The Best of 2010

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERThursday, December 23, 2010 Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:Dominant CBS Barely Visible on Repeat Drenched Night Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: A Little House Christmas ________________________________________________________________________________ The Programming Insider will be on hiatus through Monday, Jan. 3, one day prior to heading to Los Angeles for The Television Critics Association Winter Tour. But do not forget to check PIFeedback for your daily dose of ratings. Have a wonderful holiday and a Happy and Healthy New Year to all!________________________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:Dominant CBS Barely Visible on Repeat Drenched Night Wednesday 12/22/10Note: The overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m. local time. One year earlier it was based on Live data only. HH Rtg/Shr CBS 3.8/ 6NBC 3.6/ 6Fox 3.5/ 6ABC 3.4/ 6CW 0.8/ 1 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, December 23, 2009):NBC: +50, Fox: +40, ABC: +10, CBS: -34, CW: -37 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:Nothing -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):Home for the Holidays (CBS), Undercovers (NBC), Million Dollar Money Drop (Fox) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown:Yes, you know it is holiday season when the top-rated network, CBS, averages a mere 3.8 rating/ 6 share in the overnights. Sixty-nine percent of the programming last night, in fact, were repeat telecasts. CBS opened the evening with annual holiday special, Home for the Holidays, at a third-place 2.9 rating/5 share. While focusing on adoption is certainly a worthy maneuver, by the numbers this is, unfortunately, a “loser.” Next on CBS was a repeat of Criminal Minds, which perked up to a first-place 4.8/ 8 at 9 p.m., followed by Friday-bound The Defenders at a dominant 4.6/ 8 at 10 p.m. As a reminder, The Defenders moves to Friday at 8 p.m. in place of canceled Medium on Feb. 16. Had the retention for The Defenders out of Criminal Minds been better CBS would probably not be moving it. Next was NBC with its combination of canceled Undercovers (#4: 2.8/ 5 at 8 p.m.), and two repeat episodes of Law & Order: SVU as follows: Law & Order: SVU (NBC) 9:00 p.m.: 3.4/ 6 (#2)10:00 p.m.: 4.7/ 8 (#1) Fox actually aired a night of originals, and Human Target (which is scheduled to air out of American Idol in January) won the 8 p.m. hour, with a 3.9/ 6 in the overnights. But night three of game show Million Dollar Money Drop slide to fourth, with a 3.0/ 5 at 9 p.m. Rule of thumb to any network: do not debut a new series right before the holidays. What is the point? ABC aired a night of all repeats, and they fared as follows: ABC/Wednesday8:00 p.m. - The Middle (R): 4.1/ 7 (#1)8:30 p.m. - Better with You (R): 3.4/ 6 (#2)9:00 p.m. – Modern Family (R): 4.2/ 7 (#2)9:30 p.m. – CMA Country Christmas (R): 2.9/ 5 (#4 at 9:30 p.m., $3 from 10-11 p.m.) And The CW capped off the night with back-to-back repeats of Hellcats at a 0.8/ 1 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. Fans of Hellcats, don’t forget, the struggling freshman cheerleading drama moves to Tuesdays at 9 p.m. out of One Tree Hill on January 25. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Not So Perfect:New NBC sitcom Perfect Couples, which inherits the Thursday 8:30 p.m. time period on Jan. 20, was minimally sampled in its Monday 10 p.m. preview. Based on the live plus same day ratings, just 3.56 million viewers tuned into Perfect Couples, with a 1.3 rating/3 share among adults 18-49. Comparably, that ranked last in the time period, with retention out of the season-finale of lead-in The Sing-Off (Viewers: 8.61 million; A18-49: 2.7/ 7 from 8-10 p.m.) of just 41 percent in total viewers and 48 percent in the demo. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Thursday 12/23/10 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (R) 8:30 p.m. Movie: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (R) CBS: 8:00 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (R) 8:30 p.m. $#*! My Dad Says (R) 9:00 p.m. CSI (R)10:00 p.m. The Mentalist (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. Community (R) 8:30 p.m. 30 Rock (R) 9:00 p.m. The Office (R) 9:30 p.m. Outsourced (R)10:00 p.m. The Office (R)10:30 p.m. The Office (R) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Million Dollar Money Drop 9:00 p.m. Million Dollar Money Drop CW 8:00 p.m. The Vampire Diaries (R) 9:00 p.m. Nikita (R) ______________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -Pauly D Spin-Off:Jersey Shore housemate Paul “DJ Pauly D DelVecchio” has landed his own spin-off series on MTV, which will focus on his life away from the shore. The upcoming third season of Jersey Shore, meanwhile, begins on Thursday, Jan. 6. -Starz Unveils Launch Date for Camelot:Starz has announced Friday, April 1 as the debut date for its next original series, Camelot. Airing at 10 p.m. ET, the 10-part epic, which redefines the classic medieval tale of King Arthur, features Joseph Fiennes, Jamie Campbell Bower and Eva Green. -Coming Up on Current TV:Interactive drama Bar Karma, created by The Sims video game designer Will Wright, will premiere on Current TV on Friday, Feb. 11 at 10 p.m. ET. For the first time ever, viewers will have an opportunity to voice their opinions about the 12-episode series (and get a show credit) via Storymaker application (www.current.com/studios) , which will be accessible on a new iPhone App launching this week. Bar Karma features William Sanderson, Matthew Humphreys and Cassie Howarth as the staff at a bar who guide a lost soul through a crossroads in his or her life in every episode. -CMT New Year’s Weekend Marathon:CMT will ring in the New Year with marathon airings off classic series The Dukes of Hazzard, Dallas and Green Acres. The Dukes of Hazzard will kick-off the weekend festivities with consecutive episodes from 1:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 31. Next is 13 episodes of Dallas from 2 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 1, followed by sitcom Green Acres on Sunday, Jan. 2 from 2 p.m. to 12 a.m. -Mr. TV’s Top 10 Picks for 2010:Let’s end the year with a look at standout performances. First up: AMC. While established dramas Mad Men and Breaking Bad continued to rack up awards (including Mad Men’s third consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Drama), recent entry The Walking Dead posted record ratings (just under 6 million total viewers for the season finale). Debuting the series—which also brought AMC younger demos that it never attracted before— on Halloween was arguably the smartest programming move of the season.Also on cable, Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Mallick, Jane Leeves and Betty White on TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland proved to the best female ensemble cast since The Golden Girls. TBS, meanwhile, deserves recognition for bringing Conan O’Brien to cable’s late night. The big three nets are no longer the only places to go for talk after hours. USA continues to find success with all of its original dramas—Burn Notice, Covert Affairs, In Plain Sight, Psych, Royal Pains and White Collar—by sticking to a familiar formula that works. Rivals on both cable and broadcast should take note: why deviate from the norm when you know the traditional audience will tune in?HBO’s freshman drama Boardwalk Empire worked for the premium net by recreating the Prohibition era, via spectacular cinematography, meticulous period costumes and a polished cast led by Steve Buscemi. Also on HBO is ongoing half-hour In Treatment, a weekly therapy session with Gabriel Byrne that is so painfully real you may just have to seek out your own therapist after watching.As for the broadcast networks, CBS took a huge risk and moved three-year-old The Big Bang Theory into the Thursday 8 p.m. hour, which has not housed a fall sitcom since Gilligan’s Island aired there in 1965. However, the shift worked, and TBBT is still a top 10-rated option, winning the half hour with ease. While not its best season creatively, CBS was wise to move its ratings Methuselah Survivor into the Wednesday 8 p.m. anchor spot. And I also really enjoy recent entry Mike & Molly out of Two and a Half Men on Monday. There is nothing wrong with a straight-up family-focused sitcom.At ABC, Emmy-winning Modern Family remains the best comedy on the air today, and after a spell in the wilderness, the net’s Cougar Town seems to have found its creative groove. However, I still don’t get the fan hysteria surrounding Fox’s Glee (or, for that matter, why the Emmys consider it a comedy). Not as intense as the aforementioned Boardwalk Empire and In Treatment, but no less significant, are two dramas on CBS: The Good Wife and Blue Bloods, which deftly combine the thematic elements of crime with relationship. And you have to at least give ABC credit for trying something different with mid-level-rated Michael Chiklis drama No Ordinary Family. Fox also attempted to break the mold with drama Lone Star, the story of a Texas grifter struggling with his conscience while juggling schemes, as well as two wives. The show seemed to have a lot of promise, and Fox promoted the hell out of it. But viewers showed no interest, and the ax swung after just two episodes. One entry in daytime, meanwhile, that must be mentioned is departing Oprah from CBS Television Distribution, which seems to top itself each day with a run of must-see themes and guest stars.Sadly, and finally, we bid adieu to ABC’s Lost last spring. And, to be honest, I have no idea what really happened. But this unprecedented six-season dramatic roller coaster will live on forever online thanks to the die-hard fan base, and the network should be commended for trying something unique.While there were more overall misses than hits this year as usual, the year 2011 will begin on a positive note thanks to a few gems in 2010. Here is to the next generation of hits.Happy New Year. _________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:A Little House Christmas Gruff Mr. Edwards trekked for miles in the snow to spend Christmas with the Ingalls family in their first holiday in Walnut Grove on family drama Little House on the Prairie. What did he bring with him that made Mama Caroline ecstatic? a) a rocking chairb) cider c) clothing for Mary, Laura and Carried) sweet potatoese) a turkey The answer to yesterday’s question… Who played the role of Violet Newstead originated by Lily Tomlin in theatrical 9 to 5 in the short-lived sitcom spin-off of the same name? a) Shelley Fabares b) Lori Loughlin c) Rita Morenod) Rhea Perlman e) Jessica Walter Is: c) Rita Moreno. Secretaries Doralee and Judy were portrayed by Rachel Dennison (Dolly Parton’s sister) and Valerie Curtin, while Slimy Mr. Hart was played by Jeffrey Tambor in season one and Peter Bonerz (Jerry on The Bob Newhart Show) in season two. All together now… Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchenPour myself a cup of ambitionAnd yawn and stretch and try to come to lifeJump in the shower and the blood starts pumpin'Out on the street the traffic starts jumpin'The folks like me on the job from nine to five. Workin' nine to five, what a way to make a livingBarely gettin' by it's all takin' and no givin'They just use your mind and they never give you creditIt's enough to drive you crazy if you let itNine to five, for service and devotionYou would think that I would deserve a fair promotionWant to move ahead but the boss won't seem to let meI swear sometimes that man is out to get me. Nine to five, yeah, they got you where they want youThere's a better life and you dream about it, don't youIt's a rich man's game no matter what they call it... -Current kudos goes to:David Ballarotto, Gerry Bixenspan, Larry Collins, Audrey Davis, Phyllis Epstein, John Ferlazzo, Maureen Goldman, Jacqueline Hague, Deb Kainer, Tom Kilgallon, Synda Kollman, Steven Kurtzer, Patty Lynch, Jim Moore, Michael Murphy, Gordon Purcell, Michael Ratliffe, Nick Rice, Joe Rubi, David Ruckman, Anthony Salerno, Maxine Shulman, Andrew Stearn, Ted Zawislak

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The Best of 2010

Marc Berman

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