Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Fox cancels 'Lone Star' after 2 episodes

The new fall season has its first casualty.  Fox has cancelled the critically-acclaimed but low rated 'Lone Star' after just 2 episodes.

'Lie To Me' which wasn't supposed to return until later this fall will instead return next Monday and assume the 'Lone Star' timeslot.

'Lone Star' started off very badly last week, with just over 4 million viewers.  This week the numbers were even worse, when viewership dropped to just 3.2 million.

Production on the show will stop immediately according to a 20th Century Fox spokesperson.  “We will have shot five completed episodes after the pilot,” says the rep, “and will not complete principal photography on episode 106.”  It’s not clear what will happen to the four unaired episodes.

Friday, September 24, 2010

'Big Bang' explodes in new time slot

CBS much talked about move of 'Big Bang Theory' to Thursdays appears to have paid off.  The show premiered last night to monster ratings.

The sitcom easily won its timeslot at 8 p.m. and averaged a stunning 13.95 million viewers opposite heavy competition from the other broadcast networks.  That's even slightly higher than their premiere last year in its old Monday night timeslot.

Much was talked about this move when CBS announced it.  After all, 'Big Bang Theory' was doing very well on Mondays and the show it was replacing, 'Survivor', had been dominating its timeslot for year on Thursday nights.  However, 'Survivor' has handily won it's timeslot each of the first 2 weeks in its new home on Wednesdays at 8.  

'The Mentalist' on CBS was the nights highest rated show, drawing 15.3 million viewers.  Over on NBC, 'The Apprentice' continued to struggle, pulling in only 3.8 million viewers. 

Thursday, September 23, 2010

'Lost' stars to reunite for new series

'Lost' creator JJ Abrams is re-teaming with two of the stars of his hit ABC series.

Terry O'Quinn who played John Locke and Michael Emerson who played Benjamin Linus will be starring in a new pilot for NBC. 

The show, tentatively titled 'Odd Jobs' is being described as a comedic drama,  and would likely see the two actors starring as ex-black-ops agents. NBC has “committed” to a pilot of the program. 

Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, who worked with Abrams on the series 'Alias' will write the pilot for Warner Brothers and Bad Robot Productions.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

'Glee' scores big for Fox, impacts entire night

After a disastrous showing with 'Lone Star', Fox rebounded in a big way with the season premiere of 'Glee.'

'Glee' scored big, being the highest rated show of the night, drawing 12.3 million viewers and a 5.5 rating.  It was the second highest rated episode of the series ever and it was up 57% from last years premiere.

The news was not so good for Fox other entries on last nights schedule.  'Raising Hope' and 'Running Wilde,' the two comedies that the network launched last night, failed to draw decent numbers even with the great lead-in.

Glee's impact was felt across every network.  NCIS, Dancing With The Stars, and The Biggest Loser all saw significant declines in their ratings opposite 'Glee.'

NCIS was down 19% from last seasons premiere, The Biggest Loser was down 24% from last season's premiere, and even ABC powerhouse 'DWTS' was down 3% from last years 2nd night premiere.  



Tuesday, September 21, 2010

'The Event' and 'Hawaii Five-0' debut to big ratings, DWTS destroys the competition

Last night was the first official night of the fall TV season and one of the busiest TV nights in recent memory.  The ratings numbers are in and to no ones surprise, ABC's 'Dancing With The Stars' was the nights highest rated show. 

DWTS scored a 5.0 rating and was watched by 21 million viewers, blowing away the competition.  This was a 22% increase of last years premiere.
Over on NBC,  the much talked about premiere of  'The Event' opened big as well.  The conspiracy drama drew 11.2 million viewers and 3.7 rating, coming within a tenth of a point of the highly touted 'Hawaii Five-0' reboot (13.8, 3.8), which debuted solidly for CBS.  'Chuck' opened the night for the peacock network with 6.1 million viewers and a 2.1 rating.

Probably the biggest surprise of the night came from Fox.  Their critically acclaimed drama, 'Lone Star' bombed.  Drawing only 4.1 million viewers and 1.3 rating.  'Lone Star' ratings dropped 68% from its lead in, 'House,' which drew a solid 10.5 million viewers and 4.1 rating.

HBO Renews Boardwalk Empire

HBO has renewed 'Boardwalk Empire' for a 2nd season after just one episode. 

The series debuted with a 4.8 rating, making it the highest rated HBO series since the 'Deadwood' premiere in 2004.

Michael Lombardo, President of HBO Programming, released a statement, “All the ingredients aligned for this one, from Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson’s initial pitch, to Martin Scorsese’s enormous contributions as director and executive producer, to the genius of Terry Winter and the expertise of Tim Van Patten, to a stellar cast led by Steve Buscemi,” said Lombardo.  “The response from the media and our viewers has been nothing short of amazing.”

'Boardwalk Empire'  is set in Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition, when the sale of alcohol became illegal throughout the United States.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Hayden Moss wins Big Brother 12

Hayden Moss was crowned the winner of Big Brother 12 last night in the live 2 hour season finale on CBS.

The 24 year old college student and former baseball player from Tempe, AZ took home the $500,000 grand prize via a 4-3 jury vote over Lane Elenburg.  Elenburg, a 24 year old oil rig salesman from Decatur, TX,  received $50,000 as the runner up.

Hayden dominated by both winning several competitions and forming bonds with the other houseguests while always staying loyal to The Brigade alliance, which was formed on the second day in the house.

He defeated Elenburg in the final round of a three-part Head of Household contest, which allowed him to pick Elenburg to battle against for his four jury votes.

Enzo "The Meow Meow" Palumbo, a trash-talking 32-year-old insurance adjuster from Bayonne, N.J., became the seventh member of the jury and cast the deciding vote between his alliance partners for Moss.

Hayden received votes from evicted houseguests Ragan Fox, Kathy Hillis, Matt Hoffman, and Enzo Palumbo, while Lane received votes from Britney Haynes, Rachel Reilly, and Brendon Villegas.

After Hayden's win was announced, host Julie Chen revealed that Britney Haynes, a 22 year old hotel sales manager from Huntington, AR was the winner of the "America's Favorite Houseguest" viewer vote and was awarded $25,000.  Haynes has lost her home in a fire earlier in the day on Wednesday.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

CBS orders another season of 'Big Brother'

With the season finale of 'Big Brother's' 12th season just hours away, CBS announced that the summer reality show has been renewed for a 13th season.

The current edition posted year-to-year increases, up five percent in viewers (7.64 million versus 7.26 million), four percent in adults 18-49 (2.7 rating/09 share versus 2.6/08), 10 percent in adults 18-34 (2.3/08 versus 2.1/07) and three percent in adults 25-54 (3.2/09 versus 3.1/09).

“Big Brother is our summer hero,” said CBS’ Jennifer Bresnan, executive vice president, alternative programming, in a statement.  “Every year, our producers deliver innovative twists and turns, consistently evolving this proven franchise and engaging one of the most loyal and interactive fan bases on television and online.”

The two-hour finale, in which Lane, Enzo and Hayden will compete for the $500,000 prize, will air tonight following the premiere of 'Survivor: Nicaragua.'

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Jennifer Lopez signs 1 year, $12 million dollar deal as American Idol judge

TMZ has confirmed ... Jennifer Lopez has signed a 1-year deal with 'American Idol' for a little more than $12 million -- this according to sources connected with the show.

This rounds out the 3 judge panel for the upcoming 10th season.  Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Lopez will join returning judge Randy Jackson.

Lopez is expected to be at the judges table for auditions next week.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Tonights TV Pick

Sons of Anarchy - 10 pm - FX

Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) still finds his loyalties divided in the third season of this popular FX series -- between the renegade motorcycle club founded by his violent parents and his hope of giving his son Abel a less chaotic upbringing than his own. Meanwhile, The Sons grapple with a host of rivals contesting their power, as well as other foes on both sides of the law -- from the ATF to the vicious, racist League of American Nationalists.