Two Tivos To Paradise 10.07.11: Arrested Development, The Simpsons, South Park, Dexter, Breaking Bad, 2 Broke Girls, and more!
Posted by Al Norton on 10.07.2011
News and thoughts on the return of Arrested Development, The Simpsons' contract dispute, the first cancellations of the season, the Coen Brothers getting into TV, Psych's premiere and more!
Hello friends. Thanks for all the birthday wishes last week. I can honestly say that my 40th birthday was my best ever, with a great day at the aquarium with Mrs. Tivo and the kids as the main highlight, supported brilliantly by a meal at Texas Roadhouse, ice cream from Cold Stone, and the amazing gift of a brick with all our names on it that, as part of Fenway Park's 100th anniversary, will be placed at the home of the Red Sox forever where we can see it anytime we visit the park.
I know you may be sick of me shilling for the TTTP Facebook page but we are coming off of our best month ever, with reader interaction up almost 30%. It really is fun to get all of your thoughts on all-things-TV, plus even more entertaining to see you engage each other. Plus there is some content there you can't find here, and you get to hear about the news as it happens. Seriously, check us out; you're life will be better for it.
I don't mean to engage in hyperbole but this looks like it has the potential to rank among the best seasons of a cooking show ever…
Last week we gave you one of the songs off of Will Dailey's new album – Will Dailey and the Rivals – and today I give you Big Bright Sun, my new guaranteed good mood song.
Syfy has done quite well for itself in the re-imagined classics mini-series game, and next up is Neverland…
Wish I could tie you up in my news, make you feel unpretty, too.
THIS JUST IN - Fox released the first trailer for their new drama Touch on Thursday night...
Here, Have A Dollar, In Fact, No, Brotherman, Here, Have Two
Mitch Hurwitz told an audience at last Sunday's New Yorker Festival that not only was an Arrested Development movie still on track but that he also planned a 10 episode fourth season of the series to run in the months leading up to the movie's release. Various cast members tweeted confirmations, saying the plan was to film both projects at the same time in 2012, with a 2013 release/air date in mind, and that the entire original cast was on board. AD ran for three seasons on Fox (2003 – 2006), earning a cult following and six Emmys with its 53 episodes. Hulu, Showtime and Netflix are reported to be the networks that the series' production company 20th Century Fox has talked to about this new season, which would focus each episode on a different member of the Bluth family.
While this is still a long way from happening it is nonetheless impressive that a cancelled TV show is generating this much buzz five years later. Between DVD's and the reruns airing on IFC, it's clear the show has a much larger following now than it ever did while on Fox. And, to be fair, while fans lamented the shows cancellation, three seasons and 53 episodes on a major network is a pretty good run and more than enough time to for the show to break through to the masses.
A show being called "ahead of its time" is a bit of a cliché but in AD's case it is 100% true; if the series were to have been developed (see what I did there?) even 5 years after it premiered, it would have likely ended up on cable, where it would have enjoyed critical raves and lower ratings expectations and quite possibly would still be on the air.
I Said I'm Sorry Babe, I'm Leavin' You Tonight, I Found Somebody New, He's Waiting In The Car Outside
Stalled contract negotiations have put the future of two critically acclaimed and much loved shows in jeopardy this week, with each having its own particulars involved in the (non) deals.
News about issues between 20th Century Fox TV and the cast of The Simpsons broke on Tuesday morning, with the production company taking a hard line stance that salaries be cut by 45% across the board or this would be the show's final season. The cast had countered with a 30% salary reduction but a small piece of the show's back end (DVD's, merchandise, syndication) added into their deals. This is hardly the first time there have been contract disputes between the cast and 20th TV; not only does there seem to be a huge battle every few years but one time it got so bad that open auditions to land new voice talent were scheduled before an agreement was reached.
Later in the day came word that talks between Showtime and Dexter star Michael C Hall had fallen apart just days before filming the show's 6th season was set to wrap. The network has reportedly offered Hall $20 million for two additional seasons while the actor has asked for $24 million for the same period of time. The negotiations collapsing came 24 hours after the news that the show had hit a series high in the ratings with its Sunday season 6 premiere.
Let's address the easier of the issues first – Hall gets $21 million for the two seasons and everyone goes home happy. Easy enough, right?
On to the more complicated of the contract disputes. 20th TV says the show is losing money with the current salary structure and they will not start another season unless drastic changes are made. How is The Simpsons losing money? The answer is, it's not. Not unless you engage in the type of math that Hollywood studios and professional sports teams use. The Simpsons may not make money on the actual episodes when they air on Fox – ratings, while solid, have dropped over the years and advertising revenue is not what it once was – but DVD & merchandise sales and syndication rights have been and continue to be a cash cow. 20th TV treats that as a different profit center on their books, however, which allows them to say with some semblance of a straight face that the show loses money. It's a stupid argument that no one with any brains will buy.
Sports teams frequently take the same tact; they claim they lose money but they treat merchandise sales, parking, and concessions as separate entities so their books can back them up as they laugh about their creative math all the way to the bank, even at times taking money from other owners as part of revenue sharing.
Complicating things further was a story from late Tuesday that said News Corp (the parent company of Fox) could make as much as an additional $750 million if the show were to be cancelled. The original Simpsons syndication deal said the show could only be show to local networks, and when the series ends, so does the deal, meaning contracts with national cable networks and on-line distributers could be negotiated. RBC Capital Markets analyst David Banks estimated that each episode would be worth between $1 – 2 million, and with the current episode total being 506, that's a LOT of cash. It also means that 20th TV may not be negotiating in good faith, since the show may be worth more to them once its cancelled, since money will continue to pour in with zero production costs.
I don't begrudge 20th TV for trying to lower their costs but a 30% pay reduction in exchange for a small percentage of the back end profits seems like a more than fair compromise, the idea being they actors help with the bottom line now and get to share in whatever profits may come in down the line. My guess is that the back end pie is so huge that 20th TV would die before giving up even a sliver of it and will eventually end up signing a new deal with a smaller (but still dramatic) pay cut than their current 45% or nothing offer.
I Didn't Say We Wouldn't Hurt Anymore, That's How You Learn, You Just Get Burned
Comedy Central airs South Park: 6 Days to Air this Sunday at 10pm, a one hour behind the scenes look at how an episode of the long running animated comedy series is put together.
Normally I would save this for the TV Picks of the Week Section but this is a rare and amazing opportunity to see what goes into the making of an episode of television, which makes it worth the time for fans of the industry, let alone for the millions of South Park disciples out there. I heard they were going to do a similar show about the making of a Family Guy episode but all the footage they got was Seth MacFarlane watching The Simpsons. ZING.
Sunny Day, Sweepin' The Clouds Away, On My Way To Where The Air Is Sweet
The Sesame Street video of the week…
But You Were Up To Your Old Tricks In Chapters Four Five And Six
All you need to know about the Nielsen's for the past 7 days…
THURSDAY
Bad start for How to be a Gentleman, down 33% from $#@! My Dad Says premiere numbers last fall…Community and Parks and Recreation were both up a bit…The Big Bang Theory matched last week and was the night's top demo performer as well as the most watched show overall…X-Factor was down a tad from last week, still giving Fox fantastic numbers for a Thursday but nowhere near Idol ratings, which some people seemed to unreasonably think would be possible. Fox had the best demo average for the night, and that's what matters to them…Person of Interest was down 13%, finishing first in total viewers at 9pm but fourth (last) in demos…Whitney was down 24% in week two, and Prime Suspect dropped 17% from last week's poor premiere numbers…Private Practice had its worst demos ever for a season premiere but that was still enough to win 10pm, with The Mentalist topping the hour in total viewers…The Vampire Diaries was up 7% in total viewers and 17% in target demos while The Secret Circle was up 11% in target demos…
FRIDAY
Not a great night for scripted series, with everything showing demo drops from the week before…Kitchen Nightmares matched last week while 20/20 was up 20%....On the down side were Fringe (-20%), Dateline (-20%), and A Gifted Man (-14%) all three of which tied for lowest demos of the night (Fringe actually hit a series low in demos)…Blue Bloods was down but still won the night in totals and demos…Big night for Disney, with the series premiere of Jessie pulling in 4.6 million total viewers plus demos that made it the best Friday night series premiere for the network in 3 years. Those numbers helped lead-out Phineas & Ferb hit a series high…
SATURDAY
Melissa McCarthy's hot streak continues; in September she won an Emmy, followed by the season premiere of Mike and Molly hit series highs in the ratings, and now her SNL episode was up 2% from the previous week and 8% from week two last fall…
SUNDAY Dexter hit a series high with its season six premiere, the best season premiere for Showtime in 14 years. Lead out Homeland gave the network its best dramatic series premiere numbers in 8 years…Pan Am was down 30% in total viewers and 19% in the demos…Family Guy was the top rated non-sporting event demo performer of the night…The Simpsons was down 23%...Sunday Night Football was the most watched show of the night among total viewers and demos…3.9 million watched the first two hours of Ken Burns' Prohibition on PBS…
MONDAY Terra Nova was up in the demos in week two, giving it the best week-one-to-week-two demos for a new show this fall…How I Met Your Mother was up a bit from last week, making it three weeks in a row the show has hit a series high for that week in a season…Dancing with the Stars posted a series low…Two and a Half Men was down 18% but is still out performing last season's finale, which most/all knew would be Charlie Sheen's last episode, by huge amounts, with almost double the demos from that episode. It was also the night's most watched show overall…Hawaii 5-0 won the 10:00 demos with easy while Castle won in total viewers…Hart of Dixie is a hit for The CW, up 13% in target demos from week one…The Playboy Club was down another 8% in the demos, leading to the news found below…The season premier of House was down from last fall but up more than 10% from last spring's finale…The biggest ratings surprise of the summer/fall is Style's Tia & Tamara, which set network highs with its season premiere and Monday's finale was up from that opening in pretty much every measurable category, up 19% in the overall demos and 32% in Style's target female demos…
TUESDAY New Girl won the night in demos for the third week in a row…Glee was up but still finished second in the demos at 8pm behind the juggernaut that is NCIS, which also won the night (and likely the week) in total viewers with 18.9 million)…The Biggest Loser posted its worst fall demos ever…Ringers was down a huge 33% in the demos, while lead-in 90210 was down 25%...Body of Proof was up 11% …Unforgettable was down a smidge but still won 10pm in totals and demos…
WEDNESDAY Modern Family won the night in demos for the third week in a row…The X-Factor matched last week's demos exactly, showing that there is an audience for the show and it's a strong one…CSI won 10:00pm in totals and demos for the second week in a row…Survivor dropped to an all-time demo low…Suburgatory may have dropped a bit but it added to its lead-in audience again…Revenge was second in demos at 10pm and third in total viewers, with SVU switching those two around…Harry's Law tied a series low…Up All Night improved in week four, with NBC being up in the 8-8:30 slot 57% from last year…American Horror Story enjoyed strong premiere numbers, with numbers that matched the Nip/Tuck debut and trumped the Sons of Anarchy premiere by 30+%. It's expected that when the Live+7 numbers are calculated it will be no worse than the second best series premiere in network history and may indeed top The Shield for the top honor…
All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…While it has yet to be officially confirmed, it looks like Madonna will be the halftime entertainment for the Super Bowl in February…The Coen Brothers are getting into TV with HarveKebo, an hour long comedy pilot at Fox. The show, written by Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids), who co-created the series with Ethan and Joel, is about an LA private eye with anger management issues and the seedy folks he encounters in his work…The Playboy Club became the first cancellation of the year, pulled from the schedule now and replaced at the end of the month by the new news magazine Rock Center with Brian Williams…The second series cancelled was also from NBC, with Free Agents getting pulled after four weeks. Speculation is that reruns of <>Whitney will fill that spot for the short term…NBC picked up full seasons of Up All Night and Whitney…Bruce Miller, who just finished up his run as showrunner on Eureka (a series he created), will take over as the man in charge of Alphas' second season next summer…CBS picked up a full season of 2 Broke Girls…The finale season premiere of Chuck has been pushed back a bit, now set for Friday October 28th, paired with the series premiere of Grimm as part of a Halloween themed evening of programming…Danny Masterson (That 70's Show) has been cast as the lead in the TBS pilot Men at Work, with James Lesure and Adam Busch in supporting roles. The comedy, about a guy who was dumped by his girlfriend and who turns to his friends to help him get his life back on track, was created by Breckin Meyer… ABC has End of the World in development, a comedy from Steve Hely (The Office) about three scientists who decide to seize the day after coming across some startling information about the earth's future…Jim Breur will star in the ABC comedy pilot about a married guy who shares his house with his wife, three daughters, and his Dad…The on-line launch of One Life to Live is taking shape, with TOLN (The Online Network) signing the show's head writer and producer, Emmy winner Ron Carlivati, to continue that job… Michelle Fazekas and Tara Butters, who worked together at Law & Order: SVU and created Reaper, have two new pilots in development; Notorious is at CBS, a crime drama about a cop as well known for his personal life as for his case solving abilities, and an untitled show with The CW where a woman finds out that the cosmetic company she just started working for is really a Men-In-Black like government agency…Vince Vaughn will executive produce Sullivan and Son, a comedy for TBS about a successful lawyer who surprisingly quits his job in NYC to come home and run the family bar in Pittsburgh. Comedian Steve Byrne stars…Ugly Betty creator Silvio Horta is working on a show for Fox based on the blog Texts From Last Night…Lifetime is working on Fame Monster: The Lady Gaga Story…Lifetime's new Project Runway All Stars and Project Accessory premiere on November 3rd…The Five, which was serving as a temporary replacement for Glenn Beck's show on Fox News, has been picked up as a permanent series…The NFL Network will air Arena Football coverage for the third year in a row…NBC is developing a family sitcom that will star Snoop Dogg. The project is being written by Don Reo, a guy with an amazing resume that includes producing stints on Two and a Half Men, Everybody Hates Chris, Till Death, My Wife and Kids, Action, Blossom, The John Larroquette Show, Private Benjamin, Rhoda, and MASH while also writing episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, All in the Family, and Sandford and Son, . Man, I should try to set up an interview with that guy!...ABC has landed a sitcom about firefighters from Cougar Town and Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence…James Marsden will do six episodes of 30 Rock…Lizzy Caplan will guest on 3 episodes of New Girl…Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have sold a comedy pilot to ABC about a Dominican American who struggles honoring the traditions of his culture while living a typical American life… Jon Favreau, Michael Dougherty, and Seth Green are executive producers on Secret Cabinet, an ABC pilot described as The West Wing meets The X-Files. Favreau is writing the pilot and will direct, assuming the project gets that far… Fox is working on turning Lev Grossman's fantasy novel The Magicians into a series, with Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, who together wrote Thor and X-Men: First Class, scripting the pilot. Miller and Stentz also worked together on The Sarah Connor Chronicles...Cinemax picked up a second season of Strike Back...Fox renewed MasterChef for a third season...
Turns Out Not Where But Who You're With That Really Matters
(The Best of What's Around aka The Best Thing I've Watched In The Last Seven Days)…
I do my best to not get too political on this page but I do enjoy posting clips from B>The Daily Show because they are really more about pointing out hypocrisy than pushing a specific agenda (yes, I truly believe that), so with that in mind I give you the latest edition of Back in Black…
If there isn't something here to make you laugh than I just don't know what to tell you.
People Say I'm Crazy Doing What I'm Doing. Well, They Give Me All Kinds Of Warnings To Save Me From Ruin
What's flashed before my eyes the last seven days…Really liking the Meredith - Derek stuff on Grey's Anatomy so far this year. Taking the specifics out of it, they fight the way real married people fight, and sometimes what you love about someone is also what is causing the biggest issues. Also, Sandra Oh has owned it these first two episodes…Terra Nova is entertaining enough. Lots of plot going on in a pretty cool setting, and the overly cheesy dialogue seems to fit. Always happy when Allison Miller (Kings) is back on my TV screen, and the same goes for Jason O'Mara…I must say I've greatly enjoyed The Office's last two episodes, not once even thinking of Michael Scott/Steve Carell. Spader is genius…Warehouse 13 is a very underrated show, one that embraces its strong sense of humor but never at the expense of the drama that it does an excellent job of maintaining on a week in, week out basis. The two hour season finale was top notch…Game, enormous set, and match…Two weeks into Community's season and while they are most likely not winning over any new viewers, the quality of the comedy is exceptionally high. ..Parks and Recreation continues to demonstrate its among the handful of best comedies on TV, having made a huge jump when the allowed Leslie Knope to go from funny caricature to someone the audience really roots for…Me, I loves me some heartfelt cheese, so the slow motion dancing at the end of New Girl was right up my alley. Also, Natasha Lyonne killed…This season of Sons of Anarchy has been very, very strong, with the great long term story telling that has been the hallmark of the show. The casting for the show continues to excel, with Ray McKinnon doing remarkable work in particular…Asian F was not only the best Glee episode of this season, it may have been the best since season one. Clearly the commitment to strong stories about the show's core characters was not just lip service. Harry Shum, Jr. is a darkhorse for making one of our year's end lists as he is one of the most complete entertainment packages that TV has to offer. Also, they did more to make Emma sympathetic and interesting character in the one scene with her parents (and the accompanying flashback) than they had in the first 2+ seasons combined; if you didn't get a lump in your throat when Will looked at her in the mirror and saw a little girl, you were watching a different show than I was…American Horror Story reminded me a lot of the Nip/Tuck pilot (big coincidence, I know) in that they both contained scenes that I found shocking for non-pay cable TV. I was unsure of how I felt about the show after watching it other than knowing I would have to watch again but know I find myself very much looking forward to week two...Scenes with Dan and Blair are really the only ones remotely watchable on Gossip Girl anymore...Loved the "write this down" bit from Modern Family but the adoption agency interviewer showing up when she did was perhaps the most obvious joke in series history. Not that it wasn't well executed, just obvious. David Cross made a wonderful first impression and I can't wait for him and Julie Bowen to go to war this season. The Streetcar Named Desire stuff was pretty funny, too...It's difficult to come up with new ways to praise Food Network's Crave but let's just say it was no coincidence that I watched this week's episode on Tuesday night and then made damn sure I had a burger for lunch on Wednesday. Easily my favorite food-related show on TV right now...
TV Pick Of The Week
It's interesting to me that the same week one of, if not THE, darkest show on TV ends its current season is the same seven day period that one of the lighter shows on TV returns with new episodes. Please don't misunderstand, I love PSYCH, have since the pilot, and sometimes it represents the most entertaining hour of TV I watch that week, so when I say "light" I don't mean it as a dig or a slight. Light, when done well, can be a wonderful cloud of laughs and pop culture references that surrounds a mystery plot that is usually quite secondary. I am thrilled the show is back after such a long delay and can't wait to see how they use the ultra high quality guest star line up they have lined up.
Don't miss the season premiere of PSYCH, Wednesday at 10pm on USA.
Hope You Need My Love, Babe, Just Like I Need You
Other viewing options from the next seven days…
*The newest season of Sanctuary, easily the best sci-fi show the masses don't know about, begins tonight at 10pm on Syfy.
*I am not saying The Dick Van Dyke Show is the best comedy ever but there is no doubt it belong on each and every short list for that honor. To celebrate the show's 50th Anniversary, TV Land is running noon to 9pm marathons on Saturday and Sunday to lead into the show new weeknights at 7pm timeslot.
*We've got two game fives in the opening round of the MLB playoffs, which means drama will run high tonight as the Diamondbacks face the Brewers at 5pm while the Cardinals take on the Phillies at 8:30pm (both on TBS), with the winners facing each other in game one of the NLCS on Sunday. Meanwhile game one of the ALCS with the Yankees/Tigers battling the Rangers begins Saturday on Fox.
*Breaking Bad brings what may be its finest season – and that is HIGH praise for a show that has already established itself as one of the best shows on TV – to a close this Sunday at 10pm. At this point I have no idea what to expect, which in this case is a very, very good thing.
*Those of you with kids will want to note that a new season of PBS' Arthur begins Monday morning while the series premiere of Pajanimals airs Monday at 8pm on Sprout.
*OWN brings out the big guns on Monday; no, they didn't give Sofia Vergara her own show, it's the premiere of The Rosie Show (7pm) and Oprah's Lifeclass (8pm). The launch is so big that they are airing them on OWN, Discovery, Discovery Fit & Health, TLC, and Planet Green.
*Lifetime's Five (Monday, 9pm) is a short film anthology linked by the effect breast cancer has on women's lives. There are some pretty big names involved in this project, including Jennifer Anniston, Demi Moore, Josh Holloway, Annie Potts, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Jeanne Tripplehorn.
*HBO's Bored to Death returns for a third season on Monday at 9pm, followed at 9:30pm by the series premier of the new comedy Enlightened, another show from the network well worth your time.
*If you ever wanted to know just how gifted a comedic actor Tim Allen is then watch the one hour series premiere of Last Man Standing this Tuesday at 8pm; the fact that he is able to generate any laughter out of this lame material is the best evidence of his talents you'll ever see.
*BET's Reed Between the Lines is a new family comedy starring Malcolm Jamal Warner that premieres Tuesday at 10pm.
*There are two types of MTV reality shows, those that actually seem to be about something, that make an attempt to document the human condition in some small way (examples include If You Really Knew Me and World of Jenks), and the others are simply about people who you wouldn't give five minutes to in real life but for some reason millions seem to enjoy watching. Chelsea Settles, which premieres Tuesday at 11pm, looks like one of the former.
*A reality show about artists might not sound particularly thrilling but Bravo's Work of Art, which kicks off season two on Wednesday at 9pm, is pretty dang entertaining.
Two Tivos To Paradise 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, 30 Rock, After the Catch, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Archer, Auction Hunters, The Big C, Boardwalk Empire, Being Human, Bones, Bored To Death, Breaking Bad, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, Chopped, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Cougar Town, Crave, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, Entourage, Eureka, Fact or Faked, Falling Skies, Fairly Legal, Flipping Out, Food Feuds, Food Network Challenge, Food Network Star, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Glee, Gossip Girl, Great Food Truck Race, Grey's Anatomy, Happy Endings, Haunted Treasure, Hawaii 5-0, Hollywood Treasure, House, How I Met Your Mother, How To Make It In America, Hung, If You Really Knew Me, Iron Chef America, Justified, Kate Plus 8, The Killing, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Louie, Mad Men, Man v. Food Nation, The Middle, Mike and Molly, Modern Family, Necessary Roughness, New Girl, Next Great American Restaurant, Next Iron Chef, The Office, One Tree Hill, Outside the Lines, Parks & Recreation, Private Practice, Project Runway, Psych, Raising Hope, Real Time With Bill Maher, Rescue Me, Restaurant Impossible, Revenge, Ringer, Rocco's Dinner Party, Royal Pains, Rules Of Engagement, Sanctuary, Saturday Night Live, The Secret Circle, Shear Genius, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, Suits, Supernatural, Table For 12, Top Chef, Top Chef Just Desserts, Top Chef: Masters, Top Design, Torchwood, Tosh.0, True Blood, Up All Night, The Vampire Diaries, The Voice, The Walking Dead, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Wilfred, Worst Cooks In America,
People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another Two Tivos To Paradise.
We'll be back next week with all the latest in TV news. Check the site next Tuesday for my interview with Sons of Anarchy's Winter Zoli. G'mar Chatima Tova.
Sources for this week's column include Daily Variety, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and Hollywood Reporter (plus the web sites for those publications) as well as Aintit.cool.com, TVline.com & Deadline.com.
Look no further than this week's ratings break down to demonstrate that the only people who watch live t.v. are OLD PEOPLE. Why would CBS do that well. With the exception of Big Bang Theory the Shows that were up are all were typically watched by the over 34 demo. I mean seriously the Mentalist, 20/20, Mike and Molly are all shows my grandmother doesn't miss. Meanwhile fringe remains the show my early 20 something nieces watch online religiously. News for the world, the Nielsen ratings are almost meaningless, yet shows still live or die by them. Playboy club was in the top 30 shows downloaded on iTunes. C'mon people, have you ever watched an EP of the mentalist? If you've seen one, you've seen them all. They are formulaic to say the least. Do you really think that the coveted 18-34 year old demo, who have so many other distractions are tuning in to watch the Menatlist solve the murder of the week? Nope, they are watching fringe on their iPad, while grandma falls asleep in front of CBS Thursday nights at 10.
Posted By: Guest#8339 (Guest) on October 07, 2011 at 07:15 AM
It seems like Fox has been holding a grudge against the Simpsons actors since they have lost all previous rounds of contract negociations. Now the ratings are down a bit they're out for blood.
It's disturbing that the show is now worth more cancelled than airing but even they must realise that the longer it goes the more money everyone makes. $750 million now but in 5 years time that could eaily be a billion.
As for Michael C Hall - I gotta say, I think $20 mil is pretty good for two seasons. Dexter is good but not as good as the first three seasons. I'm looking forward to seeing what this season brings.
Posted By: Rasher (Guest) on October 07, 2011 at 07:41 AM
I'm a young guy and I love the Mentalist
Posted By: poffo316 (Guest) on October 07, 2011 at 09:34 AM
DVR numbers really need to factor more into TV ratings - I watch a lot of TV shows, but I can't name one that I actually watch live.
I'm glad to hear that Glee gets better - I watched the season premiere and almost didn't make it to the end. Digging the New Gilr too - it seems to have a Sunny In Philadelphia vibe to it with the way the characters interact, although nowhere near as funny or raunchy...
Posted By: Mario (Guest) on October 07, 2011 at 11:03 AM
Heck, I'm 38 and I don't watch TV on Friday Nights, well don't have a TV plus I have to watch all my shows online. It will be such a tragedy for a show like Fringe to get cancelled because most individuals would rather go out on Friday nights then to stay home. Plus, with other means to watch the show if they miss it, I think the Nielsen ratings in this day and age doesn't reflect who's truly watching it or not. I mean, the younger crowd, which is a lot older than 34, would rather watch a show on their devices or on their computer at their own time then watch it live. This is not the 1950's or even 1990's anymore, so the Nielsen ratings have become a non-issue in my opinion. I think what needs to happen is for shows to be made just for the internet and a show's survival depends on how many times it's been watch on it.
Posted By: billy (Guest) on October 07, 2011 at 11:13 AM
To many dam hipsters watching their favorite shows online illegally, streaming, Netflix, Hulu etc., so Nielsen ratings make it look like they are unpopular, hence them getting canceled. Do the f'n math and support shit you like people so they get the ratings.
Posted By: APrince66 (Guest) on October 07, 2011 at 11:41 AM
I love Vince Vaughn's work but the "Sullivan and Son" title is too close to "Sanford and Son" (am I showing my age with that comment?) and the premise is too close to "Ed" (successful NYC lawyer quits his job to run bowling alley/bar in hometown). Nice to see Vaughn and Favreau making the same edition of TTTP.
Posted By: Josh (Guest) on October 07, 2011 at 12:21 PM
How young Poffo? I'm just going by what my 81 year old grandma watches. She's a big fan of CBS programing.
Posted By: Guest#0114 (Guest) on October 07, 2011 at 03:15 PM
So I'm wondering, am I the only person that thinks the Office now without Steve Carrel is actually better than the past two seasons with him??? Don't get me wrong, the character Michael Scott is what got me watching in the first place back when it was new, but the last couple of seasons with him just felt so repetitive and not all that funny. Without him it seems more refreshing and just the goings on more natural and funny. You no longer have this odd, no way he could ever really be a boss character, shoved down your throat anymore.
Posted By: Guest#0462 (Guest) on October 08, 2011 at 11:06 AM
i don't see michael c. hall who is only famous for dexter and maybe a little for 6 feet under, i don't see him giving up 20 million dollars, he is definetely wealthy but he is by no means wealthy enough to be like na i dont want that 20 million dollars, plus showtime isnt going to give up its highest rated show EVER so something will get worked out just a matter of time, last year we didnt find out about season 6 until december 6th so we stil have time to get good news :)
Posted By: josh (Guest) on October 16, 2011 at 07:37 AM
Copyright (c) 2011 411mania.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
Click here for our privacy policy. Please help us serve you better, fill out our survey.
Use of this site signifies your agreement to our terms of use.
