Movie Box Review

Adieu, GIFTED MAN.

CBS:  The season finale of A GIFTED MAN ticked up a bit to a 1.4, but while that would be great news for, say, Fringe, don't get your hopes up for Man's renewal.  A far more telling sign:  we've talked here before about "second position" pilot deals for actors, and Gifted Man's female lead Rachelle Levebre just signed for one produced by Man's own production company (and that being CBS Studios, not unacquainted with its network).  CBS won the night's other hours (UNDERCOVER BOSS slightly up, BLUE BLOODS even) to tie for the evening win.

ABC:  SHARK TANK was down slightly at 8PM, but after that the night improved sharply, with 0.3 and 0.4 respective rises for PRIMETIME and 20/20, pulling the network to a tie for the night.

NBC:  WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?, with a Reba McEntire episode (and possibly benefiting as well from the repeat on FOX) leaped half a ratings point from last week (although that still put it in 3d place for the hour), which helped propel GRIMM up 0.2 to tie for the lead at 9PM.  DATELINE lost the newsmagazine battle and fell to 3d place at 10PM.

FOX::  With February sweeps over, the network slipped into repeats, falling into 4th place for the night with KITCHEN NIGHTMARES.

CW:  Twin 0.3 ratings for repeats of NIKITA and SUPERNATURAL.

FRINGE, having watched Monty Python & the Holy Grail, shouts "I'm not dead!" as the gravediggers try to take it away.

CBS:  An extremely soft win for the night (1.6 average).  UNDERCOVER BOSS was down 0.4 from its season premiere, A GIFTED MAN (in its penultimate episode, at least for this season) was down 0.2, and only BLUE BLOODS was up a slight 0.1 from last week, when it aired against ABC's Whitney Houston tribute.

FOX:  FRINGE was up 0.1, and while that doesn't sound like much (and isn't), at least it was in a tightly squeezed pack at 9PM (1.5-1.4-1.3-1.2).  The show now takes 4 weeks off, to return at the end of March with what it hopes won't be its final 8 episodes in this timeline and universe.  

NBC:  GRIMM continues to be a very niche success, at the top of that 9PM scrum by a bare 0.1 and showing no signs that it could thrive in the tougher competition that exists Sun-Thurs.  WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? is flopping at 8PM with a 1.0, and DATELINE barely won the newsmagazine battle at 10PM by 0.1.

ABC:  The network was in 2d place by only 0.1 at both 8PM and 9PM (SHARK TANK particularly benefited from Undercover Boss' decline), but 20/20 slumped without the buzz of the Whitney Houston story.

CW:  Repeats, although it's worth nothing that the 0.4 scored by NIKITA and SUPERNATURAL was only 0.1 below what some of the network's new episodes have been rating.

Tonight is repeat hell, except for NBC's burn-off of THE FIRM episodes (another kind of hell).  Tomorrow night is likely to be joyful for fans of black-and-white silent French films, and depressing for everyone else.  (It's a mark of just how dreary this year's Oscars are that the media has spent 2 days obsessing about Sacha Baron Cohen's publicity stunt for his new movie instead of the awards.)  All the other broadcast networks are staying away, as are many scripted cable locales, with the exceptions of giant hit WALKING DEAD on AMC, and enormous flop LUCK on HBO.

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At FOX, perhaps the most terrifying 7 words in the English language:  AMERICAN IDOL May Not Have Hit Bottom.

FOX:  Despite no special competition on any other network, Idol's 5.1 was down a full ratings point from last week, and down a horrible 35% from last year's parallel episode.  This is still, of course, a very high rating (FOX easily won the night), and Idol, as Mitch Metcalf has shown, skews fairly well with high-income viewers, but make no mistake:  these declines are costing FOX millions of dollars.  Even worse, since advertiser refunds are customarily made in the form of free "make-good" spots on the schedule, and nothing else on FOX rates anywhere near Idol's numbers, the network will have to give away either more Idol inventory or a lot of time in other shows.  And worst of all, it's not clear that these drops are going to stop anytime soon. 

NBC:  So this is NBC, 2011-2012:  nothing but football in the winter, and nothing but The Voice in the spring.  The network is certainly entitled to a little dancing in the street over the fact that they really do have this season's music competition show of choice (at least so far), but the rest of the schedule is an atrocity.  Last night's 1.2 has to be one of the lowest non-holiday, in-season (let alone sweeps) Sun-Thurs nights for any network ever.  The highest rated show of the night was SVU, with a 1.6 that was its lowest rating in a dozen years on the air.  WHITNEY was the night's "success story," as its 1.5 managed to stay 0.1 above its series low.  ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA? hit a new series low 1.3 (Chelsea may be there; no one else is).  And let's not even talk about the unbelievable 0.6 for ROCK CENTER. 

ABC:  But then, not a lot of good news for anyone last night. THE MIDDLE and SUBURGATORY hit new season lows of 2.3.  MODERN FAMIILY and HAPPY ENDINGS were, respectively, 0.2 and 0.1 above season lows.  (Endings, however, did win the prize for Random Pop Culture Reference Of the Week--a prize Community usually owns when it's on the air--when Brad, whose cologne attracts pigeons, was referred to as "Mr. Tuppence A Bag," about as sweet a Mary Poppins gag as you'll ever find.)  The idea of pre-empting Revenge with a special pre-Oscar "Before They Were Stars" installment of 20/20 must have seemed like a good idea at the time; at 1.4, it wasn't.

CBS:  The hits keep coming:  SURVIVOR's 2.8 was the lowest regular episode in that show's 12-year history, and CRIMINAL MINDS tied a season low 3.1.  But then--gasp!--something good:  CSI, with its 2d Elisabeth Shue episode (but probably helped as well by the weak competition on ABC) went up 0.2 from last week, with a 2.8 that almost equaled the NBC and ABC ratings combined.

CW:  ONE TREE HILL's 0.7 was higher than last night's Rock Center.  REMODELED, though, continued marching graveward with a 0.3.

Tonight FOX airs an hour of Idol, followed by THE FINDER.  All the networks feature new episodes, except NBC, which airs its last Grimm rerun at 10PM (Awake starts next week), and CW, which moves to its own drummer and is already in Thursday reruns even though we're still in February sweeps.

Not a great night for bubble shows.

CBS:  On a night where CSI NY and BLUE BLOODS both won their hours and were up slightly from last week, A GIFTED MAN went down 0.1 and tied for 3rd place at 8PM.

FOX:  KITCHEN NIGHTMARES and FRINGE were both down 0.1 from last week, but while that still left Kitchen comfortably in 2d place for its hour, Fringe matched a series low 1.1 and continued to make it hard for FOX to consider renewing it.

NBC:  WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, with a heavily-promoted "Marisa Tomei murder mystery" episode, held steady with its season premiere, and then things got even better.  GRIMM was up 0.2 from last week, just 0.1 from the lead in its hour, and DATELINE (some big story/interview this week?) was up a whopping 0.4 from last week, beating out 20/20.

ABC:  SHARK TANK got the night off to a great start, up 0.3 for the week and winning the 8PM slot.  PRIMETIME was up 0.1, and while that was only enough for 3rd place at 9PM, it was a closely-bunched trio.  But then 20/20 fell flat at 10PM, down 0.3 from last week.

CW:  NIKITA held at a 0.5, and although SUPERNATURAL was down 0.1, its 0.7 is still solid for CW.

Tomorrow night's big event is the GRAMMYS, the one night of the year CBS pretends it's hip.  The show scored a 9.9 last year (up a bit from the year before), and faces all-new episodes on ABC and FOX, plus a 2-hour FEAR FACTOR special on NBC.

America wasn't in the mood for scripted drama.

NBC:  The network replaced the deceased Chuck with the reality show WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? and could only pull a 4th place 1.1 in the hour (admittedly a bit better than Chuck was doing, and probably at a lower price).  GRIMM had a bad week, even though it tied for 2d in its hour--it matched its season low 1.4, down 0.4 from its last original.

FOX:  KITCHEN NIGHTMARES won its hour with a 1.6, but then FRINGE plunged to a 1.1 despite airing one of the season's best episodes, tying its season low.

CBS: The network tied for the win on the night, but A GIFTED MAN, CSI NY and BLUE BLOODS were all down slightly from their last original episodes.

ABC:  Shared the win, sparked by a 20/20 that tied Blue Bloods for the lead at 10PM.  PRIMETIME, though, was down 0.3 from last week.

CW:  Another pair of tied season lows for NIKITA and SUPERNATURAL. 

Not a lot of viewer enthusiasm on a night when nothing topped a 1.8.

NBC:  CHUCK continued to lurch toward its January 27 finale with a 0.9.  The network's issue comes at 9PM:  one obvious move would be to yank the horribly rated THE FIRM off Thursday and put GRIMM in that slot, but Grimm hit a series low 1.4 last night, making it harder and harder to consider the show a "hit," even on NBC.  Leave Grimm on Friday where not much is expected from it (but where returns are low), or try to make it more of a mainstream success (and risk losing it altogether)?  Tough call.  DATELINE wound up the night with an unimpressive 3rd place finish.

ABC:  A tie for the night's win, sparked by the final regular-series hour of EXTREME MAKEOVER:  HOME EDITION and a Madonna interview on 20/20 that both gave the network a 1.7 in their hours (tying for 1st place at 9PM, 2d place by 0.1 at 10PM), following a 1.4 for the first hour of the Extreme Makeover finale. 

CBS:  Shared 1st place for the night, with a 1.3 for A GIFTED MAN at 8PM but better results the rest of the night.

FOX:  KITCHEN NIGHTMARES started the night off well with a 1.7 that won the 8PM hour, but then FRINGE fell to 4th place at 9PM, tying its 1.1 series low.  Let's hope the producers have an endgame in mind for the rest of this season, because the show's tenuous lease on life may be nearing an end.

CW:  Both NIKITA and SUPERNATURAL were down from last week to 0.5 and 0.6, respectively.

Saturday night will be dominated, possibly to a historic extent, by CBS's coverage of the Tim Tebow/Tom Brady Armageddon Bowl.  ABC will try to zig a little bit to that massive zag by airing the Miss America pageant.  In late night, Daniel Radcliffe (who has a movie opening) will test his post-Harry Potter appeal by hosting Saturday Night Live, with music guest Lana Del Rey.  Sunday will feature debuts by CBS's Undercover Boss and FOX's animated version of Napoleon Dynamite, but the night's big event will be NBC's Ricky Gervais-hosted Golden Globes.

With reruns and holiday specials occupying most of the airwaves, NBC was able to grab a rare non-Sunday win.

NBC:  The Peacock was the only network airing original scripted programming, and although CHUCK and GRIMM were each a bit down (to 0.9 and 1.5, respectively), that was enough, combined with DATELINE's 1.3, to take the night.  

ABC:  EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION, now officially on its way out as a regular series, held steady with a 1.3 average over its 2 hours.  The 20/20 at 10PM, however, got crushed by Dateline, down to a 0.9.

FOX:  Repeats of Charlie Brown, Ice Age and Simpsons holiday specials couldn't do better than 0.9-1.2.

CBS:  An all-repeat night, in the 0.8-1.0 range.

CW:  Winter repeats continue.

On Sunday, CBS airs its 3-hour SURVIVOR finale/reunion extravaganza, against the football game NBC had to take (Baltimore vs San Diego) because they weren't allowed to air the one they wanted (New England vs. God Tim Tebow Denver), along with repeats and holiday specials on the other networks (plus the finale of ALLEN GREGORY).  All the pop culture noise, though, is over at Showtime, which has the DEXTER season finale followed by what's become, despite its seemingly blah 0.5 rating, the event of the season:  the season finale of HOMELAND, probably the most eagerly awaited last episode since Breaking Bad's earlier in the year.  Don't screw it up, Homeland producers!

No news was good news for NBC last night.

NBC:  The network returned from several weeks of seasonal hiatus in pretty chipper shape.  CHUCK was up slightly from its last airing, but more importantly, GRIMM held steady with a 1.6 that on this night and this network was a veritable present under the tree, winning its hour.  Then DATELINE (airing against a CBS rerun) was equally strong, also winning the hour.

ABC:  Unexcitingly even, with EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION's 1.2 average over its 2 hours and 20/20's 1.3 the same as last week.

CBS:  Christmas specials won the 8PM hour and were a very solid 2d at 9PM, but the BLUE BLOODS repeat at 10PM came in behind both newsmagazines.

FOX:  Repeats didn't budge the needle, with FRINGE notably awful at 0.4.

CW:  More repeats, as the network's winter intermission continues.

Sunday's schedule will be all over the place, with new episodes on FOX and CBS (including the cycle finale of THE AMAZING RACE at 8PM), a rerun of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY on ABC, what should be a big Giants vs Cowboys football game on NBC, and on HBO, the season finale of BOARDWALK EMPIRE coupled with a "preview" of the pilot for their big-name (Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Michael Mann, David Milch) horseracing series LUCK.  

It turns out that while Americans are football crazy, they're not crazy.

FOX:  The first-ever PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, in which UCLA was never close to nationally-ranked Oregon, could only manage a dismal 1.4 rating in 18-49s (although given the West Coast focus of the game, that could come up in final national ratings).  On a night when hardly anyone was watching network TV, though, that was enough to tie CBS for the lead.

CBS:   A GIFTED MAN, CSI NY and BLUE BLOODS were all down, with none scoring above a 1.6, but that still won every timeslot except 8PM.

NBC:  One hopes that whatever advertiser deal NBC made to put GAME OF YOUR LIFE on their air and disrupt the run of Grimm was worth it, because the TV-movie did a genuinely pitiful 0.5 rating.  That lowered DATELINE to a 1.0.

ABC:  EXTREME MAKEOVER was down at 8PM and even at 9PM, then a Beyonce interview on 20/20 (plus the hit Dateline took) provided a marginal benefit at 10PM.

CW:  No one cared about NIKITA's midseason finale at 8PM, as the show fell to a 0.5.  SUPERNATURAL recovered at 9PM to a 0.7, which is OK by CW standards.

Monday has become a real problem for one network and a guaranteed victory for another.

FOX:  Due to the nature of Season 1 production on TERRA NOVA, it was always clear that there wouldn't be any back-order this year.  That leaves FOX with plenty of time to think about whether to renew the show for a second season.  It's become an increasingly problematic decision, because at the show's level of license fee, a 2.3 rating is below mediocre.  (However, on a corporate level FOX owns the series--which may have strong overseas value due to its genre--and that will also figure into the decision.)  It doesn't help that creatively, the show has become sluggish and uninvolving, with minimal dinosaur action and dull plots.  As to HOUSE, reports are that the network's decision on whether to make the deals necessary to bring it back will be made sooner rather than later, so the show can build to a series finale if needed, and that's looking more likely than not right now.

CBS:  Remember the concern that with Charlie Sheen gone, 2 1/2 MEN would collapse?  The show is thriving, with last night's rating more than 30% over last season's average.  That goes for HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER and MIKE & MOLLY as well, and 2 BROKE GIRLS, which has eased up on the hostility jokes and become somewhat bearable, is right up there with them.  Spring will bring more challenges with THE VOICE as competition (and SMASH up against HAWAII 5-0), but for now Monday is just about ideal for CBS.

ABC:  A clear winner in the battle of the newsmagazine "gets," the special 20/20 with Gabrielle Giffords more than doubled NBC's number at 10PM.  DANCING WITH THE STARS, while still substantially below last season, is building toward its cycle conclusion.

NBC:  Even with a nationally reported scoop, the interview with allegedly monstrous former Penn State Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky that was in the media all day leading up to the show, ROCK CENTER barely moved the dial.  THE SING-OFF is counting the weeks till it can fade away.

CW:  GOSSIP GIRL and HART OF DIXIE were steady, but at the low end of CW's 0.6-0.8 range, particularly bad news for Gossip.

Tonight FOX will hope that the GLEE/NEW GIRL post-baseball bleeding can heal.

The small fluttering bit of NBC's fall that was still breathing may have started to die last night.

NBC:  GRIMM didn't win its timeslot last night, after another 15% drop.  On Friday night, a 1.5 is still a decent number (good enough for 2d place in the 9PM hour last night), but the show's momentum is clearly moving the wrong way, and the network will be hard-pressed to justify calling the show a "hit"--not that that's likely to stop them.  CHUCK continued its creep to the TV graveyard 

CBS:  A GIFTED MAN's 1.2 was on par with its season track record and good enough for 2d place in its timeslot, but the network will have to decide very soon whether that's good enough to survive.  BLUE BLOODS took a hit at 10PM, possibly because of a promotable 20/20 on ABC.

FOX:  FRINGE hit a series low 1.1, and that's low indeed.  The series has a full season order, so it'll have plenty of time to see how Grimm plays out before there's any need to panic.  KITCHEN NIGHTMARES had an easy win at 8PM.

ABC:  EXTREME MAKEOVER was nowhere to be found at 8PM (just 0.2 above Nikita on the CW), but the 10PM 20/20 was way up over last week.

CW:  Both NIKITA and SUPERNATURAL were within the 0.6-0.8 CW norm.