NBC has dug a deep hole for itself on Thursdays, which used to be the crown jewel of its week.  Last night, its average in 18-49 year old viewers was a horrific 1.2, less than half of CBS and FOX’s numbers and just barely ahead of CW.  The night is due for a major […]

The week’s good times stop rolling for the networks.  (Note, comparisons are to 2 weeks ago, as shows were either preempted on Thanksgiving night or had atypical numbers.) ABC:  LAST RESORT, now just playing out its string, hit a new low 1.0.  The night didn’t get better at 9PM, where GREY’S ANATOMY tied its season […]

  After announcing its competition titles yesterday, today the Sundance Film Festival continued its gradual release of the 2013  line-up with most of its remaining films, leaving only the highest-profile Premieres for Monday.  Among the instantly promising: MUD:  The latest film by Jeff Nichols, who gave us Take Shelter last time out.  Mud has already […]

  If you’re a fall series that hasn’t heard any news of your fate by Thanksgiving, the omens aren’t good–at that point, production of the initial 13 episodes is all but done, and for reasons of cost and momentum, networks try to keep shows in continuous production if they’re going to extend throughout the season.  […]

A strong week for network television continues. ABC:  A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, from way back in 1965, was up a bit from last year to 2.8, enough to tie for the lead in its hour.  That helped the 9PM hour, where MODERN FAMILY was up 0.1 to 4.7, and SUBURGATORY was up 0.2 to 2.6.  […]

This weekend is normally dead.  On average, last weekend (the three days after Thanksgiving) is the 7th busiest of the year, while this weekend (the first in December) is normally ranked 50th in terms of volume.  Last year, there were no wide releases on the comparable weekend, and two years ago only one film was […]

  Sundance, like most major film festivals, makes an extended process out of the unveiling of its yearly offerings, and today the festival announced its 2013 competition entries (fiction and documentary, US and foreign), as well as the avant-garde NEXT category.  The really high-profile Premieres and the sometimes more commercial Midnight titles are among those […]

  AMC:  With one week to go until its fall finale, THE WALKING DEAD was of course at the top of the night, with a combined 7.0 (up 0.3 from last week) for its two primetime airings.  As has become traditional, this was only behind the week’s network football games (Sunday and Thanksgiving night) as […]