Well, that didn't take long. Here's the difference these days between CBS and NBC: earlier this week, NBC rewarded UP ALL NIGHT and WHITNEY, two sitcoms that most recently had 2.3 ratings, with full season back-orders, and has generally been treating them like new smash hits. This afternoon, HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN, which had a 2.5 rating last night, was demoted by CBS to the wasteland of Saturday night and had its order cut from 13 episodes to 9 (the 9th episode being the one that's shooting tonight--Happy Yom Kippur, everyone!). So basically, as close as a show can come to being cancelled without actually using that word.
Showing posts with label How to be a gentleman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label How to be a gentleman. Show all posts
THE SKED: CBS Explains "How To Be" A Flop Sitcom
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THE SKED: Thursday Ratings - Network Scorecard
Once-glorious Thursdays continue to become just another broadcast network night.
NBC: Before the season started, all the attention on THE OFFICE was focused on how the show would replace Steve Carell. But it's turning out that the bigger problem this season is the weirdly dark tone the series has taken--last night's episode had a premise that sounded funny (the warehouse guys hit the lottery and quit en masse), but chose to delve into the bleak depression of Daryl, who repeatedly begged Andy to fire him and put him out of his misery. Viewers apparently feel the same way, as ratings have gone steadily down since the premiere; last night the show was almost 25% below last season's average. As The Office goes, so goes WHITNEY, which like its fellow back orderee Up All Night is now doing a barely-passable 2.3 rating. The rest of the the night was even worse, with COMMUNITY, PARKS & RECREATION and PRIME SUSPECT all under a 2.ABC: The news wasn't much better at the Alphabet. Last night's GREY'S ANATOMY was 30% below last season's average, although that was still good enough for 2d place in the hour. PRIVATE PRACTICE was also down over 20% from last year, which thanks to Prime Suspect was again good enough for 2d. CHARLIE'S ANGELS is just playing out its string; it wouldn't be a surprise to see double-pumped episodes of ONCE UPON A TIME in this slot, once it premieres in 2 weeks.
CBS: With last night's drop, THE BIG BANG THEORY is running even with last season, so that's a success story. HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN was fairly steady behind it but lost a hefty chunk of its lead-in, and the question for CBS is whether they think RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (currently scheduled for the limbo of Saturdays) would do better in the slot. PERSON OF INTEREST is an unacceptable 4th place in its hour (will the network try a run of Unforgettable there to see if it can find a foothold?), but THE MENTALIST perked up to win at 10PM.
FOX: X-FACTOR is winning the night for FOX by a 25% margin, and that's all that matters. (But no one will be watching tonight's deciding Phillies-Cardinals playoff game with more attention than FOX executives.)
CW: VAMPIRE DIARIES is holding fairly steady with last season (down about 15%). But even with that lead-in, SECRET CIRCLE isn't doing better than the network's other new shows that have less help. However, none of them would be as compatible with Diaries as Circle is, not to mention that the network will want to keep Kevin Williamson happy, so a back order should be coming soon.
Tonight, the main interest will be to see if the scrutiny of A GIFTED MAN becomes a death watch.
The Sked: THURSDAY RATINGS October 6
ABC is really losing audience on Thursdays at a rapid pace. They could fall below already-weak NBC on the night. Charlie's Angels needs to go, but what are they going to replace it with? Grey's Anatomy repeats? That's what they did last fall, and all that happened was the time period went from a 1.1 for My Generation to a 1.2 for Grey's repeats. The real problem for ABC is that the medical soaps are just dying. Like the Wednesday edition, Thursday's The X Factor is settling very close to a 4, good enough for another midweek nightly victory for FOX. FOX's happiness about the primetime ratings last night have to be tempered by the fact that the Detroit Tigers eliminated the ratings-gold New York Yankees in Game 5 last night. A dream Phillies-Yankees World Series could turn into a horrific Diamonbacks-Rangers match-up very quickly.
FOX was #1 again on Thursday with 3.8 thanks to The X Factor, which is settling at a high-3 rating for the Thursday edition. The three-week track is 4.3...3.9...3.8, which probably goes up to a 3.9 in the final nationals this afternoon. On this night last year FOX was #3 with a 2.3 rating: Bones (2.7 rating) and Fringe (2.0).
CBS was #2 with a 2.9 rating, down a touch from a 3.0 last week. Big Bang fell to a 4.4 this week from a 4.9 last week. The comedy usually rounds up so this afternoon it should be a 4.5, which very well might be its normal level the rest of the year. How to be a Gentleman drifted down to a 2.5, down a moderate 0.2 from last week's premiere. In terms of retention, How was 55% last week and 57% this week, similarly weak numbers. The 55ish% retention is embarassing, but the absolute level of the rating is not horrific -- so why rush to join the cancellation brigade? A bigger issue is 9 pm. Person of Interest has not found bottom yet and might slide into the low-2's by next week, a tough level for the #1 marketing priority. In contrast, The Mentalist seems to have stablized at a 2.7. This night last year (10.7.2010), CBS was #1 with a 3.1 rating: Big Bang Theory (4.1), $#*! My Dad Says (2.9), CSI (2.7), Mentalist (3.0).
ABC has sunk to a weak #3 with a 2.1 rating on the night, down all the way from a 2.6 last week. The network continues to have a big problem at 8 pm, with Charlie's Angels hitting a 1.2. Remember, it premiered at a 2.1. The Angels are probably next on the chopping block of cancellation despite limited options. The news is also horrible 9-11 pm, with each medical soap down 0.6 from last week. The wheels have come off. On this night last year, ABC was #2 with a 2.9 rating: Grey's Anatomy repeat (1.2), Grey's Anatomy (4.6), Private Practice (2.9).
NBC was #4 again with a 2.0 rating, down moderately from a 2.2 last week. Whitney retained an acceptable (but unimpressive) portion of her lead-in (74%). The three-week retention track shows it is taking okay advantage of the declining Office: 82%...73.5%...74%. Speaking of The Office, it's looking grim without Michael Scott, compounded by the lack of a real succession plan. The show started at a 3.9 premiere week and is already down to a 3.1. Look for it to sink into the high-2's in the next week or two. Prime Suspect has stablized at a 1.5, certainly not good enough for more episodes but not bad enough yet for a pink slip given the myriad other problems on the schedule. On this night last year, NBC was #4 with a 2.1 rating: Community (1.8), 30 Rock (2.1), The Office (3.5), Outsourced (2.5), Apprentice (1.3).
Through the first 18 nights of the season, FOX and CBS are tied with a 3.2, while ABC has a 2.6 and NBC a 2.3 or 2.4 depending on rounding. The CW is averaging a 0.75 season to date, with last night Vampire Diaries (1.2) providing some rare good news but Secret Circle doing a ho-hum (for them) 0.8 rating.
CBS was #2 with a 2.9 rating, down a touch from a 3.0 last week. Big Bang fell to a 4.4 this week from a 4.9 last week. The comedy usually rounds up so this afternoon it should be a 4.5, which very well might be its normal level the rest of the year. How to be a Gentleman drifted down to a 2.5, down a moderate 0.2 from last week's premiere. In terms of retention, How was 55% last week and 57% this week, similarly weak numbers. The 55ish% retention is embarassing, but the absolute level of the rating is not horrific -- so why rush to join the cancellation brigade? A bigger issue is 9 pm. Person of Interest has not found bottom yet and might slide into the low-2's by next week, a tough level for the #1 marketing priority. In contrast, The Mentalist seems to have stablized at a 2.7. This night last year (10.7.2010), CBS was #1 with a 3.1 rating: Big Bang Theory (4.1), $#*! My Dad Says (2.9), CSI (2.7), Mentalist (3.0).ABC has sunk to a weak #3 with a 2.1 rating on the night, down all the way from a 2.6 last week. The network continues to have a big problem at 8 pm, with Charlie's Angels hitting a 1.2. Remember, it premiered at a 2.1. The Angels are probably next on the chopping block of cancellation despite limited options. The news is also horrible 9-11 pm, with each medical soap down 0.6 from last week. The wheels have come off. On this night last year, ABC was #2 with a 2.9 rating: Grey's Anatomy repeat (1.2), Grey's Anatomy (4.6), Private Practice (2.9).
NBC was #4 again with a 2.0 rating, down moderately from a 2.2 last week. Whitney retained an acceptable (but unimpressive) portion of her lead-in (74%). The three-week retention track shows it is taking okay advantage of the declining Office: 82%...73.5%...74%. Speaking of The Office, it's looking grim without Michael Scott, compounded by the lack of a real succession plan. The show started at a 3.9 premiere week and is already down to a 3.1. Look for it to sink into the high-2's in the next week or two. Prime Suspect has stablized at a 1.5, certainly not good enough for more episodes but not bad enough yet for a pink slip given the myriad other problems on the schedule. On this night last year, NBC was #4 with a 2.1 rating: Community (1.8), 30 Rock (2.1), The Office (3.5), Outsourced (2.5), Apprentice (1.3).
Through the first 18 nights of the season, FOX and CBS are tied with a 3.2, while ABC has a 2.6 and NBC a 2.3 or 2.4 depending on rounding. The CW is averaging a 0.75 season to date, with last night Vampire Diaries (1.2) providing some rare good news but Secret Circle doing a ho-hum (for them) 0.8 rating.
THURSDAY FALL 2011 Estimates Episode Rating
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Avg
ABC
800 Charlie's Ang 2.2 2.1 1.5 1.2 1.6
900 Grey's Anatomy 3.6 4.1 3.6 3.0 3.6
1000 Private Practi 2.5 2.8 2.2 2.5
CBS
800 Big Bang Theor 4.0 5.0 4.9 4.4 4.8
830 How Gentleman 2.9 2.7 2.5 2.6
900 Person Interest 3.5 3.1 2.7 2.5 2.8
1000 Mentalist 3.3 2.8 2.6 2.7 2.7
NBC
800 Community 1.9 1.7 1.8 1.5 1.7
830 Parks & Rec 2.1 2.1 2.1 1.9 2.0
900 The Office 3.0 3.9 3.5 3.1 3.5
930 Whitney 2.4 3.3 2.5 2.3 2.7
1000 Prime Suspect 2.4 1.8 1.5 1.5 1.6
FOX
800 X-Factor 3.4 4.3 3.9 3.8 4.0
900 Bones 2.5 11/3
CW
800 Vampire Diar n/a 1.5 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.3
900 Secret Circle n/a 1.3 0.9 1.0 0.8 1.0
An important note: the ratings estimates are for original episodes across the entire Fall (from mid-September through mid-December). Generally, a series will premiere at a high level and then settle into a more normal number by week four-six. The important number to look at as the season unfolds is the average-to-date column at the far right. By the time episode four rolls around, look at the average of episodes one-four and you should have a pretty good idea how the fall -- and the entire season -- will sort out. CW shows are not currently estimated because we have incomplete historical data for the network's time periods. CW estimates should be available later this season or early next season.
THE SKED'S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: "How To Be A Gentleman"
Previously... on HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN: Andrew (series creator David Hornsby) is happy to be an oddity: a prim and proper writer of magazine columns about etiquette who prides himself on behaving in an old-fashioned gentlemanly manner at all times. Despite the fact that his peculiarity has driven off his wife, and that even his mother (Nancy Linehan), sister Janet (Mary-Lynn Rajskub) and brother-in-law Mike (Rhys Darby) regard him as an alien in their midst, life is basically good. Then a new publisher takes over the magazine, demotes Andrew's accepting boss (Dave Foley) and demands that Andrew's columns become hipper and more in touch with modern reality. As it happens, Janet and Mike have just bought Andrew a birthday gift certificate for a personal training session, which turns out to be given by Bert (Kevin Dillon). Bert used to bully Andrew in high school, but now he's eager to help Andrew become a "real man." Andrew somewhat hesitantly submits to Bert's tutoring, and that will lay the cornerstone for a new friendship.
Episode 2: Just in case the show's premise weren't contrived enough, the second episode of Gentleman, written by Hornsby and directed by Pam Fryman, pushes things in an even more sitcommy direction: Bert isn't just Andrew's new life guide and trainer, the two of them are now roommates, because although Bert tries to make Andrew believe he's moving in to Andrew's apartment in order to intensify their training on a 24/7 basis, in fact Bert lost his own apartment when he put all his money into the gym. This development unfortunately emphasizes what's most repetitive and predictable about the show, namely the Andrew/Bert byplay.
The main storyline of the episode has Bert encouraging Andrew to make passes at all the best-looking women in a bar, so Andrew will be rejected repeatedly and thus become immune to rejection. To his own surprise, Andrew instead meets a woman who's game for an evening together; but naive as he is, he thinks it's true love, and ignores Bert's sage advice that it was only a one-night stand. The story puts the two men together almost constantly, reinforcing the dynamic between them over and over (Bert is crude but good-hearted; Andrew is endlessly deluded). It's already starting to feel suffocating, and the show is only 2 episodes old.
The B story is actually more entertaining, except that it doesn't really have an ending: Mike is a New Zealand immigrant, and although his and Janet's marriage is completely genuine, they have to be tested by Homeland Security to make sure he didn't marry her for a green card--which is complicated by the fact that Janet can't handle tests and goes completely blank at the most routine questions. Rajskub and Darby have a complimentary off-beat charm that makes them far more pleasant to watch than Johnny Drama Bert repeatedly explaining the rules of guy-hood to Andrew.
The premiere ratings for How To Be A Gentleman were underwhelming (we'll see how it holds up in a little while), and getting off to an inauspicious series start creatively won't help any. The show needs to tread a very precise line between the oddball and the traditional if it's going to work, and initial signs are that it's in danger of a tilt.
Original Verdict: Potential DVR Alert
Pilot + 1: Needs to Figure Out Its Tone
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THE SKED: Week 2 + 1 - CBS Network Scorecard
The third week of a network season is a critical one. Ratings erosion after a series or season premiere is expected and even acceptable, because it's understood that not every viewer drawn by hype and marketing will be a satisfied customer. But a continued fall in Week 3 can be a sign of trouble, and if that decline is from a number that wasn't great to begin with, the trouble could be serious. That being said, let's take a look at where the networks stand as they begin this crucial week. (Note: since only 2 networks debuted their Monday schedules on the season's first official day, we'll include the next Monday in our review of the week.)CBS
Thriving:
2 BROKE GIRLS - Even those (like I) who don't particularly love the show have to respect the way it fits into CBS's Monday night schedule. With its addition, the 8-10PM hours on CBS are the most effective ensemble on TV.
CSI: The addition of Ted Danson and consequent reboot couldn't have worked out better for an aging series that's now convincingly winning its new timeslot.
Holdovers: 2 1/2 MEN, MIKE & MOLLY, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, THE BIG BANG THEORY, NCIS, NCIS LA, CRIMINAL MINDS, SURVIVOR, BLUE BLOODS, HAWAII 5-0, THE MENTALIST
Struggling:
UNFORGETTABLE - This should have been a perfect CBS procedural, but while it's not a flop, its ratings have been soft, just a bit ahead of Parenthood. With so much of the schedule--and especially Tuesday night--performing well, it's not clear how patient the network will be with it (even though it would already have gotten a back order from NBC).
PERSON OF INTEREST - It's a bit of a puzzle why this show isn't doing better. As procedurals go, it's high-quality and has an intriguing premise, yet it's holding 4th place in its hour. A timeslot move is more likely than an early removal.
HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN: It's only aired once, so judgment is premature, but it certainly didn't get off to a good start. If it squanders most of Big Bang's lead, it won't be around for long.
THE GOOD WIFE - Any hope that the move to Sunday would find a wider audience for this excellent show seems to have been in vain. It's the only true prestige show on CBS's schedule, so it's unlikely to be at great risk as long as its numbers stay stable, but it may not keep its Sunday slot for the entire season.
CSI MIAMI - Being pushed downward by Good Wife.
DYING:
A GIFTED MAN - It's OK to have low ratings on Friday night compared to any other night of the week (except Saturday). But Gifted Man is in Fringe territory with a 1.2. Any further slippage and the patient may die on the table.
GRADE: B
GRADE: B
The Sked: THURSDAY RATINGS September 29
With two Thursdays down in the young 2011-12 broadcast season, FOX is the #1 network on this important night (especially to heavy spending movie, retail and auto advertisers). The X Factor is a not inexpensive show with a great pedigree. Although it is not living up to its lofty expectations, it is getting the job done for the network by winning time periods. In contrast, How to Be a Gentleman premiered last night on CBS and does not appear to be a keeper, and ABC's Charlie's Angels and NBC's Prime Suspect continue to struggle mightily. Whitney is not a failure, but it is hard to term it anything close to a success yet.
CBS ranked #2 on the second Thursday of the season with a 3.0 Adult 18-49 rating, despite a killer performance by Big Bang Theory (4.8 rating, down only 0.1 from the strong premiere). The news was tough at 8:30 as How to Be a Gentleman tumbled 44% to a 2.7 rating, below what $#*! My Dad Says did last year and below our bearish ShowBuzzDaily fall ratings forecast for the show. This did not help the dramas Person of Interest (down 0.4 from premiere) and Mentalist (down 0.3). This night last year (9.30.2010), CBS was #1 with a 3.3 rating: Big Bang Theory (4.4), $#*! My Dad Says (3.3), CSI (3.1), Mentalist (3.0).ABC ranked #3 last night with a 2.6 demo rating. Charlie's Angels sunk to a 1.5 rating (down a scary 0.6 from last week's debut), and the show is already below the fall ShowBuzzDaily forecast for the re-make. Grey's Anatomy declined a similar amount to a 3.5 rating, more than a full rating point below its delivery in the time period last year at this point. Private Practice, however, premiered at the same level it turned in last year. On this night last year, ABC was #2 with a 2.8 rating: My Generation -- its final telecast (1.1), Grey's Anatomy (4.6), Private Practice (2.8).
NBC ranked #4 last night with a 2.1 rating. The 8-9 pm comedies were actually up 0.1 from last week, but that was it for the good news. The Office settled down to a 3.4 rating (down 0.5 from last week and not unexpected given the fairly heavily promoted premiere). Whitney retained 73.5% of her lead-in, down substantially from 82% last week. If the retention keeps dropping (especially from a smaller base), it will be a serious cause for concern. Prime Suspect wilted to a 1.5 rating (down 0.3 from last week) and continues to be a distant third in the time period leading into late local news and the late night comedy line-up. On this night last year, NBC was #3 with a 2.3 rating: Community (1.9), 30 Rock (2.6), The Office (3.7), Outsourced (2.8), Apprentice (1.3).
FOX was #1 last night with a 3.8 rating for The X Factor. The show started at a 3.1 from 8:00-8:30 and built to a 4.3 in the 9:30 half hour. Nevertheless, the Simon Cowell property declined week to week as it did Wednesday, with the Thursday edition falling from a 4.2 to a 3.8 (although still above our fall ratings projection). Despite not meeting other lofty expectations, The X Factor has turned around FOX's fortunes on the night. On this night last year FOX was #4 with a 2.2 rating: Bones (2.5 rating) and Fringe (1.9).
Through the first 11 nights of the season, FOX leads the way with a 3.43 rating, followed by CBS at a 3.25, ABC at a 2.79 and NBC at a 2.34 rating. The CW is averaging a 0.77 season to date.
THURSDAY FALL 2011 Estimates Episode Rating
May Sep #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Avg
ABC
800 Charlie's Ang 2.3 2.2 2.1 1.5
900 Grey's Anatomy 3.7 3.6 4.1 3.5
1000 Private Practi 2.6 2.5 2.8
CBS
800 Big Bang Theor 3.9 4.0 4.9 4.8
830 How Gentleman 3.2 2.9 2.7
900 Person Interest3.5 3.5 3.1 2.7
1000 Mentalist 3.3 3.3 2.8 2.5
NBC
800 Community 1.9 1.9 1.7 1.8
830 Parks & Rec 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.1
900 The Office 3.1 3.0 3.9 3.4
930 Whitney 2.6 2.4 3.2 2.5
1000 Prime Suspect 2.5 2.4 1.8 1.5
FOX
800 X-Factor 3.4 3.4 4.2 3.8
900 Bones 2.5 2.5 11/3
CW
800 Vampire Diar n/a n/a 1.5 1.2 1.3
900 Secret Circle n/a n/a 1.3 0.9 0.9
An important note: the ratings estimates are for original episodes across the entire Fall (from mid-September through mid-December). Generally, a series will premiere at a high level and then settle into a more normal number by week four-six. The important number to look at as the season unfolds is the average-to-date column at the far right. By the time episode four rolls around, look at the average of episodes one-four and you should have a pretty good idea how the fall -- and the entire season -- will sort out. CW shows are not currently estimated because we have incomplete historical data for the network's time periods. CW estimates should be available later this season or early next season.
THE SKED PILOT REPORT: CBS's "How To Be A Gentleman" - PREMIERING TONIGHT
Disclaimer: Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall. Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot. So these critiques shouldn't be taken as full TV pilot reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content of the new shows coming your way.
HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN - Thursday 8:30PM on CBS: Potential DVR Alert
Considering how utterly contrived it is, HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN is a surprisingly pleasant half-hour of television. Whitney Cummings may have written her own star vehicle sitcom, but David Hornsby has done her one better by writing and starring in one that's actually promising and funny. (OK, Cummings also co-wrote 2 Broke Girls, so she has 2 new shows on the air, but that's just mediocrity in bulk.)
"Based" on books of modern etiquette for men by Thomas Nelson, How To Be A Gentleman gives us Hornsby as Alan, writer of a magazine column on the subject. Alan is gentlemanly to the point of snobbery, concerned as much with when it is and isn't appropriate to wear a vest as with principles of courtesy. His sister (Mary Lynn Rajskub) finds him hard to take, and as a birthday present she gives him a gift certificate to a personal training session at a local gym, knowing a gentleman can't ignore any gift he's received. Well, guess what--it turns out the personal trainer is Bert (Kevin Dillon), who used to bully Alan in high school and is now a PG-13 version of Johnny Drama from Entourage. Since, as it happens, Alan's magazine has been taken over and he's being forced to write a less polite version of his column, he agrees to be taken under Bert's wing and taught about modern manhood.
You can certainly see the jokes coming in Gentleman, but the script is witty enough to keep them amusing. Also, Pam Fryman directed the pilot, and she brings the same deft touch she supplies regularly to How I Met Your Mother, underplaying the obvious. The cast also helps: Hornsby knows that Alan is a bit of a cartoon, but he manages not to let him become a prig. Dillon is so much in his own wheelhouse that his biggest worry should be typecasting. It's always great to see Rajskub (even if, on some level, she'll always be Chloe from 24), and sharp talents like Rhys Darby (as Rajskub's husband) and Dave Foley (as Alan's boss) add to the ensemble.
It's instructive to look at How To Be A Gentleman in comparison to some of the other men-being-men sitcoms we're getting this season, like Man Up and Last Man Standing. Here, the characters all have a little shading to them (they actually seem to like each other), and the script doesn't just roll from one purported punchline to the next; these are people you might want to revisit the following week.
Gentleman has perhaps the most enviable timeslot of any new series this year: not only does it follow the hit Big Bang Theory in its hour, but it's a model of compatibility with its lead-in. Mitch Metcalf's Thursday projection has it in 2d place for the slot, just barely behind FOX's X-Factor, and ahead of Charlie's Angels and Parks & Recreation. The show, frankly, isn't in the same league as its NBC competition (although in fairness, Parks & Rec took a season to find its own footing). But it's not bad, and in network TV, "not bad" in the right timeslot is often more than good enough.
THE SKED: CBS Update
CBS has joined FOX, ABC and The CW in announcing its Fall premiere schedule. (See Mitch Metcalf on the calculations that go into these announcements HERE). As with the other networks, most premieres will be the week of Sept. 19-25, with a few exceptions:
Wed Sept 14: early premiere of SURVIVOR
Mon Sept 19: 2 BROKE GIRLS premieres out of time slot, given the benefit of airing after the season opener of 2 1/2 MEN, which is sure to have a ratings bump that night over curiosity about the Sheen/Kutcher transition
Thurs Sept 29: HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN debuts a week late (probably so the network can use an extra THE BIG BANG THEORY the previous week to give PERSON OF INTEREST a good lead-in for its premiere).
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