The Extratextuals

Spurred by the news of Warner Bros. and Will and Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick’s decision to turn Justin Halpern’s Twitter account, ShitMyDadSays, into a sitcom, I want to talk about odd adaptations. After all, recent months have also seen the announcement of Universal and Hasbro teaming up for a Monopoloy movie, directed by Ridley Scott no less. And I’m continually amused when I sign academic book contracts and the terms include movie and television rights … or at least I was until Michael Himmel, author of Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, told me that he sold the rights (mainly, for the name) for a handsome sum, and now I’m thinking that my next book should be called Around the World with 80 Blades: The Tale of a Ninja Pirate Assassin. More after fold… Read more…

adaptations adaptations, Monopoly, Pirates of the Caribbean, ShitMyDadSays, Where the Wild Things Are

Now that the TV season’s had 7 weeks under its wing, and the first sweeps weeks are over, let’s look at some of their professors’ midterm grades for the new class, after the fold …

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new shows, ratings cancellations, ratings

So, The Beautiful Life was the first new show to bite the dust, Trauma the second, and now ABC has announced they won’t buy any more episodes of Eastwick. Last week it pulled in a 18-49 demo rating of 1.6, with a 4 share. Hank’s been getting similar or worse ratings, so look for it to go next, but the forgotten got an order for another 5 episodes.

Those inclined to strict religious beliefs may have found Eastwick unholy and Godforsaken. I agree, albeit from a secular standpoint. So I say good riddance. Stars Hollow set, you must now find new residents.

(disclaimer: I enjoy my anti-fandoms, yes, but if you were a fan, I mean you no ill. I’m sorry for your loss, and I don’t voice my opinion with any sense that it’s scripture … but I still think the show was pretty horrific)

new shows ABC, cancellations, Eastwick

Too much TV on this blog of late. Let’s shift gears.

I’ve been playing Prince of Persia on my PS3 lately. The other day I joked with my wife that it’s therapeutic, not because the fighting is cathartic (it’s not – the boss fights annoy and frustrate me), but because it forces me to face my fear of heights. It’s a little oddity of my experience with computer games that my fear of heights frequently transfers over to them. More after the fold … Read more…

videogames heights, Prince of Persia, videogames

Jay Leno’s ratings are not good. Case in point – CBS was in rerun mode early this week, and yet its reruns for CSI: Miami, The Good Wife, and CSI: New York all still (handily) beat Leno. When they announced The Jay Leno Show, NBC talked a big game about how they wouldn’t be playing reruns because of Jay, yet viewers seem to prefer reruns now that they’re being offered the choice.

So who can Jay beat in the ratings? This week, on Monday, only Gossip Girl fared worse, on Tuesday, it was 90210 and Melrose Place, on Wednesday, only Vampire Diaries’ repeat placed lower than Jay, Supernatural pulled the trick on Thursday, and a House rerun just dipped below Jay on Friday. More after the fold…

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new shows Jay Leno

Come on already, network TV: I want some cancellations! I submit for your consideration Eastwick, Cougar Town, Grey’s Anatomy, Jay Leno, and Melrose Place … though somehow I think only the former is realistically going anywhere soon, and the latter a bit later.

Indeed, if we look at what has not been picked up, the writing may be on the wall for Trauma, Law and Order, Eastwick, the forgotten, Hank, Three Rivers, Til Death, and Brothers (with the latter two tellingly cut from November sweeps … which may delay their inevitable deaths). Almost everything else has scored a pickup, or at least a few more episodes in the case of MP (and Trauma, Hank, and Eastwick dropped further in the ratings this week, hitting new lows). More after the fold …
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new shows, ratings Jay Leno, Melrose Place, ratings

Permit me a hockey analogy:

In just two draft years, 1979 and 1980, the Edmonton Oilers acquired some of the best ice hockey players in history, and the core of arguably the best team in history, drafting Kevin Lowe, Mark Messier, and Glenn Anderson and acquiring Wayne Gretzky in 1979, then drafting Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, and Andy Moog in 1980. For hockey-challenged readers, Gretzky is the highest scoring player of all time, Messier the second, Coffey the twelfth (second amongst defensemen), Kurri the nineteenth. Between them, these players have 34 Stanley Cup championships. So, 1979 and 1980 were good years for Edmonton.

Are there equivalents in television, years when a network’s crop of youngsters proves brilliant for them?

To get an initial answer to this question, I looked at the start dates of all the network shows currently on prime time.

The winner, it seems, is 2004 and 2005 at ABC, when the formerly struggling network debuted Lost, Desperate Housewives, Dancing with the Stars, Grey’s Anatomy, and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, any one of which I’m sure NBC would sell Jay Leno and the first-borns of his family for fifteen generations for (that’s in contracts these days, right?).

Looking further back, 1970-1972 was a great time for CBS comedies, of course, as newbies M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, and Maude gave the network not only four hits, but four of the most highly touted shows in the medium’s history.

NBC’s comedy moment was 1983-1985, when they offered up Cheers, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Golden Girls, and Night Court (granted, neither FT nor NC are all that great, but they did very well in the ratings at the time).

Anyone out there know of other moments where one network just aced it? I know my comedy better than other stuff, so I’m sure I’m forgetting some storied years of drama.

new shows Edmonton Oilers

Since I’ve been recording the Nielsen overnights, from TV By the Numbers, and have been ranking them at the end of each week, I’ve got a few observations on what’s going up and what’s going down. (Note, though, that these are from overnights, and thus at times don’t account for the refined toggling that occurs later. Take em with a grain of salt in other words):

• The Simpsons finished in the top 10 in ratings this week, even beating Football Night in America and CSI: Miami. Way to go, Lisa! And very cool to see it doing so well this year.
• Speaking of oldtimers with attitude, 60 Minutes has placed in the top 10 in overall viewers two weeks in a row now. For a show that was in the top 10 for 23 years in a row (1977-2000), it’s clearly still ticking (ouch. Sorry, bad joke)
• The very top has been pretty reliable: Sunday Night Football, Grey’s Anatomy, and House have ruled the roost for four straight weeks, if we’re talking 18-49 ratings, or NCIS, NCIS: LA, Dancing with the Stars, and Sunday Night Football have ruled if we’re talking overall viewers. There’s your evidence that I don’t have a Nielsen box in my home
• NCIS’s viewing numbers are quite remarkable – almost 4 million more than its closest competitor (that’s a difference of 3 Melrose Places), and up a full 3 million from last year. Indeed, while I don’t care much for the show (though I also don’t wish it ill), it’s encouraging to see shows slowly climb the ratings charts, as surely this gives hope that all of one’s middling favorites can also ascend to lofty heights one day … or at least that’s what I hope NBC think when they look at Chuck
• Eastwick has dropped the most precipitously, from #35 to #63 in 18-49 ratings, #36 to #63 in overall viewers
• Leno’s numbers haven’t moved in big ways, but over time they’re going down. His Monday 18-49 ranking has gone from #56 to #66, Tuesday from #41 to #52, Wednesday #53 to #61, Friday from #62 to #69, and while Thursday hasn’t dropped, it’s only gone up a smidgeon from #59 to #58. Euthanasia calls

ratings Nielsen, ratings

Two years ago, Just TV’s Jason Mittell, fellow (albeit MIA) Extratexuals Ivan Askwith and Derek Johnson, and I “drafted” the new shows. We had a points system based on how long our team members lasted, and though the strike messed with things a bit, the competition remained. Everything came down to Reaper in the end for me, and when it failed to be renewed, Jason won.

As a sign of American television’s cruelty to new shows, two years later, I note that of the 24 shows drafted, only 5 remain (one questionably). Derek’s team (Bionic Woman, K-Ville, Dirty Sexy Money, Kid Nation, Cavemen, Big Shots) were mostly quick to depart. Ivan’s last man standing is the one I hope will outlive them all, Chuck (his others were Journeyman, Aliens in America, Moonlight, Carpoolers, and Samantha Who?). Officially, my Kitchen Nightmares may return, though I’m not holding my breath, leaving my only other team member standing as Gossip Girl (I also had Life, Life is Wild, Reaper, and Cane). Jason’s faith in Back to You proved misguided, as with Women’s Murder Club, though his trust in Viva Laughlin as the Designated Stinker proved prescient, as with two of his other picks, who are undoubtedly the most successful from that year, Private Practice (ranked #11 in last week’s 18-49 ratings) and Big Bang Theory (ranked a whopping #4). And his other member, Pushing Daisies, will live in my heart for a good long while.

So, kudos, Professor Mittell

draft

Not much change from last week, so I’ll spare you the full list and numbers. Suffice it to say:

• NCIS: LA is still doing really well, ranking #4 in overall viewers, and #19 in the 18-49 demo, easily the most successful of the class of 2009
• Glee, The Vampire Diaries, and Jay Leno’s Thursday night all had their best ratings to date
• Modern Family, Flash Forward, and Accidentally on Purpose recovered a bit from weaker showings the previous week
• Three Rivers and Eastwick edged closer to oblivion, both slipping slightly
• And Melrose Place is back in the undisputed last place, in both overall viewers and 18-49 demo ratings (and in class)
• Viewing in general was up last week, about a quarter of a million people per show on average. Measure the above three failures relative to that

So, my cancellation predictions remain the same as last week

new shows, ratings Nielsen, ratings