ABC's much hyped mysterious show 'Happy Town' premiered to terrible ratings last night.
The show averaged a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, dropping 39 percent of lead-in 'Cougar Town's' 2.8 rating.
'Happy Town's' rating fell from a 1.9 in its first half hour to a 1.6 in its second. It finished 1.2 behind NBC's 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,' which won the timeslot with its highest-rated episode since March 31.
That capped an otherwise strong night for ABC, whose 'Modern Family' was the No. 2 show behind Fox's 'American Idol,' averaging a 4.1 rating, its best rating since January and second-highest of the season. It also marked its best-ever showing opposite "Idol."
Bottom line is don't get to attached to 'Happy Town.' If it continues with ratings like this, it won't be around too long.
TNT announced that it has renewed 'Southland' for a 3rd season.
Ten new episodes will be produced and will start airing in January. The show comes from executive producer John Wells.
TNT rescued the show set in Los Angeles after NBC dropped the show before it could start its second season. This year, TNT repeated the seven episodes that originally aired on NBC in the show’s first season, then presented six new episodes.
TNT honcho Michael Wright explained the renewal in a statement: ” ‘Southland’ is a challenging, visceral show that engages viewers with its immersive style, provocative storylines and complex characters. These qualities have made ‘Southland’ a favorite among critics and appointment viewing for an extremely loyal audience.”
'Curb Your Enthusiasm' will be back for another season, HBO announced today.
In a statement, Larry David said: “After much soul searching – and by the way, it was nowhere to be found – I have decided to do another season of ‘Curb.’ I look forward to the end of shooting, when I can once again resume the hunt for my elusive soul. I know it’s here somewhere or perhaps in the rugged mountainous regions of Pakistan.”
Production on the eighth season starts this summer; the 10 new episodes will debut next year.
In a statement, HBO honcho Michael Lombardo said: ”Larry always loves to paint himself into a corner, and after the incredibly wonderful seventh season of ‘Curb,’ you have to ask, ‘How does he ever top this?’ But he always finds a way. We can’t wait to see what he does in season eight.”
Returning with 'Seinfeld' co-creator David will be Cheryl Hines as David’s wife Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as David’s manager Jeff and Susie Essman as Jeff’s wife Susie.
NBC announced today that it has renewed the freshman drama 'Parenthood' for a second season.
The show has benefited from its 'The Biggest Loser' lead-in, as well as NBC's promo blitz during the Winter Olympics. And it couldn't have come at a better time for the Peacock, which desperately needed new 10 p.m. fare to replace the 'Jay Leno Show' debacle.
'Parenthood' delivered, averaging a solid 3.2 rating and 9 share with adults 18-49 on Tuesdays at 10 p.m., as well as 7.8 million viewers. That performance has soothed cranky affiliates, which now have a stronger lead-in for their 11 p.m. newscasts on the night.
Whether or not 'Parenthood' stays at 10 p.m. remains to be seen; the show was originally slated in the fall for Wednesdays at 8 p.m -- until original star Maura Tierney had to drop out due to health issues.
A blind item posted earlier this week by Michael Ausiello hinted at a major death on 'Private Practice' to end the season. Yet he didn't reveal which character would be leaving.
Well it looks like it will be Pete Wilder that will be getting killed off on the show.
Earlier today, Tim Daly tweeted on his Twitter page.... "It's been swell," then moments later, "Last Show 323." 323 most likely refers to Season 3, Episode 23 which would be the season finale.
We'll see if this turns out to be true. But the signs are there.
Even though there has been talk recently about DirecTV sharing 'Damages' with FX to save the show, it appears as though that is unlikely to happen. Insiders say it doesn't look as though the drama is a good fit for the satellite provider.
Monday's announcement by DirecTV that HBO's critically acclaimed drama 'The Wire' is arriving in July indicates that the service is continuing its mostly male-skewing lineup. Series on the air, or having just concluded, include 'Oz,' 'Deadwood,' 'Brotherhood,' 'Friday Night Lights' and Australian drama 'Underbelly.'
Sony, of course, wants to see 'Damages' continue, but the studio would have to take a substantial license-fee reduction. With what would be the fourth year of the show, and cast and crew expecting salary increases, it would likely be difficult -- though not impossible -- to cut costs.
If an arrangement could be made to continue 'Damages,' DirecTV would want to air original episodes first, and FX might have issues with that arrangement, according to sources. FX Prods. is co-producer of the series.
For all the success FX is having with its dramas -- Tim Olyphant starrer 'Justified' is off to a solid start, and 'Sons of Anarchy' is coming off a socko second season -- 'Damages' has always been ratings-challenged. The season three premiere in January drew only 1.4 million viewers, down 17% from season two's debut. In the 18-49 demo, numbers were even more disheartening, tumbling 41% to 428,000 from 718,000 on Jan. 7, 2009.
FX showed plenty of faith in 'Damages' in 2007 when it renewed the series for two seasons at the end of season one, but ratings-wise it hasn't paid off.
I personally love 'Damages' so i'm hoping that some sort of deal gets worked out that allows the show to continue.
Conan O'Brien is headed to TBSto resume his comedic duties with a talk show expected to debut in November, the network says.
The program will air Mondays through Thursdays at 11 p.m. Eastern, shifting TBS' 'Lopez Tonight,' starring George Lopez, to midnight.
Monday's surprise announcement hit the same day O'Brien starts a two-month, nationwide comedy tour in Eugene, Ore., amid persistent reports that he was likely to claim Fox as his new late-night home.
Barring Fox, syndication was widely considered O'Brien's most likely option. Few if anyone mentioned TBS as a plausible destination. O'Brien began serious talks with TBS just last week, the network said.
"In three months, I've gone from network television to Twitterto performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable," O'Brien said in a tongue-in-cheek-toned statement. "My plan is working perfectly."
Now, i'm not sure what anyone else thinks, but this is a huge loss for Fox and huge blunder for them too. They, once again, have blown the chance to get into the late night scene. This was finally their chance to snag a big name to head their own late night entry and the blew it.
Actress Dixie Carter, who played an outspoken liberal on the sitcom "Designing Women" and received an Emmy nomination for a guest role on 'Desperate Housewives' has died, according to 'Entertainment Tonight.' She was 70.
Details about the time, place and cause were not immediately known.
"This has been a terrible blow to our family," actor Hal Holbrook, Carter's husband since 1984, was quoted as telling ET "We would appreciate everyone understanding that this is a private family tragedy."
'Designing Women,' which ran on CBS for seven seasons from 1986, revolved around the lives of four women and a man at an interior design firm in Atlanta. Carter's sharp-tongued character, Julia Sugarbaker, was an advocate of liberal causes and women's rights.
In 2007, Carter received an Emmy nomination for a stint as the devious mother-in-law of Marcia Cross' character, Bree Hodge, on 'Desperate Housewives.'
In addition to her 85-year-old husband, Carter is survived by her daughters from her first marriage, Mary Dixie and Ginna,
"She's dead, wrapped in plastic" and so began a magical experience.
20 years ago this month, America became captivated in a new TV series called 'Twin Peaks.' The show, which only ran for two seasons on ABC, remainsunlike anything else produced before or since.
Twenty years after the influential cult television show began, David Lynch's sci-fi, absurdist murder-mystery soap opera continues to amaze legions of viewers who are experiencing it for the first time on DVD. Without it, there would probably not be shows like 'Lost' or 'The X-Files' or any of the countless serials that were labeled "quirky" or "weird."
Although it was mostly a whodunit about the murder of the homecoming queen in a small logging town in the Pacific Northwest, that was only part of the show's allure. The quirky, often bizarre characters that populated the town of Twin Peaks were also what made the show so incredibly fascinating.
When Laura Palmer's body is found washed up ashore wrapped in plastic, FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, played masterfully by Kyle MacLachlan, is brought in to investigate a possible connection between Palmer's death and another recent murder. I won't give away any more for those who haven't yet seen this show and may plan on doing so on DVD.
The show premiered in April 1990 with a 2 hour pilot episode, which is widely considered to be 2 of the best hours TV has ever produced. It's interesting to note that the pilot is only available on the Gold Box Edition of the DVD box set of the series. The show ran for 2 seasons and 29 episodes. The first season of the series was a cultural phenomenon, 'Twin Peaks' became more than a show, it was a national discussion. For a while, the entire country had at least heard of the phrase "Who Killed Laura Palmer?", if not rabidly discussed the answer at work or school the next day. The show spawned a slew of T-shirts, lighters, trading cards and books -- which included an audiobook, 'Diane: The Twin Peaks Tapes,' read by MacLachlan as Agent Cooper, a travel guide to the town of Twin Peaks and 'The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer,' written by Lynch's daughter Jennifer. In 1992, a big screen prequel, 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me' was released.
Midway through the second season, ABC foolishly forced Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost to reveal Laura's murderer, thus causing a steady decline in the ratings -- and quality -- of subsequent episodes.
One thing the show did, that changed the face of television, was prove that TV didn't have to be vastly inferior to movies. When a director like David Lynch did a TV show, it became OK for big time movie producers, directors, and stars to do television. Television became the much more respected and revered medium that it is today.
Looking back 20 years, it's hard to overstate just how different 'Twin Peaks' was than anything else on television. Lynch, whose films 'Eraserhead' and 'Blue Velvet' would both influence 'Peaks' with its eccentric characterizations and evils in a small town, didn't let TV dilute his vision. Instead, he saw TV as an extension, rather than a compromise, of his films; a forum that allowed him to make what was essentially a 30-hour soap opera noir. Visually, in comparison to the grainy, cheap quality of other 1990s shows, 'Twin Peaks' looks just as beautiful now as it did when it first premiered.
One thing is for sure, 'Twin Peaks' changed the face of television for the better.
We're arriving at the time where TV executives will start deciding which shows deserve to be renewed and which do not. NBC's 'Parenthood' has begun to make a good case for a 2nd season.
'Parenthood' beat 'The Good Wife' in the coveted 18-49 demographic Tuesday. It was the first time since 'Parenthood' premiered a month go that it beat a new episode of the CBS freshman drama head-to-head in that category. Last week, a new 'Parenthood' beat a repeat of 'The Good Wife.'
The ratings for 'Parenthood' have been all over the map since its March 2 premiere, but the last few weeks have seen some stabilization. Helped by heavy hype during NBC's Olympics coverage, the show launched with 8.1 million viewers and a 3.1 rating in adults 18-49 (each rating point in that demo equals 1.3 million viewers). It dropped the following two weeks, hitting a low of 5.8 million viewers and a 2.3 in the demo on March 16.
Some may have been ready to throw in the towel on 'Parenthood' at that point, but it rebounded on March 23 with 7 million viewers and a 2.7 in adults 18-49. Perhaps fans of 'The Good Wife,' which was in repeats that Tuesday, checked out 'Parenthood' and now some are starting to stick around. Although 'Parenthood' has not matched the numbers of two weeks ago, the show is performing at the same level as it was in week two and is doing particularly well with women.
NBC has some decisions to make with shows like 'Chuck' and 'Parenthood.' Both are very good quality shows that struggle in the ratings. But given the lack of quality programming at NBC, they would be wise to renew both shows. Good shows like these do not come along too often.
John Forsythe, the debonair actor best known as the disembodied voice of Charlie on 'Charlie's Angels' and as the scheming Blake Carrington on the primetime soap 'Dynasty' has died at age 92. He passed away yesterday in Santa Ynez, Calif. due to complications from pneumonia after a yearlong battle with cancer.
'Dynasty' co-star Joan Collins said, "He was one of the last of the true gentlemen of the acting profession," Collins said in a statement. "I enjoyed our nine years of feuding, fussing and fighting as the Carringtons."
Heather Locklear, another 'Dynasty' co-star, called him "a gentleman in every sense of the word," and a "gifted actor who knew the true meaning of being gracious and kind."
Forsythe was an important part of another hit Spelling series without being seen. From 1976 to 1981 he played the voice of Charlie, the boss who delivered assignments to his beautiful detectives, including Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Ladd, via telephone in 'Charlie's Angels.'
"We were so happy when he agreed to be the voice of Charlie, and he always laughed about having to take a back seat to Farrah's hair," Spelling's widow Candy said in a statement.
Ladd, who lives near Forsythe, said she would miss him terribly. "I'm mourning with the rest of the world for the talented, gorgeous, funny, intelligent John Forsythe," she said in a statement.
Forsythe evidenced little of the ego drive that motivates many actors. He viewed himself with a self-effacing humor, considering himself "a vastly usable, not wildly talented actor."
"Thankfully, he died as he lived his life, with dignity and grace," his family said in a statement.
In lieu of flowers, Forsythe's family asked that donations be made to the American Cancer Society. The family said there will be no public service.
ABC's much hyped mysterious show 'Happy Town' premiered to terrible ratings last night.
