> SMASHWatch is grinning this morning, but should it be? NBC:  Airing against repeats on both of the other networks, SMASH was up a big 0.4 to 2.7, a healthy number for any 10PM drama these days.  So… yay?  Maybe, but the show itself continues to get markedly worse, moving with near-rocket speed from “potential [...]

> With the February sweep over, we enter the treacherous March/April period, where more than half the time periods on the broadcast networks have repeat episodes on any given week.  Having originals is a distinct advantage in this time, and NBC was ready with an all-new Monday.  The Voice surged back, and Smash had a [...]

> There’s something infectious about watching the people behind a brand-new TV hit enjoy their success, and at tonight’s PaleyFest salute to this year’s break-out comedy hit NEW GIRL, the pleasure of the cast and producers bubbled over.   To an unusual extent that the panelists acknowledged themselves, the dynamics among the cast members and writers [...]

> FOX did what it had to do today, shutting the time-travel portal on TERRA NOVA.  The show (which, because of its CG postproduction, would have needed an early renewal to be ready for air in Fall 2012) was enormously expensive, and its ratings trajectory was steeply downward, ending its run at a level barely [...]

> Maybe ABC should have left “Bitches” in the title. ABC:  GCB (aka Good Christian Bitches, aka Good Christian Belles) had a very unimpressive debut, a 2.2 that was way below Pan Am‘s premiere in the fall.  (In fairness, the DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES lead-in to Pan Am was a lot higher than last night’s rating.)  GCB [...]

>ABC wins the night but has a fairly disappointing debut of GCB.  Additionally, all the networks — including ABC — are down significantly versus the same night last year.  The four broadcast networks have seen a collective 2.5 rating points just disappear from Sunday night, more audience scattering to cable and other activities.     [...]

> ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME is one of the few no-question-about-it hits of the current television season, and the gathering at today’s PaleyFest session, while enormously enthusiastic, was less raucous and more comfortably pleased than last night’s crowd for Community.  (If Community‘s fans sometimes had the air of an Occupy rally that had actually [...]

>Last night Saturday Night Live with guest host Lindsay Lohan (see a complete review of the sad attempt at a comeback tour) was the second highest-rated episode of the season, behind only the Charles Barkley episode after the very high-rated NFL Wild Card game.  Lohan’s episode last night averaged a 5.5 household rating and 14 [...]