This week’s weekly TV report from April 30th, 2009 chats a little about Chuck’s sandwich run, the probable return of Fringe, a new character for Burn Notice and how Harper’s Island is not only sinking, but moving – much like the island on Lost! We’ve also got some syndication news on My Own Worst Enemy, Knight Rider and Dollhouse. Yep, syndication news on Dollhouse. That can’t be good. Read on folks!
Chuck Takes Fans To Subway
Though they feel they’re currently on the good side of the ratings / cancel bubble, the cast of Chuck are still trying to take care of their sponsors.
While the cast was attending a Starfury convention T1 event in Birmingham, U.K., a fan suggested they try to help the show by supporting a sponsor, in this case, Subway. Zachary Levi and Adam Baldwin (who else would have done this?) then asked those in attendance if they’d follow them to a local Subway. Sure enough, they ended up leading about 400 convention attendees to the poor beleaguered sandwich shop. That would have sucked to be the guy behind the counter when this unruly gang showed up!
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Zachary even got behind the counter and helped out until the very last customer was taken care of. Some headlines said they treated the fans, but I think they meant treated fans to their company. Not treated as in buying them sandwiches.
Now we wait and see if Chuck gets renewed. But we need to keep something in mind: because NBC is cutting hours out of the prime-time schedule to make room for Jay Leno’s show, it’s hard to say what show is safe and not safe. We can only hope for Chuck to make the grade.
Source: End Of Show
Fringe Will Probably Be Back
If J.J. Abrams has anything to say about it, Fringe will be back for a second season. In fact he said so! No, there’s no official word, but he’s talking as if he knows something, so there’s that. As it stands, he says they have some pretty dynamic stuff in store for a second season.
On an interesting note, Abrams admitted that he has very little to do ABC’s Lost at this point in time and that it’s all Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and Jack Bender who are doing a spectacular job.
Sidenote: Though Fox will air 22 episodes of Fringe, they’ve shot 23, because Fox originally bought 23 episodes. We can expect the see the 23rd episode next season. Does this almost sound familiar or what (the mysterious Dollhouse 13th episode)?
Fringe season 1 finale is on May 12th.
Source: Sci Fi WIre
Dollhouse, Knight Rider and My Own Worst Enemy to Sci-Fi
It’s being reported that Dollhouse, Knight Rider and My Own Worst Enemy are all headed to syndication mode over on the Sci-Fi Channel. But before anyone gets their hopes up, it’s the Sci-Fi in the UK, so UK readers rejoice.
To be honest, when Sci-Fi picks up another network show, that is because it has usually gone into repeat mode and it won’t have any new episodes.
I wonder if Fox letting Sci-Fi get the rights for UK distribution of Dollhouse is some kind of death knell for the Joss Whedon project? Typical… welcome to Friday, say goodnight Gracie.
Source: Digital Spy, Digital Spy,
Burn Notice Gets A New Character
The cast of Burn Notice got a new character whose name is Tom Strickler. He’s a smooth talking freelance spy broker who says he has the ability to cancel Michael’s burn notice.
Strickler will be played by Ben Shenkman and is slated for at least 4 episodes and he will show up in mid-season.
Burn Notice is slated to return for its 3rd season in mid-June.
PS: Don’t forget, not only are we getting a 3rd season, but USA Network (NBC Owned) had renewed the show for 2 seasons, so we have a 4th season coming next year!
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Harper’s Island Moved to Saturday Nights
Ratings aren’t backing up the weekly escapades of a frenzied mystery killer on Harper’s Island. Because no one is buying into it, the show is getting pushed to the second-worst night of the week and that’s Saturday (seeing as how Fox has Friday night all squared away and all).
But CBS is quick to point out that the 7-day playback ratings are good outside Harper’s Island’s Thursday night air time. Are those studio execs good at attempted spin, or what? The last pick-up truck I rolled and destroyed, the radio still worked! See? I could work for CBS.
Starting May 2nd, Harper’s Island will be on at 9PM and will be the lead-in for 48 Hours Mystery on CBS.
Source: CBS Press
ABC’s Renewed Shows
ABC has announced their list of shows that are coming back next year. To be thorough, I’m adding everything, though I cringe at some of it.
The shows renewed for the 2009 – 2010 season are:
Lost, Ugly Betty and others. Oh… I said thorough, didn’t I? They’ll also be bringing back America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, (Because on-air break ups are all the rage these days.) Brothers & Sisters, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Supernanny, and Wife Swap. (I can’t help but think interesting thoughts with that last show title. Sorry.)
Source: ABC
Is Fox Making A Political Statement?
On Wednesday, Fox Broadcasting Company did not air President Obama’s Wednesday nights news conference. They’re opted to air Lie To Me and their bread winning reality show, the results episode of American Idol.
It was an interesting bit of gamble and social statement and sadly, the social statement was surprising as ratings between the shows were comparably even.
Wow – reality TV trumps the President. But then, it is Fox. (Note: The CW never breaks for presidential telecasts.)
Weekly Ratings Reported
The usual shows sat in the top 10 slots yet again. CSI stayed strong. Last week the repeat (R) of Criminal Minds sat in 19th and the new episode popped into 6th.
NCIS held on to a top 10 spot, though this week’s the episode introduced it’s cast / team for it’s new spin-off show. Did anyone catch it? What did you think. I’m betting it’s in the top 5 in next week’s chart.
Lost lost it and dropped to 43rd from last week’s 28th spot. I think people are getting tired of non-linear stories. But this weeks episode was pretty decent in my opinion… oh, they stayed fairly linear this week. Sort of.
Castle popped up 8 spots to 32nd while Southland surprisingly faded from 25 to 34th. Harper’s Island keeps sliding down the chart, now sitting in 41st, while Heroes slid down to 49th. What is up with that?
Chuck held steady, while Smallville moved up from 83rd to 75th. Supernatural held fast while Dollhouse and Prison Break are still suffering the Friday night slot.
Look for your favorite show in the list below and tell us your thoughts on the different issues at hand here this week!
| Rank – Show (Network) -Viewers In The Millions |
| 1 – American Idol – Tuesday (FOX) – 23.963 – FOX’s Best Performer |
| 2 – American Idol – Wednesday (FOX) – 23.947 |
| 3 – Dancing With The Stars (ABC) – 20.528 – ABC’s Best Performer |
| 4 – Dancing With The Stars Results (ABC) – 14.725 |
| 5 – CSI (CBS) – 14.639 – CBS’s – Best Performer |
| 6 – Criminal Minds (CBS) – 13.723 |
| 7 – Desperate Housewives (ABC) – 13.642 |
| 8 – Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – 13.511 |
| 9 – NCIS (CBS) – 12.648 |
| 10 – The Mentalist R (CBS) – 12.456 |
| 11 – Two And A Half Men R (CBS) – 11.484 |
| 12 – Survivor: Tocantins (CBS) – 11.303 |
| 13 – Rules Of Engagement (CBS) – 10.588 |
| 14 – Cold Case (CBS) – 10.566 |
| 15 – 60 Minutes (CBS) – 10.52 |
| 16 – 24 (FOX) – 10.341 |
| 17 – Amazing Race 14 (CBS) – 10.268 |
| 18 – Fringe (FOX) – 9.895 |
| 19 – Surviving Suburbia (ABC) – 9.869 |
| 22 – Brothers & Sisters (ABC) – 9.309 |
| 23 – Biggest Loser 7 (NBC) – 9.261 – NBC’s Best Performer |
| 24 – Ghost Whisperer (CBS) – 9.228 |
| 25 – Private Practice (ABC) – 9.084 |
| 26 – The Unit (CBS) – 8.839 |
| 27 – Numb3rs (CBS) – 8.82 |
| 28 – Extreme Makeover:Home Ed (ABC) – 8.661 |
| 29 – Bones (FOX) – 8.568 |
| 31 – Apprentice 8 (NBC) – 8.273 |
| 32 – Castle (ABC) – 8.208 |
| 33 – Flashpoint (CBS) – 8.192 |
| 34 – Southland (NBC) – 8.11 |
| 35 – Lie To Me (FOX) – 7.973 |
| 37 – The Big Bang Theory R (CBS) – 7.593 |
| 38 – Medium (NBC) – 7.341 |
| 39 – Office (NBC) – 7.283 |
| 40 – Law And Order:SVU R (NBC) – 7.037 |
| 41 – Harper’s Island (CBS) – 7.02 |
| 42 – Hell’s Kitchen (FOX) – 6.803 |
| 43 – Lost (ABC) – 6.745 |
| 44 – Family Guy (FOX) – 6.666 |
| 46 – How I Met Your Mother R (CBS) – 6.6 |
| 48 – 20/20 (ABC) – 6.561 |
| 49 – Heroes (NBC) – 6.455 |
| 50 – 30 Rock (NBC) – 6.296 |
| 51 – Chuck (NBC) – 6.113 |
| 52 – Law And Order R (NBC) – 6.094 |
| 53 – Simpsons (FOX) – 6.005 |
| 54 – The Unusuals (ABC) – 5.809 |
| 55 – Law & Order R (NBC) – 5.695 |
| 57 – My Name Is Earl (NBC) – 5.537 |
| 58 – Parks And Recreation (NBC) – 5.26 |
| 59 – American Dad (FOX) – 5.129 |
| 60 – Dateline Sun (NBC) – 4.992 |
| 62 – Dateline Fri (NBC) – 4.806 |
| 64 – Scrubs-Wed 8Pm (ABC) – 4.604 |
| 66 – America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back (FOX) – 4.504 |
| 67 – Sit Down Shut Up (FOX) – 4.212 |
| 68 – Better Off Ted (ABC) – 4.186 |
| 69 – America’s Top Model – 6 (CW) – 4.013 – CW’s Best Performer |
| 70 – Cops 2 (FOX) – 3.918 |
| 71 – Wife Swap (ABC) – 3.793 |
| 72 – According To Jim-Tu 8Pm (ABC) – 3.365 |
| 75 – Smallville (CW) – 3.103 |
| 76 – Howie Do It 8P (NBC) – 3.091 |
| 77 – Prison Break (FOX) – 3.061 |
| 79 – Dollhouse (FOX) – 2.92 |
| 80 – King Of Hill-Sun 7:30P (FOX) – 2.886 |
| 81 – Supernatural (CW) – 2.703 |
| 82 – One Tree Hill-Mon (CW) – 2.45 |
| 83 – Gossip Girl-Mon (CW) – 2.37 |
| 85 – Reaper (CW) – 2.145 |
| 86 – 90210 (CW) – 1.879 |
| 87 – The Game (CW) – 1.83 |
| 89 – Everybody Hates Chris (CW) – 1.696 |
| 93 – Jericho R (CW) – 0.584 |
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23 Comments
Here in the UK, we don’t have a FOX station, any Fox shows aired here are aired by whatever network happens to buy them. Thus, during their run, we got Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Sky 1 which played through to season 3 until it was bought by the BBC and aired on BBC 2, while Angel showed on Channel 4 at roughly the same time as season 4 aired (they were annoyingly out of sync, them being on different stations), both way before either were canceled. Also, Sci-Fi here in the UK were the only station to air Firefly here (and they also show Buffy and Angel in syndication), so it makes sense they’d grab Dollhouse to get the full set.
I’m not saying this is an indication of Dollhouse, all signs point to a dead show, I’m just pointing it out is all.
Joshi:
That’s actually good to be aware of. Of late, Sci-Fi has been grabbing up rights to dead shows, so that sparked my concerns.
Then we need to program more actives from Josh Whedon’s Dollhouse to cross their fingers and keep hoping for a 2nd season!
IF Sci-Fi was smart (and with the whole “SyFy” thing I have my doubts), they would take shows like “Dollhouse”, “Journeyman” and “Knight Rider” and make brand new episodes. The ratings that those shows had on network TV would be great cable ratings.
“Chuck” better not be cancelled or I will not watch ANYTHING on NBC EVER AGAIN. Next to “24″, it’s my favorite show. I like Heroes, but CHUCK is so much better than Heroes right now it’s not even funny.
As for the ratings, well it’s the usual garbage in the top 10 again. I truly think America is brain dead.
I think it is smart and good for Fox to opt out of airing the President. I’ve always wondered if every single major network really needed to air it. It really only needs to be on one to be honest. If people want to see it they will put it on that channel. Besides I would much rather watch American idol than see Obama talk I would also rather stab my self in the leg with a fork. I couldn’t care any less about Obama. While I would watch other people that might of been president ultimately with our power structure the president can talk all day and for the most part it’s meaningless. Most of what they talk about has been leaked already, will be written out and described better the next day or simply will never happen and is nothing more than a pipe dream.
It was the production studio that sold Dollhouse to the SciFi Channel not the network.
Awesome news about Burn Notice. I love that show.
Fingers crossed for Chuck. I really love that show.
Finger and toes crossed for Dollhouse. I absolutely love that show.
I am kind of disappointed that only Sci Fi UK is picking up Knight Rider. I really enjoyed that show.
@Jeff
Um… the old Knight Rider right? The original show?
Plus, the new Knight Rider was already canceled, so there’s no real point in a big UK station picking it up.
I agree with Andy S…. Americans must be brain dead and I don’t know what to say about network execs who are the decision makers about which shows live or die. What is with this total obsession with bad reality TV and stupid shows (Lost ?????) While I have no problem with some of the top 10 choices I always challenge if these ratings (that they base everything on) are a true reflection of what people think because when some shows are canceled you get a huge outcry that shows major support of the show.
Ellen
The outcry of a few million don’t tip the scales against 20+ million, unfortunately.
Advertisers control what stays and what dies. They pay the bills and they pay attention to the demographics that control their wallet.
It sucks for the fans of honest quality programming because Joe Plumber wants to come home and watch mice trapped in houses or a live version of Gilligan’s Island.
In other words, we’re doomed to single and double season DVD collections of good programming.
Unfortunately, what Bruce says is true. Films make their money off of ticket sales, TV makes it’s money from the advertisers. Low ratings means less people seeing adverts means advertisers won’t advertise with you, means no money means no TV. Way of the business unfortunately. More often than not, a TV exec will actually like a decent show, but be forced to cancel it for the reality crap which unfortunately, brings in more viewers. And it’s not just American’s who love reality TV more than decent programming.
And one more thing JOSHI,
I think, we, the sci-fi fan are smarter than the average bear… because we don’t get “persuaded” into blathering all over ourselves to buy the latest cool product being advertised in our face.
That and DVR’s hurt ratings / advert money too, unfortunately.
@Bruce
DVR is certainly an issue. I know that DVR ratings for Dollhouse are pretty decent, but aren’t generaly taken into account. I live in the UK, so I personally can’t contribute to the Dollhouse ratings anyway (having to find… other means to watch it), but essentially, it’s a decent show (now) by Whedon, and if it’s being shown on a night where people are generally going to be out, that means DVR will likely be big for a good quality show.
No Doubt JOSHI,
But DVR viewers don’t bring money to the advertisers. We pesky time-shifted viewers tend to skip those insidious interruptions to our alternate mind set, albeit, no matter how short (40 something minutes) it may be.
Bruce (Can someone tell me why the heck I’m signing my comments? Interesting habit.)
I hope Chuck returns for season 3.
I think I am done with Heroes. The problem is that pretty much any conflict could more or less be resolved more easily if the Haitian just stepped in and nullified everybody’s powers or even if Hiro just stopped time. Heroes manages to find the dumbest ways to resolve conflicts.
Comments about Buffy & Angel on 30th April, Sky ! showed Buffy right through from season 1 to season 7, when the BBC got it they started showing it from season 1.
When Angel started on Sky1 it was in sync with Buffy, it fact I do recall it was aired straight after Buffy.
Those who could only get BBC & CH4 were watching it out of sync.
That’s funny, I admit I could be mistaken about Sky 1 showing Buffy all the way through, but I don’t recall them ever having Angel, nor them showing it in sync with Buffy, and I had Sky 1 back then.
Maybe I’m mistaken about that too.
They were shown on a Thursday or Friday, when Angel reached it’s 2nd or 3rd they changed they day it was shown changed to that of Buffy.
Don’t know how far behind we were to the air date of that in the U.S but cast your mind back to 1999, Buffy, season 4 – episode 8 (Pangs) shown on sky 1 at 8pm, Angel goes to Sunnydale to help Buffy but she doesn’t know it, when she finds out she’s angry and storms of to L.A.
Roll on Angel Season 1, episode 8 (I Will Remember You)shown after at 9pm, sure it was a Thursday night, Buffy’s in that episode.
Once season 7 finished Sky 1 repeated the whole lot again as they do with most of sci fi fantasy shows.
Fair enough. To be honest, I didn’t fully get into Buffy until it was shown on BBC and never really got into Angel at all, but I did know the BBC and Channel 4 episodes were shown out of sync.
Thanks for the info.
I really want Dollhouse back. It has so much potential and so many unanswered questions. I think that it’s a show that doesn’t have a happy ending at all. Like, for instance, the season finale on Friday will probably be a happy ending in the sense that Alpha is taken down. . . but there is no way Ballard gets Caroline out. Or Ballard or Boyd live. Something bad has to happen I think for this show to be great. And Joss isn’t afraid to have bad things happen to his characters. In Angel, Angel lets the Wolfram and Hart lawyers get slaughtered by Drusilla and Darla, not to mention the whole Wesley having to fight for his redemption after taking Connor away. Buffy dealt with Willow trying to overcome her spat of bad and skinning someone alive. Firefly didn’t have any real bad things, but the movie killed off two great characters in Wash and Book. Joss isn’t afraid of the unhappy ending, and that’s why his shows really don’t get a lot of respect and/or viewers. I personally love the fact that he doesn’t try to make things all end happy because things don’t always end happy. In conclusion, I want Dollhouse back.
I also want Castle to come back because that show is hilariously off the wall at times. At some points though, they try to joke about death and such and that’s not always a good thing, but I like that it’s trying to push the envelope. Burn Notice is a show I got hooked onto. It reminds me sort of like The A-Team. . . sort of. Another show I’d love to see come back is A&E’s The Beast. The chances of that happening though are probably pretty slim. I would like to see the Barker/Red Gauntlet story resolved. And I want to see Ellis not be a bitch when it comes to telling the girl he likes that he works for the FBI. . . I mean, I understand you don’t want to give away your cover and such, but why not just tell her you work for a government agency?
Those are my opinions for television as of now. I could come back and talk more about Dollhouse later, haha.
Joss is known to do some dark things in a way that isn’t traditionally dark, which is always interesting for him. I just re-watched the final episode of Buffy and was in awe of his handling, or lack thereof of Anya’s death… the fact that it happens so suddenly, randomly and really has no pay off is really interesting. It just happens in the blink of an eye and then the scene moves on to the rest of the fight.
As for Dollhouse, the problem is, there’s ambiguity everywhere, there’s no clear deinition of good or bad. The people running the Dollhouse are meant to be the bad guys and yet are painted as good in a lot of ways. And as for Alpha, yes a little knife crazy he is, but it does seem his motives are altruistic, so him succeeding in bringing the Dollhouse down may be what we want. Guess we have till this Friday to see what Joss does.
I’ll be very interested in getting the DVD when it’s out for the 13th episode.
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