TV Ratings for week of November 3-9

First number is the 18-49 demo; second number is total viewers.

1 Sun NBC Sunday Night Football (8:30-11PM)           6.3   17.04
2 Thu CBS   The Big Bang Theory                                  4.9   16.89
3 Wed ABC The 47th Annual CMA Awards (8-11PM) 4.7 16.76
4 Mon NBC The Voice (8-10PM)                                 3.6   11.75
5 Tue NBC The Voice (9-11PM)                                 3.4   11.3
6 Sun NBC Football Night in America/ Pre-Kick          3.4 9.42
7 Mon CBS   How I Met Your Mother                            3.4   8.67
8 Sun CBS  60 Minutes                                                3.2 15.81
9 Tue CBS  NCIS                                                         2.9   19.18
10 Mon NBC The Blacklist                                              2.9   10.34
11 Thu ABC Scandal                                                        2.8   8.66
12 Thu ABC Grey's Anatomy                                           2.7 8.68
13 Thu CBS  The Millers                                                 2.6   10.38
14 Mon CBS  Mike & Molly -P                               2.6   9.22
15 Mon CBS  2 Broke Girls                                             2.6   8.12
16 Thu NBC  The Voice (8-9PM) -R                                2.5  9.74
17 Wed CBS  Survivor Blood vs Water                            2.5 9.29
18 Tue ABC Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.                 2.5   7.15
19 Mon FOX Sleepy Hollow                                            2.5   7.08
20 Sun FOX Family Guy                                                 2.5 4.87
21 Tue CBS  NCIS: LA                                                 2.4 14.76
22 Sun FOX The Simpsons                                              2.4 5.43
23 Wed CBS  Criminal Minds                                             2.3 9.7
24 Sun ABC Once Upon A Time                                        2.3 7.55
25 Mon ABC Castle                                                         2.2 10.87
26 Sun CBS  The Amazing Race                                         2.1 9.38
27 Thu CBS  The Crazy Ones                                         2.1 8
28 Tue NBC The Biggest Loser                                         2.1 6.82
29 Mon ABC Dancing with the Stars (8-10PM)                 2 13.72
30 Thu CBS  Two and a Half Men                                   2 8.27
31 Mon CBS  Mom                                                         2 7.38
32 Fri ABC Shark Tank                                                 2 7.25
33 Mon FOX Bones                                                         2 6.97
34 Tue FOX New Girl                                                         2 3.85
35 Tue CBS  Person Of Interest                                         1.9 11.79
36 Sun FOX American Dad                                                 1.9 3.75
37 Fri CBS  Undercover Boss                                         1.8 9.34
38 Wed CBS  CSI                                                                 1.8 9.08
39 Thu CBS  Elementary                                                 1.8 8.89
40 Sun FOX Bob's Burgers                                                 1.8 3.75
41 Sun ABC Revenge                                                         1.7 6.33
42 Sun CBS  The Good Wife                                           1.6 10.22
43 Tue FOX Brooklyn Nine-Nine                                         1.6 3.84
44 Wed NBC Law And Order: SVU                                 1.5 5.65
45 Tue ABC The Goldbergs                                                 1.5 4.89
46 Wed FOX The X Factor (8-10PM)                                 1.5 4.54
47 Fri FOX MasterChef Jr                                              1.5 4.21
48 Thu FOX Glee                                                                 1.5 4.01
49 Tue FOX The Mindy Project                                         1.5 2.88
50 Fri CBS  Hawaii Five-0                                             1.4 9.39
51 Fri ABC Last Man Standing                                         1.4 6.18
52 Fri ABC 20/20                                                         1.4 5.98
53 Wed NBC Revolution                                                  1.4 5.21
54 Thu NBC Sean Saves the World                                 1.4 4.55
55 Tue FOX Dads                                                         1.4 3.65
56 Fri CBS  Blue Bloods                                                 1.3 10.98
57 Fri NBC Grimm                                                         1.3 4.94
58 Thu NBC Parenthood                                                 1.3 3.88
59 Thu CW   The Vampire Diaries                                         1.3 2.59
60 Thu FOX The X Factor                                                 1.2 3.67
61 Mon CBS  Hostages                                                         1.1 4.79
62 Fri ABC The Neighbors                                               1.1 4.55
63 Wed NBC Dateline NBC                                                 1.1 4.4
64 Tue ABC Trophy Wife                                                 1.1 3.66
65 Fri NBC Dateline                                                         1 5.6
66 Thu NBC The Michael J Fox Show                            1 3.45
67 Sun ABC Betrayal                                                      1 3.44
68 Fri NBC Dracula                                                      1 2.99
69 Wed CW   Arrow                                                         1 2.8
70 Thu ABC Once Upon A Time in Wonderland                 0.9 3.55
71 Tue CW   Supernatural                                                 0.9 2.15
72 Tue CW   The Originals                                                 0.9 2.03
73 Tue ABC Spotlight With Robin Roberts: CMA Awards 0.7 3.39
74 Fri FOX Sleepy Hollow -R                                         0.6 1.86
75 Thu CW   Reign                                                         0.6 1.64
76 Wed CW   The Tomorrow People                                 0.6 1.56
77 Fri CW   America's Next Top Model                         0.4 1.05
78 Mon CW   Hart Of Dixie                                                 0.4 1
79 Fri CW   The Carrie Diaries                                         0.3 0.8
80 Mon CW   Beauty And The Beast                                 0.3 0.68

NBC

What works for them?  

Football, The Voice, The Blacklist, The Biggest Loser

What doesn't? Sitcoms, non-Spader dramas, Dateline

Dateline's dirt cheap to produce so NBC is okay plugging it in here and there. Dracula and The Michael J. Fox are guarantees to be cancelled, and this should be the last year for Parenthood and Revolution.  Sean Saves the World just might last because NBC has no other choice.

ABC

What works for them?  Award shows, dramas.

What doesn't?  Sitcoms. Modern Family is a hit and anything that gravitates near it does okay, but their Tuesday bloc of comedy is failing.

Guarantees for cancellation:  Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Trophy Wife, Betrayal, The Neighbors.

CBS

What works for them?  Just about everything.

What doesn't? Luring in younger viewers. If the networks cared mostly about total viewers, CBS would be the undisputed king.  Person of Interest may have triple New Girl's viewers on Tuesday, but New Girl has the 18-49 edge.

Guarantees for cancellation:  Hostages. And The Mentalist shouldn't stay comfortable.

FOX

What works for them?  Sleepy Hollow and cartoons.

What doesn't? The X Factor. The Simon Cowell competition show is just one too many. The Voice is more fun, and American Idol is more of a staple when it returns in the spring. Glee has also had a big drop in viewers since the Cory Monteith curiosity factor has faded.

Guaranteed to be cancelled: Dads, and maybe The X Factor.

CW

They're in last.

Fall TV Preview 2013

James Spader will star in NBC's The Blacklist

Last year the networks debuted 19 new shows. 7 of those shows have made it to a second season. None of the new mid-season replacement series were renewed.

This year there are 25 new shows.  The networks seem to be putting more new stuff in fall and holding back established series (like Mike & Molly and Suburgatory) to replace what doesn't work down the road.

Let's say 9 of them survive.  I will guess Mom, Sleepy Hollow, The Blacklist, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, The Goldbergs, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Originals, The Michael J. Fox Show and Reign.


=SUNDAY=

ABC
Once Upon A Time
Revenge
Betrayal

CBS
The Amazing Race
The Good Wife
The Mentalist

FOX
The Simpsons
Bob's Burgers
Family Guy
American Dad

NBC
Sunday Night Football

New Shows:

Betrayal (ABC) - The dully-titled soap is about a married lawyer (Stuart Townsend) who begins an affair with a married woman (Boss's Hannah Ware) only to learn afterward her husband in opposing counsel in a high-profile trial he's working.  Sounds like an ideal sudser to follow Revenge, but reviews have been poor.

=MONDAY=

ABC
Dancing with the Stars
Castle

CBS
How I Met Your Mother
We Are Men
2 Broke Girls
Mom
Hostages

FOX
Bones
Sleepy Hollow

NBC
The Voice
The Blacklist

THE CW
Hart of Dixie
Beauty & the Beast

New Shows:

We Are Men (CBS) - Another fall, another Jerry O'Connell series that will likely die an ignominious death.  This co-stars Kal Penn and Tony Shalhoub as a bunch of idiotic stereotypes of "men."  This is getting worse reviews than Partners.

Mom (CBS) - Chuck Lorre is one of the last living kings of the multi-camera sitcom, and here he's provided a vehicle for Anna Faris as a woefully irresponsible mother trying to put her life back together when her that-much-more-irresponsible mother (Allison Janney) re-enters her life. Buzz has been positive.

Hostages (CBS) - CBS may rule the procedural, but with Under the Dome, they showed they're still willing to try cliffhanger dramas.  Hostages will have a limited 15-episode run, and it's about a surgeon (Toni Collette) whose family is being held hostage by a rogue FBI agent (Dylan McDermott) who wants her to kill the US President, on whom she's scheduled to operate. Jerry Bruckheimer (24) will executive-produce.  Sounds more like a cable show, which is a compliment.

Sleepy Hollow (Fox) - Supernatural elements have been trending lately, so Fox tries to get into the Grimm business with this update on Ichabod Crane. He and the Headless Horseman show up in modern times. Could be goofy fun. It scored 10 million viewers on its debut.

The Blacklist (NBC) - James Spader is suddenly using his real hairline and chewing the scenery as  a career criminal who turns himself in in order to help the FBI hunt down his enemies. NBC really needs a success on its scripted slate.

=TUESDAY=

ABC
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
The Goldbergs
Trophy Wife
Lucky 7

CBS
NCIS
NCIS: Los Angeles
Person of Interest

FOX
Dads
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
New Girl
The Mindy Project

NBC
The Biggest Loser
The Voice
Chicago Fire

THE CW
The Originals
Supernatural

New Shows:

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (ABC) - Agent Coulson lives! And rumor has it they'll explain how in one of the episodes down the road. Expectations are high for this series about the regular non-superhero people who keep SHIELD running.

The Goldbergs (ABC) - 1980's nostalgia for this sitcom that makes Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (Bridesmaids) as the parents. Sounds like it would've fit in perfectly on Wednesdays. Oh well.

Trophy Wife (ABC) - Malin Akerman is the young third wife to West Wing's Bradley Whitford, and she has to juggle stepkids and her husband's two ex-wives (Marcia Gay Harden, Michaela Watkins). Interesting cast, but reviews have been meh.

Lucky 7 (ABC) - Seven people win the lottery. This very special dramedy follows their stories, and I don't see this lasting longer than Six Degrees.

Dads (FOX) - "From the creator of Family Guy" comes a likeable cast (Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi, Peter Reigert, Martin Mull) dealing with father-son issues, but reviews have been dreadful (apparently there's a lot of racist Asian jokes.)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX) - If it can survive its lead-in, Andy Samberg tries for the Barney Miller route in this comedy set at a police station. Andre Braugher, that gravitas-filled actor who can't seem to find a series that'll stay on the air, arrives as the new no-nonsense chief. Hijinks ensue. I'm actually good things about this.

The Originals (CW) - Vampire Diaries spinoff. I don't watch CW. Best of luck, folks.

=WEDNESDAY=

ABC
The Middle
Back in the Game
Modern Family
Super Fun Night
Nashville

CBS
Survivor: Blood & Water
Criminal Minds
CSI

FOX
The X Factor

NBC
Revolution
Law & Order: SVU
Ironside

CW
Arrow
The Tomorrow People

New Shows:

Back in the Game (ABC) - James Caan is a grumpy ex-baseball player who helps his estranged daughter coach a Little League team. Should be a Bad News Bears mix.

Super Fun Night (ABC) - Aussie comedienne Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) plays an awkward lawyer with an American accent.

Ironside (NBC) - Blair Underwood mans the wheelchair in this update of the Raymond Burr classic. I expect it will suffer the same fate as Prime Suspect.

The Tomorrow People (CW) - Young pretty people with superpowers.

=THURSDAY=

ABC
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
Grey's Anatomy
Scandal

CBS
The Big Bang Theory
The Millers
The Crazy Ones
Two and a Half Men
Elementary

FOX
The X Factor results
Glee

NBC
Parks & Recreation
Welcome to the Family
Sean Saves the World
The Michael J. Fox Show
Parenthood

THE CW
The Vampire Diaries
Reign

New Shows:

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC) - This spinoff of Once Upon A Time will spend its time in Wonderland, where John Lithgow plays the White Rabbit.  Hard to say if this franchise is strong enough to already support a spin-off.

The Millers (CBS) - Will Arnett (Arrested Development) is a man dealing with the divorce of his parents (Margo Martindale, Beau Bridges) in the first episode. The laughs look broad (it's from Raising Hope's Greg Garcia) but that might mean it fits right in behind Big Bang Theory.

The Crazy Ones (CBS) - Robin Williams returns to TV, and CBS is treating it like Richard Dreyfuss in The Education of Max Bickford. Remember that show? Exactly.

Welcome to the Family (NBC) - Mike O'Malley (Glee, Justified) plays a guy who learns his wife is pregnant AND so is his teenage daughter. Said daughter is impregnated by her Latino boyfriend so some culture-clash comedy will probably be in there too.

Sean Saves the World (NBC) - Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) is a bachelor who came out to his wife a few years ago, but now he gets custody of his 14-year-old daughter. Linda Lavin (Alice) plays his mom. It's been getting reviews on par with Nathan Lane's Encore Encore.

The Michael J. Fox Show (NBC) - Mike finally gets his own show again! I wouldn't have been disappointed if he became a full-timer on The Good Wife, but hey, here he is to try to help the network that originally made him a star. He plays a once star reporter who semi-retired due to his Parkinson's, but he decides to get back in the game. Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad's Marie) plays his wife. I'm looking forward to this.

Reign (CW) - Mary Queen of Scots gets the CW treatment. Torrance Coombs (The Tudors) plays one of her suitors.

=FRIDAY=

ABC
Last Man Standing
The Neighbors
Shark Tank
20/20

CBS
Undercover Boss
Hawaii Five-0
Blue Bloods

FOX
MasterChef Junior
(encores)

NBC
Dateline NBC
Grimm
Dracula

THE CW
The Carrie Diaries
America's Next Top Model

New Shows:

Dracula (NBC) - It might benefit from following Grimm but I haven't heard much good about it, and Friday is still Friday. It stars Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (The Tudors).

NBC's The Office - TV Review

"Angry Andy" - Catherine Tate's Nelly has moved in, but we finally got the episode where Andy (Ed Helms) has returned and had to confront Nelly taking over his job and office. It had all the signature awkwardness of the series but it didn't get there in believable ways.

I get Angela taking Nelly's side, but all season long, Andy has been the underdog boss that the rest of the office rallies around. The group didn't rally around Andy this time. Even Robert California (James Spader) was baffled by Nelly and wound up taking her side. This did not feel right, especially since most of the office hates Nelly.

Now last week, Jim and Dwight got the dirt on Nelly, and so Jim decided to be nice about it, but this week, no, Andy was back, and the office should have stood up for him.

I did like Erin, seeing her man emasculated, deciding to stand up for him and show some anger. Andy - anger management graduate he - joined in, but in typical Erin/Andy fashion, they took it too far and Andy wound up punching the same wall he did a couple years ago.

And so Andy got fired.

Now we know that Robert California (Spader) will be gone by season's end, and we know that Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Kelly (Mindy Kaling) and Toby (Paul Lieberstein) are probably gone due to other projects the actors have. I also read somewhere that the contracts are up for John Krasinski (Jim), Jenna Fischer (Pam) and BJ Novak (Ryan) and they haven't signed new ones. If this was the last season for The Office, they're set up for it. Trouble is, NBC doesn't have anything on the schedule to replace it. Community and Parks & Recreation may be critical hits, but they can never muster the ratings.

So I would think they'll get Andy back as a Dundler-Mifflin employee by the season finale. In fact, my guess is Jo (Kathy Bates) will be back somehow to realign the universe. Nelly currently is one of those characters who's supposed to be an antagonist, but if she's still boss next season, it makes the already weakened Office that less appealing to keep on the DVR.

Random Movie Stuff - 2/28/12

- Several Dracula projects are in development, the most recent being an origin story take from Jason Keller (Mirror Mirror).  There's also a Dracula Year Zero project, a apocalyptical Dracula movie, and a modern take based on Justin Cronin's novel The Passage.

- Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) will next direct Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy in Identity Theft, about a man who has his identity stolen by a woman.  Also, Horrible Bosses screenwriters John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein will make their directorial debut on Vacation, a semi-reboot that will follow grown-up Rusty Griswold taking his own family on vacation.  Chevy Chase will return as Clark, now a grandfather.  While Anthony Michael Hall was the most memorable Rusty, I'd kinda like to see Johnny Galecki (Christmas Vacation) return.  Ethan Embry and Jason Lively were the other two Rustys.

- Demi Moore will play a mother who realizes how disconnected she is with her daughter (Miley Cyrus) after reading her racy journal in LOL.  Thomas Jane, Ashley Greene, and Jay Hernandez co-star.  It opens this May 4.

- Principal photography has begun on The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer (The Social Network, J, Edgar, Mirror Mirror) as the Lone Ranger. It also co-stars Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner and Barry Pepper. It's written by Ted Elliott & Terry Russio and directed by Gore Verbinski, who all worked with Depp on Pirates of the Caribbean. It's slated to open May 31, 2013.

- Mike Tyson confirmed he will show up for The Hangover Part III, slated to open May 24, 2013.  Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zack Galifianakis will all be back, as will director Todd Phillips, who confirmed it will be considered the last installment of a trilogy.

- John Lee Hancock is in talks to direct Saving Mr. Banks, about Walt Disney's decade-long quest to get Australian author P.L. Travers to sell him the film rights to Mary Poppins.  Travers viewed Poppins as a personal work and wound up hating the animated sequences, vowing to never sell another title to Disney.  Early casting rumors have Tom Hanks as Disney and Meryl Streep as Travers.  Meanwhile Hancock is currently slated to next direct The Partner, based on the John Grisham novel.

And on the television front:

- James Spader is leaving NBC's The Office after joining the cast last year.  Executive producer Paul Lieberstein (who also plays Toby) said it had always been Spader's intention to just have it be one year.  If Mindy Kaling's Fox comedy pilot gets picked up, she'll be leaving the show as well (she plays Kelly, and is also a co-writer on the show).  There's also a possibility of a spin-off with Rainn Wilson's Dwight running Schrute Farms full-time, with multiple Schrute relatives showing up.


- Monday Night's Ratings:

Channel - Title - Viewers (in millions) / 18-49 rating

8:00/7:00

NBC - The Voice - 14.77 / 5.4
FOX - Daytona 500 - 14.24 / 4.5
CBS - How I Met Your Mother - 9.13 / 3.6
 - - - - 2 Broke Girls - 10.14 / 3.7
ABC - The Bachelor - 7.98 / 2.6
CW - Gossip Girl - 1.16 / .5

9:00/8:00

CBS - Two and a Half Men - 11.81 / 3.6
 - - - - Mike & Molly - 10.1 / 2.9
CW - Hart of Dixie - 1.4 / .5

10:00/9:00
CBS - Hawaii Five-0 - 9.44 / 2.5
NBC - Smash - 6.86 / 2.4
ABC - Castle - 9.06 / 2.2

Compared to other shows on the schedule, Smash's ratings are good, but not so much considering the drop-off from The Voice, which single-handedly keeps NBC a relevant network in the spring the same way Sunday Night Football does in the fall.

Has The Office jumped the shark?

I thought the ensemble was strong that it might be able to survive without Michael Scott (Steve Carell), but it occurs to me that it's lost so much more than that. Gone is the byzantine upper management that gave us leaders like Jan and David, gone is the soul-crushing feel of the daily cubicle drudgery. Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) doesn't have the fragile ego that made Michael do impulsive, selfish things. Andy started off as a jerk who had to go to anger management. Now he's a puppy-dog who just wants to please everyone, and all of his co-workers want him to succeed. Where's the comedy in that?
Now with Sabre CEO Robert California (James Spader) I thought we'd get some darkness to rock the boat, but Robert's been hit and miss. This week's episode, where we meet his wife (Maura Tierney) may have been the best use thus far of the potential of this mind-gaming genius. I enjoyed Andy twisting himself into a pretzel trying to do what he thought Robert wanted him to do.

These characters are still fun and funny. Dwight, Jim, Pam, Ryan, Kelly, Toby, Angela, Meredith, Stanley, Creed, Erin, Oscar, Daryl, Phyllis... I just hope the show can find some consistent Michael-free magic. Or maybe they should quit while they're ahead.