should have made it.

[rowech]

Honestly I'm still pissed that TBS cancelled Wedding Band, thought it was a really good entertaining 60 minute adult comedy, something we don't see a lot.

That was a horrible cancelation. It wasn't the greatest show ever but it was worth watchng. Would have made a great summer show.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

So we are to believe that finch originally set up john and the girl in order to eliminate the computer bug that could destroy the machine?

I would highly doubt it.

My bet is that an upcoming story line has this new set of "Titans" trying to find Finch. They gave her his name to have her find him. Now that she's not available they will try other means. The hard drive he has could be a key.

[stevew]

That was a horrible cancelation. It wasn't the greatest show ever but it was worth watchng. Would have made a great summer show.

I thought the concept of these guys jamming and singing a few songs per episode was more than enough to keep it on the air for a few years.

[stevew]

I would highly doubt it.

My bet is that an upcoming story line has this new set of "Titans" trying to find Finch. They gave her his name to have her find him. Now that she's not available they will try other means. The hard drive he has could be a key.

Hmm, I suppose so. I knew she was toast when i saw her pop up on the following a few weeks ago.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Hmm, I suppose so. I knew she was toast when i saw her pop up on the following a few weeks ago.

Love the way she went out though.

[BishopMVP]

I've been an advocate for a long time that if NBC were smart, it would use its cable nets as a farm system to develop cheap, engaging shows, and if they prove to be worthy promote to the broadcast network and reward them with a budget. When you factor in reairings, The top 5 shows on USA would all beat the the average show on NBC. So move Suits to NBC, and let USA try to develop the next show. What's the worst that could happen? Suits could possibly do worse than Do No Harm did -- it's already beating it from cable.

USA has a lot of hot, underrated B-list female characters. I'm OK with Rachel on screen as much as possible.Iirc, they half-assed an attempt at putting Psych on NBC a couple years ago. I don't think it was marketed at all, or done properly (for some reason, I think it was a re-run), but it seems like that was their attempt at it and they'll use that as a reason not to ever do it again.

I definitely agree with you on the latter part, and clearly I'm not the only one - Fairly Legal on USA - Front Office Football Central (http://operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=80466&highlight=shahi)

[rowech]

Iirc, they half-assed an attempt at putting Psych on NBC a couple years ago. I don't think it was marketed at all, or done properly (for some reason, I think it was a re-run), but it seems like that was their attempt at it and they'll use that as a reason not to ever do it again.

I definitely agree with you on the latter part, and clearly I'm not the only one - Fairly Legal on USA - Front Office Football Central (http://operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=80466&highlight=shahi)

I think it might have been Monk instead of Psych.

[Suicane75]

IIRC Monk started out as an ABC show and only made it a handful of episodes before it got canceled/bought? By USA.

[kcchief19]

It's been tried, but very half-assed. ABC developed Monk but never ran first-run episodes before kicking the show to USA, which they owned at the time. During Monk's first season they were airing episodes a week or two after they aired. The tried the same setup again a few years later.

NBC pulled the stunt a couple of times, again airing old episodes. They reran episodes of Psych for a couple of weeks in March a few years ago, then in the summer aired reruns of Psych, Sci-Fi's Battlestar Galactica and Bravo's Project Runway.

Regardless, airing old episodes in the summer or burning them off on a Saturday night is hardly a try out. I'd be interested in seeing what Covert Affairs or Suits might do on NBC with the right promotion and time slot.

[kcchief19]

Couple of tidbits for the ratings junkies like myself ...

In week 19 of the broadcast television season ending Sunday, February 3, 2013, CBS came in first place among adults 18-49 with a 8.9 rating (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/09/02/whats-a-tv-rating-and-who-is-it-dating-2012-13-edition/147028/) average. FOX came in second with a 2.2. ABC was third with a 1.4. NBC was fourth with a 1.2. The CW finished last with a 0.6 adults 18-49 rating average. CBS won the week with total viewers, with 27.997 million viewers, ahead of second place FOX with 6.233 million viewers. ABC was third with 4.661 million. NBC was fourth with 3.8550 million followed by the CW with 1.606 million.
If you ever wonder why networks spend a bundle on the NFL, here's why. The Super Bowl alone is enough to boost CBS's average primetime 18-49 number by about .25 of a point for the entire season. That's tens of millions in ad revenue alone.

On the other end of the football spectrum, NBC has completed their first-to-worst transition now that SNF is done. I still don't know why there was so much hoopla over NBC's fall numbers since it was evident from the math that there demo numbers were entirely boosted by the NFL. Still some mid-season shuffling going on but February sweeps should give us indication of where everyone is.

Another note ... Smash absolutely tanked on its return, delivering a 1.1 in the demo. The Betty White birthday special was its lead-in, so you could dismiss it as a bad matchup. But it didn't even keep that audience, so hard to say what will happen when Go On/New Normal are the lead-in. NBC is in sad shape.

[DaddyTorgo]

Regardless, airing old episodes in the summer or burning them off on a Saturday night is hardly a try out. I'd be interested in seeing what Covert Affairs or Suits might do on NBC with the right promotion and time slot.

Not to mention (in the case of Covert Affairs at least) the budget.

[stevew]

Do No Harm pulled from the schedule. And Christina Applegate quits Up All Night. Go On and the New Normal posting series lows. NBC looking good in regular season.

[Ryan S]

On the other end of the football spectrum, NBC has completed their first-to-worst transition now that SNF is done. I still don't know why there was so much hoopla over NBC's fall numbers since it was evident from the math that there demo numbers were entirely boosted by the NFL. Still some mid-season shuffling going on but February sweeps should give us indication of where everyone is.

I think that "The Voice" was the biggest factor in NBC's Monday and Tuesday fall ratings.

[kcchief19]

Do No Harm pulled from the schedule. And Christina Applegate quits Up All Night. Go On and the New Normal posting series lows. NBC looking good in regular season.
Do No Harm was impressive -- it posted a 0.7 in the demo. They don't go head to head, but Do No Harm barely edged out Beauty and the Beast on the CW. Suits on USA pulverized it.
I think that "The Voice" was the biggest factor in NBC's Monday and Tuesday fall ratings.
No doubt that was a big factor as well. I just thought it was noteworthy that if you removed SNF from the equation, NBC's 18-49 number in the fall was worse than their number last year, although everyone seemed to think that NBC had made a recovery.

The Voice covered up a lot of problems. Early returns so far suggest that Revolution and Go On/New Normal benefited from The Voice lead ins. I know The Voice is coming back this spring, and I'm assuming it's returning to Monday/Tuesday. That will stem some of the bleeding, but now they have a gaping hole on Thursdays to fill.

[larrymcg421]

Really happy Smash bombed. Hopefully that means Parenthood is guaranteed a renewal.

Interesting that Letterman won three nights in Households. Kimmel was 3rd every night in Households and was only noticeably strong in 18-49 on Thursday.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Hopefully that means Parenthood is guaranteed a renewal.

FWIW, TVbythenumbers has it currently as a lock for renewal. (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/02/05/nbc-do-no-harm-is-certain-to-be-canceled-of-course/168028/)

[stevew]

Really interested in the Americans this week. The Reagan assassination is the focus of the episode.

[rowech]

Really interested in the Americans this week. The Reagan assassination is the focus of the episode.

Liked the first two episodes but third one was blah. The shows filming is so dark it's tough to see some scenes. Also needs a lot more 80s atmosphere in my opinion.

[PackerFanatic]

I am a little bummed about Do No Harm, thought it was an interesting concept and Steven Pasquale was doing a pretty good job, IMO. Oh well...

Not all that surprised about Up All Night, although that one does bum me out. My wife and I really enjoyed that show and as soon as they announced the whole format switch, I knew it was the kiss of death. Not at all surprised that Applegate wanted out.

We also finally got to watching The Americans - VERY much enjoying it thus far. Didn't think I would like Keri Russell as much as I do, but she is doing a bang-up job alongside Matthew Rhys.

[kcchief19]

The NBC cratering continues ...

NBC To Finish 5th In Sweeps For First Time; Network Falls Behind Univision - Yahoo! TV (http://tv.yahoo.com/news/nbc-finish-fifth-sweeps-first-time-network-falls-192651011.html)

Not a huge surprise because Univision has beaten a network for a month before and has had some very strong single-night showings as well. But to hand it to NBC during a sweeps month when NBC is trying ... ouch. Have to wonder what kind of effect this performance will have on the affiliates -- could be another mini-revolt in the making.

Community dropped big in its second week back, so the glimmer of renewal hope offered by the premiere's rating is pretty much gone. Haven't seen tonight's episode, but the first two just weren't the same as the first three seasons. The magic is gone.

The Americans has been renewed for season two. Hoping to catch up with that show soon ... sounds like a winner.

[JonInMiddleGA]

T Have to wonder what kind of effect this performance will have on the affiliates -- could be another mini-revolt in the making.

Question is, where the heck would the angry affiliates go? Finishing 5th means that they're still beating CW or any sort of independent route.

Their might be a few flips in a few places if the timing was right but honestly, their options in the vast majority of markets are pretty much nil. They can bitch but I don't know that the network really gives a big crap beyond being annoyed.

[Radii]

Community dropped big in its second week back, so the glimmer of renewal hope offered by the premiere's rating is pretty much gone. Haven't seen tonight's episode, but the first two just weren't the same as the first three seasons. The magic is gone.



I'm torn between wanting it cancelled and holding out hope that they find a way to change it and make it better. For now its off my DVR, I'll keep reading reviews in hopes that it turns around, but I wouldn't expect it during this 13 episode run, only if it gets extended and they get to learn from how bad this is and try to do something totally different with these characters.

[Crapshoot]

I thought the episode was fine. The first episode was bad, but I've liked the last 2. Its never going to be Season 2 again, but that's ok!

[stevew]

Smash, the New Normal both at .9 and smash hit freshman "comedy" Goon does a 1.1. Yet Betty White scores a 1.3 and a 1.4 somehow. That's your Tuesday NBC

[JonInMiddleGA]

Finishing 5th means that they're still beating CW or any sort of independent route.

I don't usually quote myself but in this case maybe a revision is in order. I thought about this thread when the overnight's for Atlanta showed up in my inbox this morning.

8p Community -- 1.2 HH rtg ... that's 7th among broadcast networks, trailing not only the big three but also Ind. WPCH (1.6 Meet The Browns syndication) and UPN WUPA (2.0 Vampire Diaries) and Ind. WATL (1.2 White Collar syndication)

830p Parks & Rec -- 0.9 HH rtg ... 7th among broadcast ... trailing Ind WPCH (House of Payne syn) and the 2nd half of shows on WUPA & WATL

9p Parks & Rec -- 0.9 HH rtg ... 7th among broadcast ... behind the big three as well as another ep of Meet the Browns syn. , another ep of White Collar syn. and Beauty & the Beast.

930p 1600 Penn -- 0.5 HH rtg ... 7th among broadcast, behind more Payne and the 2nd half of the other shows

10p L&O SVU -- 1.7 HH rtg for the hour ... 4th among broadcast as it edged out WPCH Seinfeld syn (1.4), WUPA HIMYM (0.5) and WATL (0.2) local news*/30 Rock syn combo.

Also 1135p Leno beat everything in NBC prime with a 1.8 HH, and the first half of 1235a Fallon beat the whole 830p-10p block with a 1.0 (finished with a 0.8 for the entire hour).

*Somewhat ironically considering the discussion here, the local NBC affiliate produces a 10p newscast for indy WATL.

Also noting here that I used HH rtg for the comparison but the primary demo A18-49 ratings were even lower for every NBC show except the 9p Parks & Rec

[Butter]

So, should NBC consider putting Leno back at 10 PM? How much further can they fall before we see some panic change?

[Ryan S]

So, should NBC consider putting Leno back at 10 PM? How much further can they fall before we see some panic change?

I thought Leno at 10pm was giving them even worse ratings than their scripted programming.

[RainMaker]

That's pretty crazy. I know they have bad shows, but not all are bad. Maybe it's just been years of this that has dragged the network down and people aren't clicking to NBA.

Maybe they should think of swapping over some USA programs.

[kcchief19]

Question is, where the heck would the angry affiliates go? Finishing 5th means that they're still beating CW or any sort of independent route.

Their might be a few flips in a few places if the timing was right but honestly, their options in the vast majority of markets are pretty much nil. They can bitch but I don't know that the network really gives a big crap beyond being annoyed.
I'd agree that network switches aren't as likely as they once were due to the larger affiliate groups and cross ownership. But a high-performing local NBC affiliate could still angle to improve their network if the Fox, ABC or CBS affiliate in their market is ailing.

The greater threat is dumping worthless network programming for better performing syndicated or cheaper local programming. If you're losing money on news because NBC primetime is sucking you need to make that money elsewhere. Maybe you do that by dumping the third or fourth hours of Today and going with local news. Maybe you push Fallon back an hour and load in your reruns of The Big Bang Theory and 2 1/2 Men. Since NBC doesn't even try on Fridays and Saturdays, maybe you dump that for local sports or a movie. That helps you but hurts NBC.

Our NBC local affiliate here has been known to preempt primetime reruns for local news specials.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Maybe you do that by dumping the third or fourth hours of Today and going with local news.

Most of the markets I'm seeing at the moment are getting more out of Today II & III than their midday locals (I know it was just an example, I just happen to kinda notice that this week).

And unless they already own them, those syndi strips probably aren't going to outperform Fallon (who isn't awful really, ratings wise).

The dumping Fridays/Saturdays angle, that I can see. (A lot of Sat/Sun afternoons too).

[kcchief19]

Most of the markets I'm seeing at the moment are getting more out of Today II & III than their midday locals (I know it was just an example, I just happen to kinda notice that this week).
The catch is that in the right situation you can make more money with a cheap local or syndi show than a network show. In my radio days, I worked for a station owner who had also owned the ABC affiliate in town and was notorious for dumping network primetime reruns for old movies and such. The reason was that even if the ratings were lower, he got 100% of the ad revenue instead of 30-50%.

And unless they already own them, those syndi strips probably aren't going to outperform Fallon (who isn't awful really, ratings wise).
I'm not picking on Fallon, just acknowledging that you might make more money as a local airing programming where you get more revenue than you do for network programming. You might get better ratings with Leno, an hour of strong comedies, then Fallon rather than airing the comedies after Fallon.

KC has two examples of this working. The ABC affiliate still bumps Kimmel to an hour after the late local news following 2 1/2 Men and Big Bang Theory. They've used this strategy for a couple of decades now, going back to when MASH and later Seinfeld filled those slots. They still perform so well that they refused pressure from ABC to bump the comedy slot when Kimmel moved to 11:30. I haven't seen Kimmel's clearance number, so I wonder if he's suffering from not having the same clearance percentage Nightline had.

The CBS affiliate here bumps Ferguson a half hour for Insider. Not sure how it impacts their ratings, but I know it helps the bottom line. Even $500 extra a night adds up over a year.

[kcchief19]

I'm torn between wanting it cancelled and holding out hope that they find a way to change it and make it better. For now its off my DVR, I'll keep reading reviews in hopes that it turns around, but I wouldn't expect it during this 13 episode run, only if it gets extended and they get to learn from how bad this is and try to do something totally different with these characters.
This came up last week in the Community thread too, but I'm siding more with it being cancelled. At this point I continue to watch because I'm invested in the show and the characters, but I feel like I'm being ripped off. Cancelling the show would save me time and emotional pain. :)

The only option I see to save the show is get it off NBC. Comedy Central already owns the syndication, so they have a financial investment in saving the show. Maybe they pick it up ala Futurama. Maybe it's worthy of a Netflix investment. Pick up the show, can the new producers and bring Dan Harman back. Only way to save the show.

Otherwise, kill it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm not picking on Fallon, just acknowledging that you might make more money as a local airing programming where you get more revenue than you do for network programming.

Trust me, I'm not defending Fallon ;)

... following 2 1/2 Men and Big Bang Theory. They've used this strategy for a couple of decades now, going back to when MASH and later Seinfeld filled those slots.

Yeah, if you own 'em already then it makes sense. Just not sure the math is there if you have to buy 'em for that purpose. That was probably my train of thought since the affiliate in Atlanta doesn't really have anything useful like that to speak of (their syndi lineup includes mostly 2nd tier talkers and Jeopardy ... which I suspect they'd be cautious about doubling up since it could hurt ratings on the first airing)

[stevew]

I thought Leno at 10pm was giving them even worse ratings than their scripted programming.

That was some modified version of the Tonight show. I wonder if moving the Tonight Show to 10pm would actually work now.

Anyways, I think NBC should invest in more football related programming in the fall...maybe like a reality show and some sort of talking heads prime time show with celebrities making picks.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Anyways, I think NBC should invest in more football related programming in the fall...maybe like a reality show and some sort of talking heads prime time show with celebrities making picks.

Or maybe in other months, like the off-season perhaps?

2013 NFL combine -- NFL pushing for changes to offseason, sources say - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8973183/2013-nfl-combine-nfl-pushing-changes-offseason-sources-say)

The NFL is proposing an overhaul to its offseason calendar, pushing back the combine to early March, the start of free agency to early April and the draft to early May, according to league sources... The idea is to lengthen the NFL offseason and make sure football is relevant during a longer offseason period with one big event in each month. It also would create a new revenue stream for the NFL, with each event producing added money for the league.

[kcchief19]

Interesting thoughts. Here's another:
NBC late last week agreed to a deal that would put Big East football and basketball games primarily on NBC Sports Network, with the ability to move some games to NBC's broadcast network. ESPN had to decide whether to match that deal by Thursday. It matched the rights fee but is not likely to put any games on its broadcast network, ABC. Sources say ESPN is likely to sublicense a significant amount of games to other networks, such as Fox Sports, which is launching Fox Sports 1 this summer.
What if NBC decided to promise a major college conference a primetime slot on network TV for kicking their rights to NBC Sports and their cable channel? Could Friday or Saturday night college sports couldn't be worse than what NBC is currently airing, and it could pull a league from ESPN.

Of course, I don't know why leagues even consider deals other than ESPN. The Broadcast Leader pretty much ignores any sport not on their air (NHL) and over promote any sport they own (NBA and soccer).

[kcchief19]

That was some modified version of the Tonight show. I wonder if moving the Tonight Show to 10pm would actually work now.
Here's a number that illustrates how irrelevant broadcast network TV may have become ...

In 2009, The Jay Leno Show in prime time Tuesday nights average a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 demo and 6 million viewers. That ranked 69th in the demo and 83rd among viewers for all shows that season. Those numbers this year would make it a top 25 who in the demo and a top 40 show among viewers.

That said, if Leno were back in prime today his numbers would be worse as well. Probably a lot worse since his lead-ins would be even more awful.

I think we should start a thread to come up with ideas on how to save NBC. :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

I think we should start a thread to come up with ideas on how to save NBC. :)

Getting it out of Comcrap's hands might be a good start ;)

[kcchief19]

Getting it out of Comcrap's hands might be a good start ;)
Yeah, I think you've got something there. As the entity once known as AOL Time Warner Inc. continues to break into smaller parts, you'd think Comcast/NBC Universal would have learned something.

[Suicane75]

A TV draft doesn't sound like a bad idea. Form a network, fill all the agreed upon time slots.

[stevew]

Ok..here's what I was thinking

10 rounds
4 networks, 3 players per network
Each network will program 5 nights (sunday to thursday) and 16 hours

One member will head the team and organize the schedule. He will also have the ability to create/program up to 6hrs/week of event programming and may select when his team is on the clock/allocate his team's 2 selections per round

Head of comedy programming-will develop/acquire/remake comedy programming.

Director of dramatic programming-similar to comedy.


Each team may make up to 8 hours of projects from the following 3 areas
-original programming
-existing programming
-remake/adaptation programming
And may choose the lead actor of the show. Once the actor is selected he is booked and cannot be selected again.

For example if "Tom Sellick as Magnum PI solving crimes in a retirement community" us chosen, nobody can draft "Blue Bloods"

Thoughts

[Lathum]

the Following is a fucked up show

[stevew]

the Following is a fucked up show

I'm pretty sure it's garbage but I will watch a couple more episodes.

[larrymcg421]

Ok..here's what I was thinking

10 rounds
4 networks, 3 players per network
Each network will program 5 nights (sunday to thursday) and 16 hours

One member will head the team and organize the schedule. He will also have the ability to create/program up to 6hrs/week of event programming and may select when his team is on the clock/allocate his team's 2 selections per round

Head of comedy programming-will develop/acquire/remake comedy programming.

Director of dramatic programming-similar to comedy.


Each team may make up to 8 hours of projects from the following 3 areas
-original programming
-existing programming
-remake/adaptation programming
And may choose the lead actor of the show. Once the actor is selected he is booked and cannot be selected again.

For example if "Tom Sellick as Magnum PI solving crimes in a retirement community" us chosen, nobody can draft "Blue Bloods"

Thoughts

Not sure about the multiple players per network. I think that will lead to confusion and other problems. It'd be better with just 8-10 networks. Love the idea other than that.

[stevew]

I'm wondering if this week's Person of Interest was a backdoor pilot for a Sarah Shahi gun operative character. If so, I want to watch that show.

[MrBug708]

Anyone have any thoughts on the History Channels two shows next week, the Bible and Vikings?

[DaddyTorgo]

Anyone have any thoughts on the History Channels two shows next week, the Bible and Vikings?

Looking forward to checking them out - thanks for reminding me that they were this coming week - I'll set my DVR.

I'm a sucker for History Chanel, so I imagine I'll enjoy.

[GrantDawg]

I'm pretty sure it's garbage but I will watch a couple more episodes.

Are you being serious? Because I'm absolutely addicted to this show.

[Lathum]

Are you being serious? Because I'm absolutely addicted to this show.

yeah, I really like it but get genuinely disturbed by some of the happenings.

[GrantDawg]

yeah, I really like it but get genuinely disturbed by some of the happenings.


Yeah, me too. But good disturbed. :) I can only imagine how much better the show would be on HBO or Showtime, but then they might be tempted to push too far.

[stevew]

Are you being serious? Because I'm absolutely addicted to this show.

The one local female cop was working for joe? Never saw that coming. They only tipped that off a half dozen times.

[GrantDawg]

The one local female cop was working for joe? Never saw that coming. They only tipped that off a half dozen times.


Yeah. That wasn't a shock. It seems to clear the young FBI profiler though (except you can never be sure. Shoot him in the vest so he isn't seriously hurt?). I still suspect that someone in the FBI is in on it as well. The lead agent is the most likely, so it probably won't be her.

[Lathum]

Yeah, that wasn't a surprise at all.

LEts be careful not to post spoilers in here.K.Thx.

[Lathum]

also- anyone else with Direct TV getting this message about CBS? Whats up with that?

[JonInMiddleGA]

also- anyone else with Direct TV getting this message about CBS? Whats up with that?

I'm guessing you're in the Cincinnati DMA and it's WKRC you're talking about.
If so, tomorrow marks the expiration of the carriage deal between Direct and Sinclair Broadcasting (who owns 'KRC).

Here's a couple of articles from other markets that have the usual details.
As contract's end looms, DirecTV says customers won't lose local CBS | PennLive.com (http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/02/as_contracts_end_looms_directv.html)

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogstv/55854183-63/directv-subscribers-sinclair-stations.html.csp

[stevew]

NBC Affiliate in Cleveland Airs 20-Year-Old Episode of Matlock In Lieu of Thursday’s Primetime Lineup to Protest Andy Griffith Oscars In Memoriam Snub

Neetzan Zimmerman
Andy Griffith, who passed away last July, was unceremoniously absent from this year's Oscars "In Memoriam" tribute, so NBC's Cleveland affiliate WKYC-TV decided to make it up to him by giving Matlock most of their Thursday primetime block.

That's right: Regularly scheduled episodes of The Office, 1600 Penn, and Law and Order: SVU were canceled at the last minute to make room for the 20-year-old Matlock TV movie, The Legacy.

The preempted shows will instead air on Saturday night.

"The Academy did snub Andy Griffith," WKYC president and GM Brooke Spectorsky told The Hollywood Reporter. "We thought it would be a nice tribute."

Surprisingly, so did viewers, who stayed tuned for the legal drama starring Griffith as veteran criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock.

According to Showbuzz Daily, rating figures show the first hour of Matlock was just slightly below the latest figures for The Office (1.6 vs. 1.7), and it actually bested 1600 Penn with a 1.8 rating at 9:30 compared with 1.7 for the latest addition to NBC's Thursday comedy block.

Spectorsky says he plans to do the same thing again next week with the Matlock: The Heist, but that should wrap up the station's "fun experiment."

[JonInMiddleGA]

NBC Affiliate in Cleveland Airs 20-Year-Old Episode of Matlock In Lieu of Thursday’s Primetime Lineup to Protest Andy Griffith Oscars In Memoriam Snub

And now ... the rest of the story.

Turns out they've done this same thing at least once in 1st quarter for the past decade, in order to gin up a little extra local spot inventory.


WKYC's 'Matlock' Pre-Emption an Inventory Play - 2013-03-01 20:29:44 | Broadcasting & Cable (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/492131-WKYC_s_Matlock_Pre_Emption_an_Inventory_Play.php)

[stevew]

FOX Picks Up THE FOLLOWING, NEW GIRL, THE MINDY PROJECT and RAISING HOPE

I really think that the Mindy Project has dramatically improved over the last half of this season, so I'm glad that they are picking it up again. New Girl seemed to be a formality to be picked up. The Following will likely come back for 15 episodes I believe, unless they have dramatically altered the way that the show will run.

[Critch]

Yeah. That wasn't a shock. It seems to clear the young FBI profiler though (except you can never be sure. Shoot him in the vest so he isn't seriously hurt?). I still suspect that someone in the FBI is in on it as well. The lead agent is the most likely, so it probably won't be her.

I'm still saying the young guy is a follower. She's sat beside him in a car all day, she'll know he's got a vest on, hence the shot to the chest.

I'm starting to head over to the 'this is crap' camp, but got to keep watching to the end now. And do the ads have to spoil every twist?

[stevew]

I'm still saying the young guy is a follower. She's sat beside him in a car all day, she'll know he's got a vest on, hence the shot to the chest.

I'm starting to head over to the 'this is crap' camp, but got to keep watching to the end now. And do the ads have to spoil every twist?

yeah, I think the young guy is in on it as well.

This is an entertaining train-wreck of horrible writing and tired cliche. How is it this easy to escape prison(for the second time). So silly.

[stevew]

And how the hell do this many people see charisma in this lead baddie character. He's a total toolbag.

[hoopsguy]

Yep, expecting the young guy to be revealed as #2 in the organization. I mentioned it on Facebook during his first episode, when he indicated he was a big fan of Hardy's, and haven't changed that opinion yet.

I'm wondering where they go for 2nd season - same bad guy, or someone "worse" a la 24 with the new bad guy every season?

[stevew]

Since we haven't met "Roderick" yet I'm going to just assume it is the FBI guy.

[Lathum]

Can we please stop posting spoilers in this thread. Start a separate one if enough people wanna talk about it.

[stevew]

Since we haven't met "Roderick" yet I'm going to just assume it is the FBI guy.

Actually I googled it and it's some other dude.

[DaddyTorgo]

IDK what show you guys are even talking about, but if it's getting this much discussion shouldn't it be in its own thread?

[DaddyTorgo]

Anyone have any thoughts on the History Channels two shows next week, the Bible and Vikings?

I totally forgot to set series recordings for these. I presume "Beginnings" and "Rites of Passage" respectively are the two premiere episodes that are re-airing this week?

[Coffee Warlord]

First two episodes of Vikings are available on regular Hulu right now. And quite enjoyable.

[DaddyTorgo]

First two episodes of Vikings are available on regular Hulu right now. And quite enjoyable.

Yeah - it also looks like History Channel is replaying them at like 10PM the rest of the nights this week also - the two shows I mean.

[Draft Dodger]

Can we please stop posting spoilers in this thread. Start a separate one if enough people wanna talk about it.

seconded.

[kcchief19]

Guess History Channel is the new USA or AMC. The Bible pulled down 13 million viewers and Vikings 6 million. Pawn Stars is drawing 5 million. American Pickers and Swamp People are pulling down 4.5 million.

The Walking Dead with just over 11 million viewers would have been No. 1 for the week without The Bible. Crazy numbers these cable nets are piling up.

[Draft Dodger]

I guess this means more reality shows and less, you know, history shows on the history channel. this really bums me out.

[chadritt]

I guess this means more reality shows and less, you know, history shows on the history channel. this really bums me out.

I haven't seen them but are you implying that "The Bible" and "Vikings" are reality shows? If anything this means more historical based drama

[stevew]

Are we really arguing about spoilers in a show that has thus far had the bad guy's plan go exactly as planned every.single.week? I can start a new thread, sure, but seriously if the plot of the show is "Joe is going to be transferred to a new prison" what odds would you need in order to bet on "Joe isn't going to magically escape?" 1,000,000,000 to 1? It's off the board, and thus far, for the most part, speculation is what has been posted.

[Draft Dodger]

I haven't seen them but are you implying that "The Bible" and "Vikings" are reality shows? If anything this means more historical based drama

no no, I was referring to Pawn Stars, American Pickers and Swamp People

[chadritt]

no no, I was referring to Pawn Stars, American Pickers and Swamp People

My bad, i honestly didn't even realize those were on the history channel because that seems weird.

[Draft Dodger]

Are we really arguing about spoilers in a show that has thus far had the bad guy's plan go exactly as planned every.single.week? I can start a new thread, sure, but seriously if the plot of the show is "Joe is going to be transferred to a new prison" what odds would you need in order to bet on "Joe isn't going to magically escape?" 1,000,000,000 to 1? It's off the board, and thus far, for the most part, speculation is what has been posted.

considering the number of us who DVR shows and may be weeks behind, it would be nice to keep spoilers out for those who watch at a slower pace. I'm sure when I got around to it, I would have known that a prison transfer was going to mean an escape...but since I'm not even there yet, I'd appreciate not knowing.

[stevew]

considering the number of us who DVR shows and may be weeks behind, it would be nice to keep spoilers out for those who watch at a slower pace. I'm sure when I got around to it, I would have known that a prison transfer was going to mean an escape...but since I'm not even there yet, I'd appreciate not knowing.

fair enough. How much stuff are you recording? I'm finding it hard to record enough stuff these days, so much shit that's out there doesn't meet my interests. And I forgot to set it for the Vikings which I'd probably like.

[Alan T]

I personally seem to record almost everything. We have two dvr that can record four shows at a time and I would wager most of the time all four are recording. I am so far behind in watching shows thanks to traveling, I think I will never catch up.

[DaddyTorgo]

fair enough. How much stuff are you recording? I'm finding it hard to record enough stuff these days, so much shit that's out there doesn't meet my interests. And I forgot to set it for the Vikings which I'd probably like.

Vikings is on tonight (rerun). And Bible tomorrow.

[Draft Dodger]

fair enough. How much stuff are you recording? I'm finding it hard to record enough stuff these days, so much shit that's out there doesn't meet my interests. And I forgot to set it for the Vikings which I'd probably like.

I don't watch anything live. we don't have that many shows that we watch, maybe 5-10 but my wife works nights so we do fall behind. We're 3 or 4 behind in Following and haven't even had a chance to start the Americans yet, for example. Ditto for the Mindy Project.

[stevew]

Wow, I think the Following has truly embraced how awful it is.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just sat through one of the most abysmal 30 minutes of my life: ABC's The Neighbors.

Call me a hipster, but other than reminding me why I watch so little television anymore I can't imagine what purpose that dreck actually serves.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Just sat through one of the most abysmal 30 minutes of my life: ABC's The Neighbors.

Call me a hipster, but other than reminding me why I watch so little television anymore I can't imagine what purpose that dreck actually serves.

You hipster.

Too cool for school.

[rowech]

Just sat through one of the most abysmal 30 minutes of my life: ABC's The Neighbors.

Call me a hipster, but other than reminding me why I watch so little television anymore I can't imagine what purpose that dreck actually serves.

I actually have grown to enjoy the show. It accomplishes traditional sitcom stories in a most unconventional way.

[cuervo72]

I actually have grown to enjoy the show. It accomplishes traditional sitcom stories in a most unconventional way.

We started watching it because the kids wanted to and I came in wanting to hate it...but also have grown to enjoy the show. No, it's not particularly smart, but hey, it makes me laugh. I'll take that over awful nudity and tragically flawed characters and painful, uncomfortable viewing out of a comedy any day.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Tool cool for school.

Freudian slip ?
;)

[Honolulu_Blue]

Freudian slip ?
;)

Oops! Not at all. Just a result of getting 4 hours of sleep and working too many consecutive 12-13 hour days!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Whatever floats 'em I reckon.

But if that's not one of the 10 worst shows ever produced, I can't begin to imagine the ones that beat it.

Supertrain had better performances than what I saw.

[hoopsguy]

Wow, I think the Following has truly embraced how awful it is.

Yep - getting more silly by the week. And it feels like the slide is pretty steep, not that it was high art the first couple of weeks.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Just sat through one of the most abysmal 30 minutes of my life: ABC's The Neighbors.

Call me a hipster, but other than reminding me why I watch so little television anymore I can't imagine what purpose that dreck actually serves.

I haven't even been able to muster up the energy to watch certain shows that I have enjoyed enough to actually follow and record, like "Happy Endings", "Modern Family" and "Community."

The shows I am actually watching now are "Parks and Recreation", "The Americans" and "The Walking Dead."

[vex]

Just sat through one of the most abysmal 30 minutes of my life: ABC's The Neighbors.

Call me a hipster, but other than reminding me why I watch so little television anymore I can't imagine what purpose that dreck actually serves.

I was intrigued by The Neighbors before the season began, but, it's horrible.

[spleen1015]

Bates Motel anyone?

[chinaski]

Bates Motel anyone?

should be good, especially with Vera Farmiga playing Mrs Bates.

[Jas_lov]

Bates Motel anyone?

I watched the first half of Ep 1 before work. Vera is worth watching of course, but it was strange that it was set in present day. I thought it was going to be a prequel set in the 1950s.

[Thomkal]

And in the "I can't believe they made a TV show like this category"

Celebrities Ready to Make a 'Splash' | ABC News Blogs - Yahoo! (http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/celebrities-ready-splash-100406845--abc-news-celebrities.html)

Along with the regular "D-List" celebrities a couple odd choices from the sports world-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Ndamukong Suh

I'm sure ABC is trying to find its next "Dancing with the Stars", but diving seems a very strange choice (other than to see some good looking celebrities in swimsuits) for the next Dancing.

[EagleFan]

Bates Motel anyone?

Watched it, oddly I have no opinion of it one way or the other yet.

[EagleFan]

And in the "I can't believe they made a TV show like this category"

Celebrities Ready to Make a 'Splash' | ABC News Blogs - Yahoo! (http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/celebrities-ready-splash-100406845--abc-news-celebrities.html)

Along with the regular "D-List" celebrities a couple odd choices from the sports world-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Ndamukong Suh

I'm sure ABC is trying to find its next "Dancing with the Stars", but diving seems a very strange choice (other than to see some good looking celebrities in swimsuits) for the next Dancing.

It's not even the first show like that. Fox did something like that already.

[stevew]

So, in basically one full calendar year Smash goes from a 3.8 demo rating to well under 1 and gets moved to Saturday nights. NBC, it's so unbelievable that any writer would get accused of making this stuff up.

[JonInMiddleGA]

So, in basically one full calendar year Smash goes from a 3.8 demo rating to well under 1 and gets moved to Saturday nights. NBC, it's so unbelievable that any writer would get accused of making this stuff up.

Yeah, it's up there in the pantheon of spectacular TV flame outs I think.

[kcchief19]

With 20/20 hindsight, maybe we should have seen it coming. The pilot drew 11.44 million viewers, dropped to 8 million for the second episode. The final 3 episodes of season one were the lowest rated, all below 6 million viewers. It was dropping more than 40% of the lead-in from The Voice.

I think we got mesmerized by the hot start. The season was only 15 episodes, so the pilot and first half of the season definitely skewed the numbers. When you consider NBC's complete collapse and no lead in, the start of season two was in line with season one's decline -- 4.5 million viewers for season premiere. But the show hit a wall and has lost 40 percent of its audience again.

Still, I'm with you guys. How this show has gone from a hit that could save the network to virtual cancellation in 22 episodes is remarkable. The last show I can remember doing that is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. The parallels are pretty eerie.

[Thomkal]

Do you think it might have anything to do with what was chosen as the theme for the Broadway show-Marilyn Monroe? I lost a lot of interest in the show due to that. I think if they had chosen a more current star or issue as the backdrop for the show it would have kept more of its audience. They clearly were trying to get the younger American Idol audience interested by casting Katharine McPhee, and if the Marilyn Monroe theme was too old for me, it must have been very boring for the younger groups.

[wade moore]

My wide will not be happy... This is her favorite current show.n I actually think its pretty good as well, but that ratings slide is brutal - I had no idea.

[wade moore]

Wife even

[ISiddiqui]

Do you think it might have anything to do with what was chosen as the theme for the Broadway show-Marilyn Monroe? I lost a lot of interest in the show due to that. I think if they had chosen a more current star or issue as the backdrop for the show it would have kept more of its audience. They clearly were trying to get the younger American Idol audience interested by casting Katharine McPhee, and if the Marilyn Monroe theme was too old for me, it must have been very boring for the younger groups.

I don't think it was necessarily the Marilyn theme, but the absolutely crazy writing. I thing the theme was fine, if they didn't decide to go all "family drama", and rather focused on the actual drama of doing a Broadway musical.

This season has been far better than the mid-end of last season for that reason - no (or little) family drama and more how to do a show drama.

[sterlingice]

It's been tried, but very half-assed. ABC developed Monk but never ran first-run episodes before kicking the show to USA, which they owned at the time. During Monk's first season they were airing episodes a week or two after they aired. The tried the same setup again a few years later.

NBC pulled the stunt a couple of times, again airing old episodes. They reran episodes of Psych for a couple of weeks in March a few years ago, then in the summer aired reruns of Psych, Sci-Fi's Battlestar Galactica and Bravo's Project Runway.

Regardless, airing old episodes in the summer or burning them off on a Saturday night is hardly a try out. I'd be interested in seeing what Covert Affairs or Suits might do on NBC with the right promotion and time slot.

Didn't they do some of that during the writer's strike a couple of years ago, too? "Hey, if you're not watching USA, it's new to you!" which was better than throwing on another hackneyed reality show piece of crap.

With the media consolidation, I've wondered about the farm system thing, too. However, I have seen two significant obstacles: money and time.

Money: I have to think that the budget for the average cable show is substantially less than a new network show of the same genre (no comparing reality tv to the unicorn of a high budget network scifi show). And that's not just for stars, but across the board: your writers, production staff, effects budget- everything. So it has the promotion/relegation problem. How many shows become better if you bump them up to the "big leagues"? Does Suits draw better numbers on NBC than on USA? Enough ad bucks to offset that all of your "talent" is now going to be demanding network salaries? Similarly, how many shows can survive a drop from the big leagues? How many stars are going to stick around on a network show when you ask them to take a 50% pay cut to accommodate the demotion back to USA? Is the show still viable if you have to axe a couple of main characters to stay within budget?

Time: Counter-programming is a good thing for cable. It helps hit during non-sweeps time and get more eyeballs. Are you going to ask a show that is really popular during its winter and summer run to wait a full year for the next fall? Or do you wedge it in as a mid-season replacement? How do you balance that out with the need to have those programs with possibly good ratings in at sweeps time to keep ad prices high? I'm sure this could be solved with some sort of hybrid year round schedule but the model isn't there yet.
I think in this day and age with DVRs, audiences following their show is less of a problem but it can cause a problem with people who still do "destination" viewing. What if everyone likes a USA show on Wednesday night at 9 but Wednesday is all locked up with solid performers on NBC and the only open slots are on Tuesday and Friday? In the past, some shows have been able to thrive with a timeslot move (The X-Files come to mind) but others have been failed because of the move.

That said, are these obstacles better or worse than throwing a lot of bad money away on shows that don't make it out of their first season even with middle to large budgets? I'm not sure but, like any industry these days- it's all about staying safe to save your job and just trying to do things slightly better than everyone else. God forbid you do something new, revolutionary, and blue ocean when you can just keep scrapping over the same shrinking demographics with the old system because "that's how it's always been done".

SI

[Draft Dodger]

I've never seen Smash, but isn't the guy from Flash Forward in it? Because, damn, that's consistency.

[stevew]

Remember when CBS aired Dexter? I'm sure JIMG could shed more light but I'm pretty sure ir went spectacularly bad.

[stevew]

dola

I'm guessing that Revolution will do good numbers this week and then rapidly fall apart.

[kcchief19]

dola

I'm guessing that Revolution will do good numbers this week and then rapidly fall apart.
Probably where the smart money will go. Good news is that with The Voice it should have the strongest lead-in NBC can provide. But with the entire lineup trending down and some question whether a spring season of The Voice following the fall season can sustain its ratings, seems like a decline is likely. I wouldn't expect a Smash-like drop, but a 20 percent haircut over the next few weeks wouldn't surprise me.

[kcchief19]

Remember when CBS aired Dexter? I'm sure JIMG could shed more light but I'm pretty sure ir went spectacularly bad.
That was even worse than what NBC/ABC have done with their cable shows. CBS edited the show for time and violence -- not to mention the fact that they were airing two-year old reruns.

As for its success or failure ... it's CBS debut lost to NBC's Knight Rider.

[kcchief19]

Money: I have to think that the budget for the average cable show is substantially less than a new network show of the same genre (no comparing reality tv to the unicorn of a high budget network scifi show). And that's not just for stars, but across the board: your writers, production staff, effects budget- everything. So it has the promotion/relegation problem. How many shows become better if you bump them up to the "big leagues"? Does Suits draw better numbers on NBC than on USA? Enough ad bucks to offset that all of your "talent" is now going to be demanding network salaries? Similarly, how many shows can survive a drop from the big leagues? How many stars are going to stick around on a network show when you ask them to take a 50% pay cut to accommodate the demotion back to USA? Is the show still viable if you have to axe a couple of main characters to stay within budget?
I think pretty much every network, cable and broadcast, locks up the talent for 4-5 years off the get go. When the cast of Monk decided to try and hold out for a pay raise, USA picked what they thought was the weakest actor/role and axed them, which is why Traylor Howard replaced Bitty Schram. I don't think there would even be a problem with offering two-way contracts -- you get a raise if the show goes to the broadcast network. As for demoting shows, we actually have a track record of that working quite well. Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Futurama have done it quite well, and lot of shows have gone from broadcast network to syndication (like Baywatch) -- cable is essentially today's syndication.

Time: Counter-programming is a good thing for cable. It helps hit during non-sweeps time and get more eyeballs. Are you going to ask a show that is really popular during its winter and summer run to wait a full year for the next fall? Or do you wedge it in as a mid-season replacement? How do you balance that out with the need to have those programs with possibly good ratings in at sweeps time to keep ad prices high? I'm sure this could be solved with some sort of hybrid year round schedule but the model isn't there yet.
I think in this day and age with DVRs, audiences following their show is less of a problem but it can cause a problem with people who still do "destination" viewing. What if everyone likes a USA show on Wednesday night at 9 but Wednesday is all locked up with solid performers on NBC and the only open slots are on Tuesday and Friday? In the past, some shows have been able to thrive with a timeslot move (The X-Files come to mind) but others have been failed because of the move.
I think it would depend on the show, but I think the cable model has proven that fans will wait. I think Mad Men went almost 18 months between seasons at one point. Broadcast network shows go off the air in May and come back in September/October. That's about standard for cable shows, maybe even a faster turnaround. White Collar just wrapped up its latest season and isn't schedule to come back until this fall.

I definitely agree that moving has risks. If I'm NBC, I'd just move Suits from 10 p.m. Thursdays on USA to 10 p.m. Thursdays on NBC. Not every move may be that clean but you could protect yourself in someways by airing similar shows in similar time slots. If NBC wants a drama after The Voice at 10 p.m. Mondays, why not develop another drama for 10 p.m. Mondays on USA (Yes, I know why -- WWE).

NBC will probably spend 10 times as much developing a show for 10 p.m. Thursdays. They have groomed a hit show we know already outdraws NBC in that slot. Move Suits and instead of spending $10 million on an NBC pilot, spend $1 million on a USA pilot for 10 p.m.

[stevew]

I was reading thru that Knight Rider thread. This NBC hot new show going to save the day theme has been going on for 5 years at least, now.

[sterlingice]

NBC will probably spend 10 times as much developing a show for 10 p.m. Thursdays. They have groomed a hit show we know already outdraws NBC in that slot. Move Suits and instead of spending $10 million on an NBC pilot, spend $1 million on a USA pilot for 10 p.m.

I agree. And it could lead to some good creative solutions like "Suits is coming to NBC on Tuesdays in the fall! Rather than throwing together some reality tv schlock for the summer, we're going to clear the slate on Tuesdays and let you catch up on Suits 2 or 3 episodes at a time from the start. Bonus in that it doesn't cost anything to make these episodes since they've already been made."

Or how about "Will NBC's 'Friday Night Showcase' gambit pay off? Since their Friday night lineup hasn't registered a viewer, they're scrapping it through the end of the year. Instead, they're having a voting contest to determine which of their 'farm team' shows will get Friday night next year. They'll cycle through the possible shows and have the directors and cast try to promote their show. Even the losers are winners as they get some free high profile publicity when they go back to their sister networks like Bravo."

Unfortunately, like I said, as in most industries, creativity is probably not upper management's strong suit. I would love to see some ingenuity like that.

SI

[stevew]

Typical Following awesomeness/rant-

(trust me, this is not a spoiler of any significance)


So, people are coming to storm your hotel room. Obviously the best place to stand is directly behind a non-bulletproof door

HOW THE FUCK DID ANY OF THESE DUMBFUCKS PASS THE FBI ACADEMY?

I swear the writers are trolling us at this point.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I agree. And it could lead to some good creative solutions like "Suits is coming to NBC on Tuesdays in the fall! Rather than throwing together some reality tv schlock for the summer, we're going to clear the slate on Tuesdays and let you catch up on Suits 2 or 3 episodes at a time from the start. Bonus in that it doesn't cost anything to make these episodes since they've already been made."

"Because more people will watch the reality TV schlock than will watch reruns of Suits" ... is the answer that comes to mind off the top of my head. As it is, first run episodes aren't exactly breaking viewership records; i.e. this ain't TWD we're talking about here.

Or how about "Will NBC's 'Friday Night Showcase' gambit pay off? Since their Friday night lineup hasn't registered a viewer, they're scrapping it through the end of the year. ...

Except that, suck though it is, most of what they've aired on Friday's would still constitute a successful cable show.

[Draft Dodger]

Typical Following awesomeness/rant-

(trust me, this is not a spoiler of any significance)


So, people are coming to storm your hotel room. Obviously the best place to stand is directly behind a non-bulletproof door

HOW THE FUCK DID ANY OF THESE DUMBFUCKS PASS THE FBI ACADEMY?

I swear the writers are trolling us at this point.

yeah, it's pretty ridiculous. I cannot stand stupid stuff like this (and that's just a drop in the bucket) and my wife can't stand when I point out stupid stuff like this. So, there is a LOT of lip-biting during the show.

at this point, I think Rizzoli and Isles has more realistic writing - and that's saying something

[Lathum]

Typical Following awesomeness/rant-

(trust me, this is not a spoiler of any significance)


So, people are coming to storm your hotel room. Obviously the best place to stand is directly behind a non-bulletproof door

HOW THE FUCK DID ANY OF THESE DUMBFUCKS PASS THE FBI ACADEMY?

I swear the writers are trolling us at this point.

honest question, why are you still watching? You bitch about it every week.

[stevew]

i dunno if you watched it yet, but it was one of maybe the top 10 most ridiculous TV moments I've seen in long while. I must have rewound it like 10 times with a "wait, did I just see that right" type vibe.

I think I'm just watching to punish myself at this point.

[Draft Dodger]

I think they've had one each week.

I watch because my wife does and because I like Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy and because I kind of enjoy watching and silently making fun of it. But mostly because my wife does. We don't have many that many shows that we watch together.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I think they've had one each week.

I watch because my wife does and because I like Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy and because I kind of enjoy watching and silently making fun of it. But mostly because my wife does. We don't have many that many shows that we watch together.

The only shows my wife and I watch together are "The Walking Dead", "Game Of Thrones", "Parks & Rec" and "Downton Abbey."

Hrmm...

Looking at that list, I guess the only shows that I currently watch alone are "American Horror Story", "The Americans" and "Breaking Bad".

My DVR is full of sitcoms that I used to watch like "Happy Endings" and "Modern Family" and "Community", but I just haven't been able to work up any desire to watch those for a few months now.

[Radii]

honest question, why are you still watching? You bitch about it every week.

I hate watch shows from time to time. Usually they are shows that start good and go bad and I can't bring myself to stop. I think Flashforward is the last show that was godawful from the start where I watched it every week just to laugh about how terrible it was.

[hoopsguy]

I'm in same boat with Radii on this one, more or less. I'll watch the end of the season, but there is just about zero chance of picking it up next season. I've made my mistake on this one, but the morbid curiosity of seeing where it ends is keeping me around for four (or is it five?) more episodes.

[GrantDawg]

I'm watching it because I do actually like the show, as silly as it gets. Reminds me a lot of MI-5 I'm currently watching on Netflix. Cool show that can sometimes be painfully stupid.

[kcchief19]

Mostly bad news for Revolution's return. Picked up a 2.6 18-49 number, which won its time slot but was tied for the show's lowest rating. Total viewers were on par with the end of the show's run last fall. It held a little more than half its lead-in from The Voice.

The good news is that the show now looks to be what it is, a 7 million viewers, 2.6 demo show. The ratings peaked early in the first half of the season and steadily declined. But the return was actually completely in line with the last 3-4 episodes last fall, even though it's down sharply from the average.

[rowech]

Mostly bad news for Revolution's return. Picked up a 2.6 18-49 number, which won its time slot but was tied for the show's lowest rating. Total viewers were on par with the end of the show's run last fall. It held a little more than half its lead-in from The Voice.

The good news is that the show now looks to be what it is, a 7 million viewers, 2.6 demo show. The ratings peaked early in the first half of the season and steadily declined. But the return was actually completely in line with the last 3-4 episodes last fall, even though it's down sharply from the average.

It's on NBC though so it's a gold mine.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Noting this because (IIRC) there are some Sunny In Philadelphia fans here & this new network is where it'll be going.
My Way News - FX network to start a younger-skewing channel, FXX (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130328/DA5A79I03.html)

[Radii]

I'm hearing some really good reviews for Hannibal on NBC, Thursday 10pm. I'll be watching this one Thursday or Friday for sure.

[kcchief19]

It has potential. On the plus-side it has Laurence Fishbourne, Bryan Fuller producing and a seemingly interesting ensemble cast. On the downside, it looks more like NCIS: Serial Killer Unit than Silence of the Lambs.

Will be interesting to see the ratings. My expectations aren't high, but it needs to be NBC's biggest show of the night. If it doesn't pull in 7 million viewers and at least 1.8 18-49, there's trouble. I'd bet NBC is hoping for 10 million-plus and 2.0 in the demo, expecting a small slide after the premiere.

Unfortunately I think NBC viewers are gun shy right now. I don't think people want to watch an NBC show because they're afraid it will be cancelled quickly.

I'm really wondering if the networks should look at the British model for limited series. I think Hannibal could be fantastic for 26 episodes, but I think after a while it's going to lose its charm. We know how the story ends, and if it takes eight years to get there ... yawn.

[Radii]

It has potential. On the plus-side it has Laurence Fishbourne, Bryan Fuller producing and a seemingly interesting ensemble cast. On the downside, it looks more like NCIS: Serial Killer Unit than Silence of the Lambs.

I'll be trying it out almost entirely based on the podcast that the hitfix guys do (sepinwall and feinberg). They said they got 5 episodes of it and that it seems like its doing most everything well. That it avoids the horrible sterotypical tropes that The Following relies on (I never did watch the following so can't go any deeper there) and that the characters and the drama seems really well done. I'm definitely hopeful.

Unfortunately I think NBC viewers are gun shy right now. I don't think people want to watch an NBC show because they're afraid it will be cancelled quickly.

I'm afraid of that too, NBC does so terribly, can't get any traction for their good shows and their good shows are so so very few and far between. I know most here didn't like the way it ended, but I was satisfied with the one season of Awake that I got out of NBC.

I'm really wondering if the networks should look at the British model for limited series. I think Hannibal could be fantastic for 26 episodes, but I think after a while it's going to lose its charm. We know how the story ends, and if it takes eight years to get there ... yawn.

Agree here too. One interesting thing I noted on the show's wiki page, though I haven't verified its accuracy anywhere else:


The series received a 13 episode order for its first season and, unlike most U.S. network shows, any future seasons will also feature 13 episodes.

This gives me hope too.

[stevew]

If hitfix says it was decent, I'll give it a shot. I tend to agree with most of their assessments.

[stevew]

I'm kind of hoping they retcon it and introduce Clarice sooner rather than later.

[Radii]

If hitfix says it was decent, I'll give it a shot. I tend to agree with most of their assessments.

They spent about 10 minutes on it during the firewall and iceberg podcast (such a stupid name, ugh) that was released yesterday if you listen to that. A good 20 minutes on the Walking Dead finale/Season 3 as well in that one.

[stevew]

I really like that podcast and love that they timestamp it for ease of use. More podcasts need to do that.

[kcchief19]

How To Live With Your Parents (For The Rest of Your Life) debuts on ABC tonight following Modern Family. Aside from having a horrible title -- no one will ever call it that -- it has a lot going for it. Brad Garret, Elizabeth Perkins and Sarah Chalke are all awesome.

The reviews seem across the map from terrible to great with some in the middle as well. I'll probably give it a whirl on DVR with modest expectations.

[mckerney]

They better not have killed the group dynamic on New Girl last night.

I'm feeling good about them being able to keep it while going through with the Jess and Nick plot after watching the aquarium episode last night and how they handled the sex scene at the end.

Mostly since I couldn't stop laughing after, "An aquarium the size of a sixth grader just broke and you want to get paper towels?"

[stevew]

I'm probably the only male fan of ABC's Red Widow and it seems certain for cancellation. But it's solid throwaway TV. The kid cast as the older son is my pick for a breakout star down the line. I seem to remember him from an exceptionally creepy episode of Criminal Minds a few years back. Sterling Beaumon, remember the name. I could see him doing the Christian Bale type roles in a few years

[Lathum]

How To Live With Your Parents (For The Rest of Your Life) debuts on ABC tonight following Modern Family. Aside from having a horrible title -- no one will ever call it that -- it has a lot going for it. Brad Garret, Elizabeth Perkins and Sarah Chalke are all awesome.

The reviews seem across the map from terrible to great with some in the middle as well. I'll probably give it a whirl on DVR with modest expectations.

We DVRed it and are going to give it a shot. Everyone Loves Raymond is still my all time favorite sitcom, so I am happy to see Brad Garret back at it.

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm probably the only male fan of ABC's Red Widow and it seems certain for cancellation. But it's solid throwaway TV. The kid cast as the older son is my pick for a breakout star down the line. I seem to remember him from an exceptionally creepy episode of Criminal Minds a few years back. Sterling Beaumon, remember the name. I could see him doing the Christian Bale type roles in a few years

I liked it, but it got such bad initial numbers that I axed my series recording of it in favor of something else.

Thought the same as you - solid throwaway TV, nothing groundbreaking though.

[stevew]

I have the DirecTv Genie so no need to make room. 5 tuners and a metric fuckton of storage. Highly recommend.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I have the DirecTv Genie so no need to make room. 5 tuners and a metric fuckton of storage. Highly recommend.

While there are certain times where five tuners and a metric fuckton of storage would be great, I actually don't mind the limited storage. It's forced me to fish or cut bait on several programs and each time I've decided to "cut bait", I have never regretted it.

[stevew]

Nathan For You is pretty near the end of its first season but it's worth DVRing. Funny less gross out version of Tom Green.

[kcchief19]

Someone will have to explain the appeal of Duck Dynasty to me. 8 million viewers, 3.7 18-49 for this week's new episode. It finished second to CSI in its time slot for all networks, and was second in the 18-49 demo for the night to Modern Family. Maybe they do deserve $200,000 an episode.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Someone will have to explain the appeal of Duck Dynasty to me. 8 million viewers, 3.7 18-49 for this week's new episode. It finished second to CSI in its time slot for all networks, and was second in the 18-49 demo for the night to Modern Family. Maybe they do deserve $200,000 an episode.

Humor, simplicity, blue collar success story, and best I can tell a pretty big appeal from the core values of the family.

I find it moderately watchable but it lights up my FB wall every time it's on.

[Lathum]

Someone will have to explain the appeal of Duck Dynasty to me. 8 million viewers, 3.7 18-49 for this week's new episode. It finished second to CSI in its time slot for all networks, and was second in the 18-49 demo for the night to Modern Family. Maybe they do deserve $200,000 an episode.

I've never watched it, but the thing that struck me as odd if the people I know who are big fans don't fit the mould of people you would expect to love the show. They must be doing something right to appeal to a broader demographic.

[Ajaxab]

Duck Dynasty seems to be very much a hearkening back to the old days of family friendly sitcoms. The family has several humorous characters who find/put themselves in humorous situations and there is a moral lesson at the end. There is a large swath of the country that undoubtedly finds this appealing in light of the perceived morally problematic nature of other programming. Of course, the poking fun at rednecks factor might play into things as well.

[kcchief19]

I've never watched it, but the thing that struck me as odd if the people I know who are big fans don't fit the mould of people you would expect to love the show. They must be doing something right to appeal to a broader demographic.
My experience has pretty much been the opposite. The people I know who love the show are either rednecks or rednecks at heart.

For the record, I grew up in the Ozarks so technically I'm a redneck at heart. No pejorative use here.

[kcchief19]

Hannibal came in at 4.3 million viewers and 1.6 in the demo. Those are pretty bad numbers ... until you realize that is NBC's highest ratings at 10 p.m. Thursday in a year and crushed everything else on NBC's prime time schedule.

If the show retains 80% of those numbers, it'll be pretty much like everything else on NBC Thursday.

How to Live With Your Parents pulled in 8.44 million viewers and 2.9 in the demo, or about 75% of its Modern Family lead-in. That's up pretty sharply from what Happy Endings and Suburgatory were able to do following Modern Family. If they can keep those numbers up, it will be a winner.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Bravo's 'Kathy' Talk Show Canceled, Says Griffin - Yahoo! Movies (http://movies.yahoo.com/news/bravos-kathy-talk-show-canceled-says-griffin-170913588.html)

[EagleFan]

Bravo's 'Kathy' Talk Show Canceled, Says Griffin - Yahoo! Movies (http://movies.yahoo.com/news/bravos-kathy-talk-show-canceled-says-griffin-170913588.html)

What will Pumpy watch now?

[GrantDawg]

What will Pumpy watch now?


No worries. They shot a pilot of a Kathy and Anderson Cooper talk show last week.

[Radii]

Two episodes in I'm finding Hannibal to be creepy as all hell in a very good way, each hour has flown by.

[Bad-example]

I tune into TBS early mornings for some light background entertainment while I get in a couple hours of computer time. TBS has decided that's a good time to inflict guilt bombs on their audience. Hey, who doesn't want to see starving kids first thing in the morning during a sitcom?

F**k you, TBS.

[Draft Dodger]

Two episodes in I'm finding Hannibal to be creepy as all hell in a very good way, each hour has flown by.

and instead I'm watching the Following which is now officially one of the dumbest shows in the history of television

[JonInMiddleGA]

I tune into TBS early mornings for some light background entertainment while I get in a couple hours of computer time. TBS has decided that's a good time to inflict guilt bombs on their audience. Hey, who doesn't want to see starving kids first thing in the morning during a sitcom?
F**k you, TBS.

That's what happens when you can't sell the commercial inventory, you end up running PSA's.

And, although this is probably deeper than anyone but me would care to consider so deeply, depending upon how you're watching (cable? dish/direct?) there's a possibility that it isn't unsold network inventory that spot ran in but instead it could be unsold local inventory instead.

[Bad-example]

Good point, Jon. The starving kids spots are shown most every morning on TBS during Married With Children but maybe AT&T is actually responsible for them.

[Thomkal]

Defiance starts tonight at 9pm EST on Syfy. Find myself intrigued by the idea of a TV show influencing a MMO and vice versa, but I think they will find it hard for them to co-exist. Expecting the show to be a bit lacking at first as the actors establish themselves in their characters, but I hope it will get better as time goes on.

Defiance | Watch the Show, Play the Game, Change the World (http://www.defiance.com/en/)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Network adds "Talking Bad" (ala "Talking Dead") to air after each episode of "Breaking Bad"

AMC upfront: Big sendoff for 'Breaking Bad' | Media Life Magazine (http://www.medialifemagazine.com/amc-upfront-big-sendoff-for-breaking-bad/)

[sterlingice]

Is this thing more common in Britain? I've noticed that BBC has Doctor Who Confidential after each Doctor Who episode

SI

[PackerFanatic]

Chris Hardwick (who, of course, hosts Talking Dead) had hinted at this during a recent podcast...wondering if they have tabbed him to host it (would make sense, if you ask me). I thoroughly enjoy Talking Dead and I am sure I will enjoy this one too (PS - we have to wait until AUGUST now?! GAH!)

[Honolulu_Blue]

I never watch Talking Dead, but the commercials for it drive me crazy. It seems like right after some big, dramatic moment in "The Walkind Dead" the show cuts to commercial and there is Chris Hardwick yelling at me and trying to create some goofy-ass hash-tag thing. It crushes the mood. I can't hit the 30-second skip fast enough.

[PackerFanatic]

I never watch Talking Dead, but the commercials for it drive me crazy. It seems like right after some big, dramatic moment in "The Walkind Dead" the show cuts to commercial and there is Chris Hardwick yelling at me and trying to create some goofy-ass hash-tag thing. It crushes the mood. I can't hit the 30-second skip fast enough.

They actually stopped doing that about mid-way through last season. A LOT of people bitched about that, so AMC stopped doing it. Now people just bitch about Chris not getting to do it. Lose-lose apparently :)

[rowech]

Parks and Rec has put together a fantastic season this year.

[kcchief19]

I'm guessing many of you follow TV By the Numbers and are familiar with their renewal/cancel index. Basically they rank shows based on 18-49 rating as compared to the network's average 18-49. If you're over the average, you're likely to get renewed. If you're below average you're on the bubble.
403 Forbidden (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/04/23/nbc-guesses-on-low-rated-sitcoms-cant-wait-much-longer/178975/)

An interesting game to look at leading to the upfronts is what sitcoms NBC will renew. Other than Parks & Rec, no NBC sitcom is above the network average. The 2nd best performing sitcom was 30 Rock, which is already cancelled and was likely boosted by the series finale.

Next on the list is Go On. I haven't been a big fan of the show, but I'm told by people who have stuck with it that it has improved through the season. It hasn't performed spectacularly since NBC moved it to Thursday, but that move alone and the numbers would seem to suggest renewal.

Next are four shows that are in the true danger zone -- 80%-90% of the 18-49 network average. Community is at 88%, Whitney at 87%, The New Normal at 82% and Guys With Kids at 81%.

Unless NBC decides to really blow things up and feels like they have a strong crop of new sitcoms, it seems like at least two of those shows are coming back. NBC has shown no signs of going with fewer than four sitcoms on Thursday, and they would probably like at least another hour for Tuesday or Wednesday.

What will they do? Based purely on the numbers, it's Community and Whitney. If you bring back Community for another season, it easily passes the bar for being a profitable show in syndication, and NBC does have a stake in the show. NBC has seemed to have an odd fascination with Whitney from the beginning.

Guys with Kids is the most borderline. The New Normal has been more trouble than it's worth -- if you're going to be a controversial show, you need to be good. It wouldn't surprise me if NBC renew none, some or all. TV By the Numbers has Community and Whitney as toss-ups, New Normal as likely to be cancelled and Guys with Kids as certain to be cancelled.

I'm pretty much in the same boat. Wouldn't surprise me if NBC decided to go all-new with sitcoms and only bring back Parks & Rec in the fall but have Community and Whitney as mid-season replacements with half-season orders.

[JonInMiddleGA]

‘Dallas’ Renewed for Season 3 by TNT - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/04/30/dallas-renewed-for-season-3-by-tnt/180365/)

TNT has ordered 15 episodes for the third season, which is slated to launch in early 2014.

[sterlingice]

The new Ninja Turtles cartoon is definitely my favorite of current cartoons.

SI

[PackerFanatic]

The new Ninja Turtles cartoon is definitely my favorite of current cartoons.

SI

I love that one too. And they got some pretty good voice actors, which makes it that much better.

[sterlingice]

I love that one too. And they got some pretty good voice actors, which makes it that much better.

Agreed. I love the connection of Rob Paulsen to the original.

The writing just tickles my funny bone

SI

[Suicane75]

Inside Amy Schumer is terrible.

[mckerney]

Watched the first episode of Orphan Black yesterday and it seems like it will be a show that I'll either love or absolutely hate because of wasted potential (or go from liking to detesting).

The concept seems very cool, girl sees someone who looks exactly like her jump in front of a train but leave her purse on the platform. She then decides to check out her apartment and pretend to her long enough to empty out her bank account, though shortly after starting the ruse gets picked up by the police and shit starts to go down. Here's to hoping it doesn't end up making me angry.

[DaddyTorgo]

Watched the first episode of Orphan Black yesterday and it seems like it will be a show that I'll either love or absolutely hate because of wasted potential (or go from liking to detesting).

The concept seems very cool, girl sees someone who looks exactly like her jump in front of a train but leave her purse on the platform. She then decides to check out her apartment and pretend to her long enough to empty out her bank account, though shortly after starting the ruse gets picked up by the police and shit starts to go down. Here's to hoping it doesn't end up making me angry.

It's good so far - plenty of twists and a good amount of reveal each episode. Already renewed for a second season.

[Ryan S]

Watched the first episode of Orphan Black yesterday and it seems like it will be a show that I'll either love or absolutely hate because of wasted potential (or go from liking to detesting).

I find the accent of the lead actress distracting when she is playing the British girl. It sounds like no English accent I have ever heard, and I have heard them all. At times it sounds like a bad Australian accent.

I have seen more complaints in reviews about the British guy's accent, but his accent is at least a bit more believable.

I wish that they had either ditched the idea of using British accents or spent a bit more time mastering them, as it is a pretty good show otherwise.

[kcchief19]

List of Renewed and Cancelled Broadcast Shows for the 2012-13 Broadcast Season Through April 28, 2013 - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/05/05/bubble-watch-will-the-olympics-have-nbc-back-in-bed-with-community-and-whitney/181038/)

Interesting mention deep in the article about impact of the 2014 Olympics on NBC's renewals. The argument is that NBC may want to bank some of its best shows until after the Olympics to give them the best launch platform. They have about 20 weeks to cover until the start of the Olympics, so bringing back Community and Whitney and suffering through the ratings would allow them to promote the hell out of their new shows during the Olympics.

Given how well that worked with Go On, what could possibly go wrong?

[Ryan S]

Interesting mention deep in the article about impact of the 2014 Olympics on NBC's renewals. The argument is that NBC may want to bank some of its best shows until after the Olympics to give them the best launch platform. They have about 20 weeks to cover until the start of the Olympics, so bringing back Community and Whitney and suffering through the ratings would allow them to promote the hell out of their new shows during the Olympics.

Given how well that worked with Go On, what could possibly go wrong?

I figure that Community has a better chance of returning than it's numbers may suggest thanks to its timeslot. I can't imagine that NBC wants to stick anything new in the 8pm Thursday timeslot unless they are looking to quickly kill a new show.

[Draft Dodger]

from kc's link - Hannibal is expected to be canceled? I was under the impression it was doing well?

[Draft Dodger]

dola
that list apparently tells me that the big networks could fold tomorrow and I wouldn't shed a tear. on that list of shows, I've seen FOUR this year - The Office, 30 Rock, Mindy and The Following. Two are done this year and I'm 100% sure I'll be done with the Following after this season, so that leaves one show (and it's a great one, but still)

[Suicane75]

I really enjoyed the first two episodes of Maron. It's a little angsty but never quite veers into insufferable. Also just started the first season of Veep and am enjoying the hell out of it.

[panerd]

Are any of the cinemax original series any good? I love almost anything HBO puts out and really enjoyed Boss & Sparticus on Starz so I noticed that cinemax has a couple (Hunted, Banshee, Strike Back) and wondered if any were worth putting the time in. Obviously no spoilers if you are going to recommend one of them.

[kcchief19]

from kc's link - Hannibal is expected to be canceled? I was under the impression it was doing well?
It started out solid but has done nothing but bleed viewers from week to week. The last couple of weeks it's been the lowest rated show on NBC's Thursday lineup, which is quite the achievement.

I'm still very perplexed at NBC's launching it when it did and where it did. Granted, I don't know there was a good answer. Revolution and surprisingly Grimm are clawing out decent numbers (for NBC) following The Voice. Chicago Fire is actually building on its L&O lead-in. Moving any of those shows for Hannibal could be a devastating blow.

I know I'm a broken record at times with looking at cable, but here's something cable almost never does -- rerun shows in their original time slot. USA has it's Tuesday-Thursday model that may include the NCIS or L&O rerun, but otherwise it's always an original, the shows just alternate time slots. You'll get 8 weeks of Suits, 8 weeks of Burn Notice, rinse, repeat with the occasional dead periods for network sweeps and holidays-- right now, I think Psych is the only USA show in originals during network final time.

Hannibal is planned for only 13 episodes a season. Why not run Revolution for 13 episodes, Hannibal for 13 and Revolution for 9? That almost covers your entire traditional TV season without a single rerun, which means you're going to be airing originals against reruns on other networks for 10-13 weeks.

[saldana]

all i care about right now is "when is The Americans" coming back

[Honolulu_Blue]

NBC just announced "Parks & Rec" was renewed for another season.

Woohoo!!!!

[kcchief19]

That's definitely good news. Been a blood bath for most other NBC shows, most of which should have known they were getting axed. Guys With Kids, Up All Night, 1600 Penn and Deception are all gone.

The New Normal should get axed but I think there are showrunner issues -- NBC may want to pick up the show to keep nice and not cancel every freshman comedy in sight. Go On is definitely on the bubble.

Interesting that no word on Community and Hannibal yet. Community's finale is tonight, so either a decision has been made and they don't want to announce it yet (which would seem like a cancellation to me) or it's one last audition. Same with Hannibal. The show still has about six episodes but they need a final call before upfronts. This could be a do or die night for both shows.

If that's the case, wonder if the fates of Go On and Community are tied together in some way. Does Go On get renewed if Community is cancelled? Or does Go On only get renewed to come back in tandem with Community?

[JonInMiddleGA]

I would have to think that Hanibal is DOA, unless every other drama pilot they have is complete drizzling shit (and they've already reached that conclusion).

Community - just based on the lack of renewal so far - seems to be dead but that's one that's probably a coin toss to predict.

[DeToxRox]

'24' Eyes Return As Limited Series On Fox, Howard Gordon To EP, Kiefer Sutherland In Talks To Star - Deadline.com (http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/24-eyes-return-as-limited-series-on-fox-kiefer-sutherland-in-talks/)

[mckerney]

Is it too late for NBC to bring back Ed? :(

[Solecismic]

Just to illustrate the rapid decline of American Idol:

Network 8:00 Thursday 5/9 18-49 Rating/Share Total Viewers Live+SD
CBS The Big Bang Theory 4.9/17 16.30
FOX American Idol 2.9/9 11.57
NBC Community 1.3/5 3.08
ABC Wipeout (season premiere) 1.3/4 4.35
CW The Vampire Diaries 1.0/3 2.28

knock, knock, knock, Simon... knock, knock, knock, Simon... knock, knock, knock, Simon...

Anyone catch the Aaron Rodgers cameo on The Office last night? Good parody of AI.

[kcchief19]

American Idol has outperformed my expectations at every turn, but it seems like it is now in the death spiral. Simon and a good panel of judges may boost it up, but it seems like The Voice format is picking up steam. If NBC were to pass on a fall edition of The Voice, I think the winter/spring version would go through the roof.

But considering the people who thought Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj would work will pick the next set of judges as well, I have no faith.

[21C]

Community renewed for a fifth season - 13 episodes.

Cancellations:
Vegas
Rules of Engagement
Golden Boy
CSI NY
Happy Endings
Family Tools
How to Live with your Parents
Malibu Country
Body of Proof
Red Widow
Smash

[kcchief19]

Despite being an unabashed fanboy of the the first three season, I'm stunned Community got another 13-episode order. I can only assume this is NBC wanting it to either help them spackle the lineup until the Olympics or have something in reserve for when a new comedy tanks. Granted, NBC has a stake in the show so increasing the syndication value will make them money, the show has passed its creative peak.

We'll have to start a discussion of the new season's shows soon. So far I actually like what NBC's doing. Not sure I see as many duds as last year. Will be interesting to see their upfront.

[chadritt]

The loss of Happy Endings makes me sad, hopefully they really can change networks, but Im glad to see Parks and Rec and Community come back. Id like to think that a new season of community will give the writers a chance to do their own thing.

Edit: Of course im also greatly looking forward to S.H.I.E.L.D

[JonInMiddleGA]

But considering the people who thought Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj would work will pick the next set of judges as well, I have no faith.

Maybe not. The long time producer (Lythgow or something like that?) is rumored to be out as well.

[kcchief19]

Have the rumors of Happy Endings moving to USA completely shut down? USA picked up syndication of Modern Family, and is looking for some original sitcoms to build around it, and they were apparently in discussions to acquire Happy Endings.

Very interested in S.H.I.E.L.D. but wonder how they will pull it off, since I'm assuming it will have nothing to do with The Avengers. But if Clark Gregg's on board, sign me up.

I'm actually interested in the Ironside reboot. While I'd rather see Perry Mason return to TV, this has potential. But as long as Robert Downey Jr. is trying to do his Perry Mason movie, that won't happen.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Have the rumors of Happy Endings moving to USA completely shut down?

According to this story (http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/happy-endings-cancelled-at-abc-will-usa-step-in/)from deadline.com the negotiations are only now about to begin in earnest.

[rowech]

Somebody is going to have to explain to me how TV works anymore. You put a new show in mid-April and then expect people to watch after their TV schedules are already set. You have some really good star power but then you cut it after four episodes. I don't get it. I'm talking about the How to Live With Your Parents show. Family Tools, while I didn't watch, is similar. You have some well known faces there but you're not going to give them any chance when you start a show at the beginning of May and wonder why people don't watch.

Meanwhile Community, which sorry to disappoint a lot of people around here, has been absolutely dreadful except for one episode. I know it's on a different network. It seems like these TV companies have become way too fickle in not seeing ratings quickly and bailing on shows that might have had had chances.

Just put a lineup out there, don't change it, leave it for an entire season. If it works, great. If not, then cut and run. These modern execs would have cut shows like Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond.