This is the weekly TV update coming at you yet again. Today I chat about how Numbers has survived on Friday nights, I share my suspicions on what will happen with Chuck on NBC and I celebrate a bit about Fringe on Fox.
I’ll also touch on how the new Wolverine movie has already had its TV rights secured while I tell you about a couple of upcoming Sci-Fi Channel marathons, and then I’ll close with some depressing inclinations about Dollhouse and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. At the very bottom, past my ratings chart, I actually make a suggestion about an episode of Criminal Minds that I suggest hunting down to watch. (Yes, I make a recommendation.)
Let’s get on with it, shall we?
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Numbers Survives On Fridays
Even though the viewing audience does not like programmable personalities, they sure do seem to like Numbers on CBS because it keeps trudging along despite airing on Fridays.
The show is about solving the crime of the week using mathematical calculations and you wouldn’t think a concept like that would jive with viewers who slurp up reality TV. Heck, it’s a great surprise to me that Numbers has survived this long.
In reaching it’s 100th episode milestone, CBS is leaving the show in its present Friday night time-slot because it has a loyal following and they don’t want to upset the applecart. FOX… helloooooo? Applecart? Dollhouse? Oh, Nevermind.
Source: Variety
Did I Hear Someone Asking About Chuck On NBC?
Chuck got 25% of the votes from an E Online survey about rescuing shows and there’s a lot going on right now to help Chuck survive. But I have a bad feeling something is amiss.
Maybe it’s my natural distrust of the system but I think we’ve seen an interesting and probably honest mistake by the keepers of the web over on NBC. Check out the screen captures below of the Chuck website.
If you look real close that the middle of the right side, there’s the next on block… here, let me zoom in for you:
Yes… it said at one point SERIES FINALE for Chuck.
The wording has since been changed but is this a taste of things to come? Was NBC referring to the last episode of Chuck because that’s their intent and they’re just placating the fans by not making any decisions right away? Or was that just an honest mistake?
The sharp guys over on TV by The Numbers thinks it was a screw up. Color me suspicious, but I think the non-messages are adding up, hate it as I may to say that.
If Chuck does come back it will probably be on a different night because it looks like they will be pairing up Heroes with the new comedy, Parenthood. Crickets… What an odd combination of shows. Which one are they trying to kill off?
Come on NBC, surprise me and renew Chuck!
Sources: TV By The Numbers, THR Feed, EW
Fringe Gets Renewed
Didn’t I say last week that Fringe will probably be renewed? Fringe has been the number one performing (scripted) drama of the season for Fox and they’ve ordered a full 22 episodes for season 2. After what Sci-Fi did to Battlestar Galactica, I’m always nervous to reference 22 episodes as a whole season. Thanks Sci-Fi! (No, I’m not bitter.)
Also – Keep your eyes out for Leonard Nimoy in the May 12th season finale of Fringe.
Side note: Is that a Slusho in Walter’s hand? Yes… and if you look carefully at any of J.J. Abrams other shows, you’ll see it pop up in the most surprising moments. (I think I might do a report on that unnatural phenomenon. What do you think?)
Source: Sci Fi Wire
FX Network Is Getting Aggressive And Has Bucks To Spend
The TV guy gets to talk about movies for a change. Cool!
Even though X-Men Origins: Wolverine has only been out for less than a week, FX smells a good thing when they see one and went on a spending spree.
The FX cable network has bought the network rights to broadcast Wolverine. In fact, this isn’t the only movie they’ve snagged up. In a massively expensive deal they’ve also acquired the network rights to Taken, Marley and Me, The Wrestler, the wonderfully stoic (read: boring) remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, Bride Wars, 12 Rounds and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.
This is a big package deal and it can only be seen as an investment.
These latest acquisitions can be added to the network rights they’ve previously acquired for Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Baby Mama, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Hancock and DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda.
DVR, meet FX. FX, meet my DVR.
Source: Variety
Family Guy Spin-off, Cleveland: Already Renewed! (Weird)
If you order a show and it does well enough in the ratings, you order a 2nd season. Right? Well, in my world that’s how it’s done but what do I know? (You don’t have to answer that.)
Fox ordered this spinoff from Family Guy called Cleveland. The folks at Fox have gotten so excited about the show that they’ve already ordered a 2nd season… and it has yet to even premiere. Yep, you read that right. It hasn’t even aired yet.
First it was a 13 episode order, then they ordered more, making it a 22 episode order. Then they got even more excited and ordered more, making it a 35 episode order.
From the looks of things Fox is locking up it’s animated talent so they don’t drift off to other network. Or, the guys at Fox just have a ton of faith in Seth MacFarlane at this point.
Cleveland is the product of Seth MacFarlane, Rich Appel and Mike Henry with MacFarlane and Henry also doing some of the voice talent for the show.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Sci-Fi Channel Marathons
Over on the Sci-Fi Channel, we have a couple of all-day marathons coming at us.
If you’ve gotten this far in the article, and you’re a Star Trek fan, the Sci-Fi Channel is having a Star Trek marathon on Friday, May 8th. It’s Star Trek: Enterprise, but at the end of the day, Star Trek: First Contact will air. I’m guessing they’re trying to capitalize on the opening day hype of J.J. Abrams Star Trek.
If there are any Eureka fans in the crowd here, there will be a Eureka marathon on May 10th.
Source: The Sci Fi Channel
Dollhouse and Sarah Connor
Dollhouse may have a faithful following, but the ratings aren’t reflecting that there are enough of the faithful tuning in. Last weeks episode drew it’s worse estimated overnight ratings to date, with a 1.9 / 3 share. (Huh? I like using millions because it’s much easier to digest without having to consult my higher reasoning. A rating point represents approximately 1 million viewers. The share # is the % of TV’s that were turned on and tuned into the program. I know it’s not hard, but I like the big numbers.)
The Sarah Connor Chronicles has an even stronger following than Dollhouse and yet Fox is silent about their plans on the show.
Over on E Online they had a “save the show” kind of poll and after all was said and done, TSCC had 53% of the vote. It sounds impressive but that only accounts for 150k+ potential viewers. That’s not millions, so I’m guessing Fox or the advertisers probably don’t care.
Josh Friendman, the show runner, hasn’t even heard from Fox so he’s in the dark as much as we are.
Sources: Airlock Alpha, E Online
TV Ratings from April 27th to May 3rd
The Ratings for the last week had it’s usual ups and downs while Fox held on to the top spots with American Idol. I have to say, if Adam doesn’t win this season, the voting process needs to change big time. He is a true talent in the scheme of things.
Of the top 5 shows, 2 were scripted dramas. Go NCIS and The Mentalist! The Mentalist gained ~ 5 million viewers from the week before and jumped into the 4th slot.
Though 24 is getting better with each week, it oddly slipped from 16th to 22nd but the number of viewers remained the same.
Fringe dropped 11 spots (dOh!) to 29th while retaining the number of viewers.
NBC’s newest hot show Southland (so they say) dropped 14 spots to 48th while losing 2 million viewers.
The Unusuals continued its downward slide by 9 spots to be 63rd of 90 shows, losing an additional million viewers in the process.
| Rank – Show (Network) -Viewers In The Millions |
| 1 – American Idol-Tue (#1 for FOX) – 23.261 |
| 2 – American Idol-Wed (FOX) – 22.369 |
| 3 – Dancing With The Stars (#1 Show for ABC) – 19.285 |
| 4 – The Mentalist (CBS #1 Show) (CBS) – 17.113 |
| 5 – NCIS (CBS) – 16.698 |
| 6 – CSI (CBS) – 15.542 |
| 7 – Dancing W/Stars Results (ABC) – 14.72 |
| 8 – Two And A Half Men (CBS) – 14.163 |
| 9 – Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – 14.115 |
| 10 – Criminal Minds (CBS) – 13.611 |
| 11 – Desperate Housewives (ABC) – 13.485 |
| 12 – CSI: NY (CBS) – 12.504 |
| 13 – Cold Case (CBS) – 12.461 |
| 14 – 60 Minutes (CBS) – 12.312 |
| 15 – Without A Trace (CBS) – 12.209 |
| 16 – CSI: Miami (CBS) – 12.122 |
| 17 – Survivor: Tocantins (CBS) – 11.732 |
| 18 – House (FOX) – 11.693 |
| 19 – Rules Of Engagement (CBS) – 11.303 |
| 20 – Amazing Race 14 (CBS) – 10.843 |
| 21 – Law And Order:SVU (NBC #1 Show) (NBC) – 10.549 |
| 22 – 24 (FOX) – 10.428 |
| 23 – Criminal Minds R (CBS) – 10.228 |
| 24 – The Unit (CBS) – 9.971 |
| 25 – Ghost Whisperer (CBS) – 9.788 |
| 26 – Private Practice (ABC) – 9.702 |
| 27 – Numbers (CBS) – 9.696 |
| 28 – Flashpoint (CBS) – 9.663 |
| 29 – Fringe (Fox #1 Show) (FOX) – 9.623 |
| 30 – Biggest Loser 7 (NBC) – 9.258 |
| 33 – Brothers & Sisters (ABC) – 9.11 |
| 34 – Lost (ABC) – 9.037 |
| 36 – Bones (FOX) – 8.941 |
| 38 – Apprentice 8 (NBC) – 8.683 |
| 39 – Castle (ABC) – 8.235 |
| 41 – Law And Order (NBC) – 7.825 |
| 42 – Lie To Me (FOX) – 7.754 |
| 43 – Office (NBC) – 7.408 |
| 44 – Hell’s Kitchen (FOX) – 6.845 |
| 45 – Ugly Betty (ABC) – 6.724 |
| 46 – Medium (NBC) – 6.711 |
| 47 – Fox Nascar Sprint Cup-(S) S (FOX) – 6.671 |
| 48 – Southland (NBC) – 6.662 |
| 51 – Heroes (NBC) – 6.47 |
| 52 – 20/20-Fri (ABC) – 6.272 |
| 53 – Chuck (NBC) – 6.199 |
| 54 – 30 Rock (NBC) – 5.953 |
| 55 – Dateline Fri (NBC) – 5.814 |
| 59 – My Name Is Earl (NBC) – 5.159 |
| 61 – Parks And Recreation (NBC) – 5.069 |
| 62 – Dateline Sun-7Pm (NBC) – 5.056 |
| 63 – The Unusuals (ABC) – 4.861 |
| 64 – Law & Order:SVU R (NBC) – 4.588 |
| 68 – Wife Swap (ABC) – 4.087 |
| 69 – America’s Top Model – (Cw #1 Show) (CW) – 4.014 |
| 73 – Smallville (CW) – 3.234 |
| 74 – Prison Break (FOX) – 3.196 |
| 76 – Dollhouse (FOX) – 3.062 |
| 77 – Supernatural (CW) – 2.952 |
| 80 – One Tree Hill-Mon (CW) – 2.275 |
| 81 – Sit Down Shut Up P (FOX) – 2.058 |
| 82 – Gossip Girl (CW) – 1.972 |
| 84 – 90210 (CW) – 1.794 |
| 85 – Reaper (CW) – 1.765 |
Bruce’s Closing Thought
Did anyone catch the April 29th Criminal Minds episode titled “Big Wheel”, where Alex O’Loughlin guest starred? I have never seen an actor transform so differently between television roles like Alex did for this one. In fact I watched the episode and it wasn’t until the teaser opener was done that I recognized his eyes. And if I didn’t know at some point he was guest starring, I’d never have caught it. He changed his looks, his voice and mannerisms to the point of being this character.
Aside from O’Loughlin guest starring, for the first time in my life, I felt truly bad for the murderer. O’Loughlin pulled this off in a way I never expected and if you are even a partial fan of either the franchise or the actor, TRACK IT DOWN. That’s my recommendation for the week.
After seeing that, I truly am looking forward to his new pilot on CBS, a medical drama called Three Rivers.
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22 Comments
Look at the top 10 shows. Wow Nielsen voters love garbage.
There’s at least 4 shows I am willing to admit to, and one show that I may accidentally admit to because of eye-candy factor!
I see only 3 I watch on a regular basis. I used to watch CSI and Law and Order but have gotten away from them. I just don’t get why the reality shows are soo popular.
I just started reading the book “Mind at Light Speed” by professor David Nolte. It deals with how computers will be able to use light to process information, like our minds use light (images) to transfer infomation by neurons to the brain (think of the computers in Minority Report). While reading it, I kept thinking “Skynet”.
Geez, CBS rules lol. 13 out of the 20 first spots!
And about that Slusho report, I think it is a great idea. I mean, I really enjoy reading about those “unnatural phenomenon”s in some shows and I think it would be interesting what else you could find.
Always interesting post. Great job Bruce
Thanks “d”
I enjoyed the eppy The Big Wheel on Criminal Minds very much. I admit to tuning in because of Alex O’Loughlin. I found his portrayal of the OCD serial killer chilling and as far removed from Mick St John as he could get. He did a fantastic job in keeping with the quality of the show that CM is. The depth to his acting ability was astounding. He made you CARE for a serial killer and made you SAD that he died. You can write a great part, like Mirren did, but you have to ACT the part to bring the audience along with you through your tortured journey…and Alex did all that and more. I’m am VERY proud to be a fan of Alex O’Loughlin. Thank you for your enthusiastic review & I hope CBS gives Alex’s pilot, Three Rivers, the green light for a fall pick-up.
I am a big fan of Criminal Minds, but last week ’s episode “The Big Wheel” was an exception, I couldn’t help but to feel sorry for the serial killer, Alex O’Loughlin performance was truly amazing, he is a talented actor and I can’t wait to have him back on TV next Fall.
Thank you for your review!
Alex is a very talented actor. He did an amazing job portraying Vincent and he did most of it with no lines. I can only hope CBS picks up Three Rivers.
Alex O’Loughlin completely amazed me.
It’s one thing to see an actor in a different show. You think, oh, there they are, playing a different character.
For example, I watched Alessandro Juliani (Felix Gaeta from BSG) play a scientist on Smallville. It was Mr. Gaeta, with a different job… (By the way, Juliani is going to be in Riverworld on Sci Fi).
But O’loughlin was so completely different in his portrayel, that I did not realize who it was. Fortunately, I had reported it some months back that he was going to guest star and some fuzzy spark kicked in.
It was amazing. I watched a true actor portray a character, rather than an actor fulfilling a role with a slight twist on their personality…
And yes, it was a very emotional scene, watching the serial killer understand his mistake and lament about it.
I just became an admirer of the man. Wow.
Bruce…any ‘Game of Thrones’ news
yep…
Game Of Thrones Update, I only have a few tidbits -
The pilot will start to be filmed in October, in Ireland.
Word on the steet is that Peter Dinklage will be playing the character of Tyrion Lannister.
I’ll start looking around and pull together the new news for either next weeks article, or a stand alone update.
Keep your eyes peeled everyone and thanks for the great question Dennis.
Wow, in those top 20 shows, there is only one that I like (2 1/2 Men), but I don’t watch it because it’s on against Heroes and 24.
Someone flog Bruce for actually CARING about what happens on American Idol.
hey hey hey…
In the words of a famous “pilot”, “It’s not my fault!”
My wife watches… and I happen to live in the same house with her… Coincidence? I think not!
And I’ve trained her to fast forward through most of it…
We can watch 2 hours of drabble in about 20 minutes. And it’s funny to watch the judges talk and gesture in FF. Or on my DVD recorder, sound like chipmunks in FF1 mode.
But really, this Adam Lambert guy IS good. That’s all … I’m done… tough house here. I have to be fair and give everyone a decent shake. Don’t I?
Thanks Bruce….this site is wicked….your awesome…Peter Dinklage is really good
I can’t believe people aren’t watching The Unusuals.
Sarieh…
I do believe no one is watching THE UNUSUALS and their ratings are proof…
I gave the show a go at it a couple of times. It did nothing for me either time. It felt too contrived and I don’t think they have the right cast in the right spots in the show…
But that’s just my take on it.
I really did give it a try!
On the other hand, I just saw my first epi of FLASHPOINT… and wow… that was fun.
Another show that got my attention was THE BEAST, but it’s not on my ratings list because I only cover the primary networks and I don’t want to have to put up list where RAW and WWE are the No 1 and 2 shows week in and week out.
‘Nuff said on that one!
Bruce,
I tried watching The Unusuals a couple of times and it didn’t seem to grab me. I think LIFE on NBC is a MUCH better show, but yet I always seem to forget about it. I wish NBC would stop changing days shows are on.
There’s no excuse for watching Idol, my friend. My GF likes the show, but I make her watch it when I am not around. LOL…BTW, she is a music teacher and HATES the guy you are talking about. She’s ready to give up on the show…..she’s learning….
I saw the Criminal Minds episode “The Big Wheel” and felt the same way. How could I feel sorry for a serial killer? So I agree, give this man his own show. And from the little bit I know about Three Rivers, I can’t wait for the drama.
Really hope they give SCTTC another series. The second one did sag a bit but the ending was brilliant and left things in a very interesting place.
do you have any information regarding One Tree Hill?
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