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Showing posts with label Once Upon A Time. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Once Upon A Time. Show all posts

THE SKED SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

12:13 PM | Labels: Amazing Race, celebrity apprentice, csi, Desperate, family guy, gcb, good wife, network scorecard, Once Upon A Time, simpsons, smash, sunday, The Sked, TV ratings

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 wasn't able to win its hour, and considering that it was only 0.2 ahead of 3rd place CSI Miami, the likelihood is that once it settles into post-premiere numbers, it'll be in last place at 10PM. ABC was hoping this could be the show that inherits the 9PM Housewives slot next season, but the signs aren't good. Meanwhile, Housewives itself, as it nears the home stretch of its run (7 episodes left), was up a nice 0.3 from its pre-Oscar week airing. The queen of ABC's Sunday night, though, is ONCE UPON A TIME, with a terrific 3.4 that was more than a half-point higher than anything else on network TV last night.

NBC: CELEBRITY APPRENTICE, like every other major reality franchise this year (except The Voice), is substantially down from last season, in the neighborhood of 30%. (Things aren't going to improve much next week, when its lead-in becomes Harry's Law, a show even CBS thinks skews old.) But the show still won the 10PM hour, and a win is a win.

CBS: Even with a solid 2.8 lead-in from THE AMAZING RACE, THE GOOD WIFE took a tumble to a season low 1.8, and while the show probably isn't in danger of cancellation--it's the only classy drama on the network--it had better hope those upscale viewers don't go anywhere. (It'll be interesting to see what happens March 25, when Mad Men, a show that defines "upscale," makes its return in the same timeslot.) CSI MIAMI was only 0.1 above its own season low, but faced atypical competition with the much-hyped GCB premiere.

FOX: Another day at the office for the animation line-up, with every show within 0.1 of its rating 2 weeks ago. FAMILY GUY and THE SIMPSONS, though, are down 25-30% from last season's average.

It's Monday, and that means SMASHWatch is on. Tonight is the show's opportunity to hold or even increase last week's rating, thanks to repeats on both ABC and CBS. Also, tonight was meant to be the 2-hour season finale of ALCATRAZ, but due to last week's rescheduled NASCAR race, it's just a 2-hour episode. CBS and CW are all-rerun, and CASTLE is a repeat after a new BACHELOR.

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THE SKED @ PALEYFEST 2012: "Once Upon A Time"

5:10 PM | Labels: ABC, carylyle, drama, fantasy, goodwin, horowitz, kitsis, Morrison, Once Upon A Time, Paleyfest, parilla, sunday, The Sked

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 won something, the faithful for Once were more like the fans of a sports team that usually makes it to the playoffs.) Even moderator Matt Webb Mitovich was hard-pressed to treat an upcoming Season 2 as anything other than a certainty, and creator/showrunners Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz made it clear with their responses that they're already looking forward to the continuing arc of a successful show.

All season long, Once Upon A Time has very cleverly--much more so than some of us expected--accomplished the trick of creating 2 overlapping and parallel universes for its story. One is a fairy tale kingdom where Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin), Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle), Beauty (guest star Emilie De Raven) & the Beast (who happens to be Rumpelstiltskin),Jiminy Cricket (Rafael Sbarge), Prince Charming (Josh Dallas), and of course an Evil Queen (Lana Parilla) are among the characters living their fantastic lives. The other is Storybrooke, Maine, where it turns out that the Queen, now the Mayor (Parilla again) has cursed all the fairy tale inhabitants to a dreary, change-less everyday existence without any happy endings. But all that begins to shift when the somewhat mysterious Emma (Jennifer Morrison) comes to town, having discovered she's the birth mother of the Mayor's adopted son (Jared Gilmore), who has a book of fairy tales that's convinced him of what's actually going on. The ingenuity of the conceit is that each episode cuts back and forth between the worlds, and what happened in the fairy tale land informs the characters and storylines in Storybrooke.

The potential pitfalls on such a complicated, multilayered project are infinite, and while the show has been dramatically absorbing and lots of soapy/supernatural fun so far, eventually things will have to be explained and concluded--making it a little scary that Kitsis and Horowitz hail from Lost, since we all know how well that one worked out. For now, though, it's a well written and performed weekly pleasure. (And, incidentally, despite pre-season comparisons, in an entirely different league from NBC's far less ambitious Grimm.)

The PaleyFest panel began with a screening of tonight's episode, which mostly bypasses the main series mythology to tell the story of Leroy, a janitor in Storybrooke but better known as dwarf Grumpy in his other identity. Although there are a few B story steps forward on the Queen/Mayor's plot against David, the town's Prince Charming, the episode is more charming than essential. (It does, however, provide a nice overlap of Once Upon's land with the Whedonverse, as Grumpy's true love is played by Whedon vet Amy Acker.) The first act of next week's episode was also screened, enough to let us know that it will center on waitress Ruby (Meghan Ory) and a Big Bad Wolf.

In the Q&A, Kitsis and Horowitz provided little in the way of meaningful spoilers. (Remember, they're from Lost.) The most specific tidbit was that both Charming and Rumpelstiltskin will find their way to Jiminy's Storybrooke psychologist's couch this season, and that Barbara Hershey will appear as the Queen's mother. Apart from that, it was all fairly hint-y: for example, before the season is over, we'll know why the Queen hates Snow White and what the mototcycling stranger is doing in Storybrooke. We may also not have seen the last of the Sheriff, dead in Storybrooke but not in fairy tale land.

The cast, almost all of whom attended the panel (the only notable absence was young Jared Gilmore), and all of whom have steady paychecks to look forward to for quite a while, seemed to be having a good time, although from the sound of it, Vancouver (much rain, cold winds and snow) has its limitations as a shooting location. There was also some discussion of the "green stage" used to accomplish the show's seemingly vast sets in the fantasy sequences: the actors stand on an almost barren soundstage, only able to know what the room around them looks like by checking the director's video monitor that has the pre-vis artwork (that will later be added via CG) loaded on. It's apparently all too easy to walk through invisible walls--which, as it happens, is a worthwhile metaphor for the risks of serialized and mythological TV writing, as well. Only the future will tell if Once Upon A Time can satisfyingly stay within its boundaries..

Nest up at PaleyFest, the season's other unarguable hit: New Girl.

Previous PaleyFest 2012 Columns:

COMMUNITY

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The Sked: Upscale Ratings -- ABC Profile

7:12 AM | Labels: ABC, desperate housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Last man standing, modern family, nad, Once Upon A Time, revenge, The Sked, TV ratings, upscale

Previously we examined the upscale ratings picture of the Monday at 10 pm hour, which showed the first few episodes of Smash as solidly upscale, Hawaii Five-0 as fairy downscale and Castle in the middle. Today we turn our attention to ABC's schedule, which is averaging a 2.4 rating with Adults 18-49 for its regularly scheduled programs this season to date. However, the regular schedule averages a 2.7 rating with Adults 18-49 in $100K+ income homes. This translates to a 113 index (100=average and anything above 100 indicates an upscale skew overall), one of the highest concentrations of high-income viewers on network television.

ABC's schedule is paced by the most upscale program on TV, Modern Family with a 158 $100K+ index. But index only tells part of the story, as it simply measures concentration of high-income viewers. Modern Family is also toward the top of the ratings charts, ranked #5 with Adults 18-49 (5.6 rating season to date) and ranked even higher (#3) with Adults 18-49 in $100K+ income homes (8.8 rating season to date). This is important because other shows like NBC's 30 Rock have a very high index (152) but much lower absolute ratings levels (#87 and a 1.6 rating with young adults versus #55 and a 2.4 rating with upscale young adults). To make these distinctions clear, we divided all network programs into high, medium and low levels on two measures: upscale index and overall young adult rating. Modern Family is the perfect example of a show that fits into the high rating-high upscale index, a holy grail for advertisers since it reaches a large audience that is highly concentrated with upper income viewers.

High Rating-Upscale Shows. In addition to Modern Family, ABC has two other programs in this most desirable category: Grey's Anatomy (116 index) and Dancing with the Stars (110 index, just barely making the cut).

High Rating-Midscale Shows. Only one other ABC show is above the 3.2 rating level (our defintion for a high rating), freshman fantasy drama Once Upon a Time with an almost perfectly average 101 upscale index. Although its ratings could very well grow in its second and third seasons, chances are the 101 index will not change very much, given historical patterns.

Downscale Shows. ABC has no shows in the high rating-downscale category (as opposed to say, CBS -- the next post will show many of The Eye's crime dramas have high ratings but relatively few upper income viewers). In addition, ABC has relatively few programs in the other downscale categories (middle rating-downscale and low rating-downscale). Wipeout (89) and The River (87), as well as the now-cancelled Charlie's Angels (81) and Extreme Makeover Home Edition (76), are examples.

Low Rating Shows. ABC also has relatively few shows in the other low rating categories (low rating-midscale and low rating-upscale -- as opposed to NBC, which has more than its share of upscale-skewing programs with tiny audiences).

Middle Rating-Upscale Shows. By default, ABC has a disproportionate number of shows with middling ratings but a upscale skews. The Bachelor has a terrific upscale index (142), but it is on the downside of the ratings curve. In contrast, Happy Endings (139 index) and Revenge (130) have a high proportion of upper-income viewers could find themselves moving up to the high rated category with a little patience and luck. The same cannot be said of Pan Am (129 index): while its upscale skew remains strongly positive, the ratings are headed in the wrong direction and would be classified as a low rating show if we only looked at the last few months.

Finally, as the chart below shows, the once signature series Desperate Housewives (100 index) finds itself in the middle of the pack, undistinguished as a middle rating-midscale show. Nothing to be ashamed of, it's just showing its age as a show that has migrated from the upper right box, where it burst upon the scene. Last Man Standing (94 index) is starting its career in the middle box. In the absolute best case scenario, it might move up the chart (although I wouldn't bet on higher ratings in coming seasons). However, it has virtually no chance of moving to the right (more upscale in the future). Like Home Improvement, Last Man Standing will always be solidly midscale and probably should be very happy with a 94 index.

In the next post on upscale ratings we will turn to CBS, which is more concentrated in the upper left section of the chart (high rating but midscale to downscale).

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THE SKED'S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

11:02 AM | Labels: dateline, Desperate, family guy, fear factor, grammys, network scorecard, Once Upon A Time, pan am, simpsons, sunday, The Sked, TV ratings

Americans, faced with tragedy, gather around their television sets. For the death of Whitney Houston, that meant the GRAMMYS.

CBS: The sudden (and not so sudden) death of Whitney Houston turned the Grammys into An Event that transcended the usual awards-plus-glamor formula, and the result was a giant 14.1 rating, more than 2 rating points higher than last year's Academy Awards (and given this year's Oscar prospects, almost certain to be the season's highest-rated awards show). Beyond the ratings, the show will undoubtedly give a huge boost in sales to the artists (especially the night's It Girl, Adele) who performed or won awards during the broadcast. (A side note: although advertisers are guaranteed a minimum rating for their commercials, and receive compensation if those numbers aren't hit, they get the full benefit of unexpectedly high ratings, meaning that all the sponsors of last night's show received windfalls worth millions of dollars.)

ABC: Every other network suffered accordingly, and none more so than ABC, whose female-skewing lineup is geared to compete with NFL Football, but not with a colossus that attracts that same audience. ONCE UPON A TIME was down about 10% from the episodes that competed with NFL playoff games, and that was the good news. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES hit a low that was 30% below its previous all-time bottom, and the penultimate episode of PAN AM was an embarrassing 0.7.

FOX: Young guy-skewing shows weren't immune either, and FOX hit season lows across the board. Its animated schedule was down 20% even from the weeks when CBS aired the late NFL playoff games.

NBC: The network had basically given up on this night already (it'll launch the new season of Celebrity Apprentice next week), so comparatively speaking, it had the least to lose. DATELINE and a FEAR FACTOR special did a 1.6 and 1.5, respectively, and on a cost-benefit basis that was probably the most effective competition of the night.

Tonight NBC bites its fingernails, as it waits to find out how many people will come back for a second helping of THE VOICE and, especially, SMASH. This still being sweeps, the shows face all-new competition on every network.

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THE SKED'S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

10:26 AM | Labels: American Dad, csi, family guy, good wife, napoleon, nfl, Once Upon A Time, simpsons, sunday, The Sked, TV ratings

A football appetizer, compared to next week's all-you-can-eat buffet.

NBC: The PRO BOWL, aka the NFL All-Star Game, won the night, but at nowhere near the ratings for regular games, let alone the bonanza the network will reap next week for the Super Bowl, aka The Most Expensive Smash Promo Ever.

ABC: ONCE UPON A TIME did a very nice 3.4, higher than its last couple of originals (which faced NFL playoff games), but then the night collapsed with a 1.5 for the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, which did not give network executives A Smile As Big As the Moon.

CBS: UNDERCOVER BOSS had a solid 3.0, then GOOD WIFE and CSI MIAMI were both in the midranges of their season's ratings with twin 2.2s (which are better than they sound because their seasonal highs reflect NFL overrun nights).

FOX: All the numbers were way, way down from their last originals, thanks to the lack of an NFL lead-in. THE SIMPSONS was only 0.1 above its season low with a 2.4, and while NAPOLEON DYNAMITE was an unimpressive 2.1, that was a strong hold of the Simpsons number. Similarly, FAMILY GUY was only 0.2 above its season low, and then AMERICAN DAD held onto 80% of that rating.

We're a few days from the start of February sweeps, and it's not an exciting night for the networks. CBS is all-repeat, ABC has a rerun CASTLE at 10PM, and NBC will endure its final pre-Voice/Smash Monday, while FOX hopes ALCATRAZ can keep its momentum going. The closest thing to an event is the much-hyped 100th episode of GOSSIP GIRL on CW.

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THE SKED'S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

10:52 AM | Labels: Desperate, family guy, firm, nfl, Once Upon A Time, pan am, simpsons, sunday, The Sked, TV ratings

NBC comes face-to-face with its post-football Sunday.

NBC: No doubt the network thought that whatever the quality of its new series version of John Grisham's THE FIRM (and that quality is quite bad), name value alone would bring it an audience. Well, not so much: its disastrous 1.4 put it in last place for 2 hours (tied at 10PM with the certain-to-be-canceled Pan Am). Where the terrible quality does show is in the constant audience departures throughout the show's running time. The Firm's blight only affected NBC's Sunday as a one-time event, but there's little doubt it will now taint the network's Thursday nights in its regular timeslot.

CBS: As expected, the Tebow/Steelers showdown (in overtime yet, albeit the shortest overtime in NFL history) was titanic, and not only gave CBS huge a 7PM boost, but also helped out the network's other shows. THE GOOD WIFE (which conveniently had one of the niftiest episodes of its season) and CSI MIAMI both hit or matched season highs, and the network swept the night. (Next week the even more dramatic Tebow/New England blockbuster airs on Saturday night, and FOX has the late Sunday game with NY/Green Bay.)

ABC: Once football was done for the night, the network survived the pyrotechnics pretty well. ONCE UPON A TIME had its highest rating in more than a month, and even DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES hit one of its best numbers of the season. Only poor PAN AM continued unable to fly its way out of what will surely be its terminal turbulence.

FOX: THE SIMPSONS ran directly against the Tebow overtime in most of the country, and got slaughtered, hitting a season low. After that FAMILY GUY improved, but was still at the low end of its season ratings.

Tonight belongs to ESPN. With the college football championship game airing, both CBS and FOX will be in repeats, with NBC throwing another helping of WHO'S STILL STANDING, FEAR FACTOR and ROCK CENTER at the wall, while ABC airs the female-skewing BACHELOR and CASTLE.

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THE SKED'S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

1:39 PM | Labels: nfl, Once Upon A Time, The Sked, TV ratings

Happy New Year, NBC.

NBC: The night set up beautifully for the Peacock, with marquee teams NY Giants and Cowboys doing battle for the final NFL playoff spot and repeats everywhere else--and SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL came through in spades, with a preliminary estimated 8.7 that could go up in final actuals to be one of the highest rated SNF games ever. The bad news: the NFL season is over, which means NBC's Sunday will shortly go back to being a pumpkin. The good news: they still have one football detail remaining, a little something America likes to call the Super Bowl.

CBS: Repeats, boosted by a big 7PM football overrun, put the network in 2d place for the night.

FOX: Animation reruns were all in the 1.3-1.7 range.

ABC: The network threw 4 consecutive hours of ONCE UPON A TIME repeats at the wall, and none of them did better than a 1.2.

Tonight: new programming! (Everywhere except FOX and CW, anyway.) All-new episodes on CBS, the season premiere of The Bachelor on ABC, and fresh hours of reality crap (followed by Rock Center) on NBC. The network's winter holiday is nearly over.

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THE SKED'S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

12:50 PM | Labels: Cleveland Show, network scorecard, nfl, Once Upon A Time, sunday, The Sked, TV ratings

As football season approaches its regular-season climax, viewers just can't get enough of it.

ABC: The network's female-oriented line-up is meant to survive football, but ABC has been shooting itself in the foot in recent weeks. Last night was the 2d time in 3 weeks that ONCE UPON A TIME was the only regular ABC scripted series to air on a Sunday night, and the odd scheduling is taking its toll. Serving as lead-in to a horribly rated rerun of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the pivotal episode of Once dipped to a new season low for the third week in a row. It's probably lucky that the show is done with new episodes for the year, to return in January.

CBS: In TV terms, Tim Tebow is practically--well, a miracle. Not only is he charismatic and controversial, but his games aren't determined until the last possible second or beyond, keeping ratings through the roof, and yesterday was another overtime finish that went well into primetime. That propelled 60 MINUTES, THE AMAZING RACE and even THE GOOD WIFE, all of which were near or at season highs. (The buzz had worn off, though, by the time CSI MIAMI aired.)

FOX: With less of a football overrun, THE SIMPSONS and the rest of the animation line-up was down, but THE CLEVELAND SHOW held far better to the Simpsons audience than Allen Gregory had been doing.

NBC: A meaningful match-up between marquee teams that went down to the last second: it doesn't get better for NBC than this. Unfortunately for the network, for reasons that still haven't been entirely explained, NBC was unable to use its "flex time" rights to get what should be the Avatar of regular-season football games next week: Denver vs. New England. That blockbuster will air on CBS in late afternoon.

Tonight CBS tries something a little different: although its 9-11PM shows are regularly-scheduled originals, it's going to try a new 2 BROKE GIRLS episode in place of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER at 8PM (with a repeat Girls at 8:30). NBC, for its part, is bringing FEAR FACTOR back into our lives. And FOX will hope for something in TERRA NOVA's ratings that justifies bringing it back for another season.

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The Sked: SUNDAY RATINGS December 11

9:14 AM | Labels: Once Upon A Time, sunday, The Sked, TV ratings

A classic NFC match-up between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys generated a preliminary 8.5 Adult 18-49 rating in the fast nationals. We are estimating that the game rating (starting at 8:30 pm) will go up to a 9.3, tying the Dallas-Philadelphia game on October 30 and just behind the 10.0 rating on September 18 for Philadelphia-Atlanta in the second week of the NFL season.

NBC Sun 9.11 9.18 9.25 10.2 10.9 1016 1023 1030 11.6 1113 1120 1127 12.4 1211

SNF     10.7 10.0 8.3  7.7  8.9  6.6  5.2  9.3  8.8  8.1  7.6  7.9  7.4  9.3*

CBS enjoyed an up Sunday, thanks to a 4:15 pm NFL game which spilled into prime time (almost to 7:45 pm). The NFL coverage scored a 5.2 rating from 7:00-7:30 in the fast nationals, and CBS rated a 3.9 in the 7:30-8:00 half hour which was half NFL and half the first quarter of 60 Minutes in most of the country. The program ratings below are adjusted fast nationals for each series, which started at 41 minutes past each scheduled time.

CBS Sun 9.25 10.2 10.9 1016 1023 1030 11.6 1113 1120 1127 12.4 1211

60 Minu 2.3  3.5  3.2  1.7  2.3  4.1  1.9  2.1  2.9  3.7  1.7  3.5*

Amaz R  3.0  3.2  2.8  2.7  2.7  3.0  2.7  2.7  2.8  2.9  2.7  3.1*
Good Wi 2.2  2.2  2.1  2.1  2.0  2.0  2.0  2.0  1.9  --   1.9  2.3*
CSI Mia 2.3  2.4  2.2  2.4  2.1  2.2  1.9  2.1  1.9  --   2.1  2.0* 

FOX animation was back down to fairly low levels for the season. FOX had some regional football coverage at 7:00 pm, making that half hour a blend of football in some markets and Bob's Burgers elsewhere (for a combined and hard to interpret 3.5 rating). At 7:30, The Cleveland Show repeat did a more normal 1.8 rating.

FOX Sun 9.25 10.2 10.9 1016 1023 1030 11.6 1113 1120 1127 12.4 1211

Simpsons3.9  3.0  ---  ---  ---  4.0  3.7  3.4  2.7  2.6  4.0  3.0*
Allen Gr---  ---  ---  ---  ---  2.4  2.1  2.0  1.9  1.5  2.4  ---
Family G4.1  3.5  ---  ---  ---  3.2  3.1  3.1  3.2  2.8  3.6  3.1*
Amer Dad3.0  2.7  ---  ---  ---  ---  2.5  2.4  2.4  2.2  2.5  2.5*

ABC had a mix of its regular schedule (from 7-9 pm) and a movie special, Charly and the Chocolate Factory, from 9-11 pm (a very weak 1.3 rating).  The big news came at 8 pm with another series low for Once Upon a Time (for the third week in a row).

ABC Sun 9.25 10.2 10.9 1016 1023 1030 11.6 1113 1120 1127 12.4 1211

AFHV    ---  ---  1.4  1.6  1.5  ---  ---  1.7  --   1.8  1.4  1.6* 
Once Upon--  ---  ---  ---  4.0  3.9  3.8  3.8  --   3.4  3.2  2.9*

Desp Hou3.2  3.0  2.8  2.7  3.0  3.1  2.8  3.0  --   --   2.7  -- 
Pan Am  3.1  2.6  1.9  1.8  1.8  1.8  1.7  1.8  --   --   1.5  -- 

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THE SKED'S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

11:26 AM | Labels: allen, csi, Desperate, NFL football, Once Upon A Time, pan am, simpsons, sunday, The Sked, TV ratings

Another Sunday where there was football... and then everything else.

FOX: The early evening received a massive boost from the Giants vs. Green Bay game, which went down to the last second. That lifted THE SIMPSONS, ALLEN GREGORY and FAMILY GUY mightily although Gregory was still down 40% from the Simpsons number.

ABC: These are the perils of preempting your regular schedule for weeks in a row: ONCE UPON A TIME, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and PAN AM all hit season lows on their return. This was particularly troublesome for Once, because it did air last week and still went down another 10% from that number, losing to FOX for the hour. The night gets even messier from here on, as Housewives and Pan Am won't be back till January, but Once airs another new episode next week.

CBS: Very stable, although CSI MIAMI was up a bit.

NBC: The network is entering the "flex" part of its football schedule, which allows it within certain limits to pick the games it wants to air on Sundays. Last night's Detroit vs New Orleans game must have looked better on paper than it played, because although of course NBC won the night, it was one of the lower-rated games of the season. But next week's Giants vs Cowboys game, a match-up of marquee teams with real playoff implications, should be a much bigger event. The bad news: only 4 more weeks of regular season games left for the Peacock.

Tonight, CBS airs a regular schedule (including what should be a pivotal episode of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER) against preemptions elsewhere: a SING-OFF Christmas special on NBC, CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS and PREP AND LANDING cartoons on ABC, and the AMERICAN COUNTRY AWARDS on FOX.

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THE SKED'S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

11:34 AM | Labels: allen, csi, Desperate, football, good wife, network scorecard, Once Upon A Time, pan am, sunday, The Sked, TV ratings

Sunday... when NBC can close its eyes and pretend it has a functioning schedule.

ABC: ONCE UPON A TIME is a bona fide, self-starting hit, with another 3.8 that more than doubled its lead-in (and also more than doubled the similarly-themed Grimm on Fridays). This may have helped DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and PAN AM a bit, since were both were slightly up. However, those 2 shows won't be airing again for 3 weeks (preempted by the American Music Awards and a Mitch Albom TV movie), and that's always dangerous. The promos for the next Pan Am are already putting into play the old "The Episode That Will Change Everything" gambit for December 4, in the hope of garnering some interest. (On a somewhat related note, anyone with access to Showtime should be watching HOMELAND, whether in its initial Sunday 10PM run or otherwise, because it's the best drama on television right now.)

FOX: ALLEN GREGORY has been consistent but unimpressive, the lowest rated show on FOX's animation line-up. (Bob's Burgers, which had a similar Sunday trial run last year and was renewed, averaged 20% better than Allen Gregory.)

CBS: After last week's blip, CSI MIAMI is back to doing slightly better than THE GOOD WIFE, but neither is very strong. On Thanksgiving weekend, the network will experiment with reruns of Person of Interest in the 9-11PM hours, and that may (or may not) be a foretelling of changes to come.

NBC: New England vs the Jets is a marquee match-up, but the game turned into a blow-out and the week's number was down from the past 2 weeks. Next Sunday the network gets Philadelphia vs. the Giants, another strong pairing. The clock is starting to tick toward the end of football season, though...

Tonight's number to watch is TERRA NOVA, which has yet to recover from its baseball preemptions.

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THE SKED: Sunday Network Scorecard

10:36 AM | Labels: allen gregory, csi, Desperate, football, network scorecard, Once Upon A Time, pan am, simpsons, sunday, The Sked, TV ratings

Another Sunday, or as NBC likes to think of it, The Only Night That Should Count.

ABC: ONCE UPON A TIME barely slipped from last week, proving its full season pick-up was well deserved. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES continues its limp to the finish line, while the only good news for PAN AM is that CBS's unexpected slump at 10PM made it competitive in the timeslot.

FOX: The "Treehouse of Horror" episode of THE SIMPSONS is traditionally high-rated, so no surprise that the show was down this week even with a football lead-in. ALLEN GREGORY did as well holding its own lead-in as it did last week, with both shows down 0.3, but that's still a loss of almost 45% of the Simpsons audience.

CBS: The odd blip of the night was that even though THE GOOD WIFE was up slightly at 9PM, CSI MIAMI took a dive at 10, and actually fell below its lead-in for the first time all season. Meaningless, perhaps, but it'll be something for the network to be concerned about if things don't correct themselves next week.

NBC: Ah, football. If only the network could figure out a spinoff...

Tonight FOX will be scrutinizing the TERRA NOVA and HOUSE numbers and hoping that last week's poor showings were a post-baseball exception.

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The Sked: SUNDAY RATINGS November 6 & Sweep Update

8:52 AM | Labels: nfl, Once Upon A Time, sunday, The Sked, TV ratings

Last night, NBC won the night, as usual, with Sunday Night Football. NBC is averaging about a 7.1 Adult 18-49 Sunday from 7:30-11:00 (remember the 7:00 half hour does not air national commercials and is not rated) and the number will probably rise to a 7.8 in the official nationals, well above the 6.2 official rating for NBC in prime time on this night last year. With the 4:15 pm NFL game as a lead in, FOX Sunday is averaging a 4.6 rating in prime time last night, up from a 2.8 last year. ABC scored a 2.4 last night, down from a 2.7 this night last year despite the continued success of Once Upon a Time. CBS averaged a fourth-place 2.2 last night, down from a 5.4 this night last year when it had the late afternoon NFL game. Program detail follows.

           NOVEMBER SWEEP SCORECARD
          2011 vs 2010 Through Day 11 of 28

                 2011    2010
          FOX 3.7 2.9     +30%
          CBS 3.0 2.7     + 9%
          ABC 2.2 2.4     - 9%
          NBC 2.6 2.5 + 4%

NBC's coverage of the game itself from 8:15 pm on (Baltimore at Pittsburgh) averaged a 7.9 rating in the fast nationals, a number we expect to go up to an 8.5 in the official nationals. Last year's game on 11.7.2010 did a 7.4 rating. In the next two weeks, NBC needs to beat an 8.1 game on 11.14.2010 and 8.8 on 11.21.2010 to cover the continued weakness on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, most of Friday and Saturday.

NBC Sun Track    9.18 9.25  10.2  10.9  10.16 10.23 10.30 11.6

Sunday Night FB  10.0 8.3   7.7   8.9   6.6   5.2   9.3   8.5*

Despite a huge lead in at 7:00-8:00 (a 9.6 preliminary rating for late afternoon NFL action from 7:00-7:30 and a 6.4 from 7:30-8:00 for more football action and The OT), FOX's animated comedies were down from last week. The Simpsons could not maintain the "Treehouse of Horror" level and Allen Gregory stumbled almost down to a 2.0 rating. .

FOX Sun Track    9.25  10.2  10.9  10.16 10.23 10.30 11.6

Simpsons         3.9   3.0   ---   ---   ---   4.0   3.7*
Allen Gregory    ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   2.4   2.1* 
Family Guy       4.1   3.5   ---   ---   ---   3.2   3.0*
American Dad     3.0   2.7   ---   ---   ---   ---   2.5*

CBS was back to its level two weeks ago, when the network did not have the late afternoon football game and its schedule started on time at 7:00 pm. A fairly normal evening, given the circumstances, and definitely not anything to brag about.

CBS Sun Track    9.25  10.2  10.9  10.16 10.23 10.30 11.6

60 Minutes       2.3   3.5   3.2   1.7   2.3   4.1   2.2*

Amazing Race     3.0   3.2   2.8   2.7   2.7   3.0   2.6*
Good Wife        2.2   2.2   2.1   2.1   2.0   2.0   2.1*
CSI Miami        2.3   2.4   2.2   2.4   2.1   2.2   1.9*

Once Upon a Time rated a 3.7 in the fast nationals, a number that will most likely rise to a 3.8 in the official nationals. Either way, to be within three tenths of a rating point of a 4.0 premiere in week three is a great achievement for a serialized drama. Along with Grimm on Friday, Once Upon is delivering the "Calgon, take me away" moments that viewers want in these times. However, ABC certainly wishes it could spread the magic to 9-11 pm. While Once Upon a Time's 3.7 improved the 8 pm hour from a 2.5 for Extreme Makeover Home Edition on this night last year, the 9 pm hour of Desperate Housewives has been wrecked (from a 4.1 this night last year to a 2.8), and 10 pm has gone from a 2.5 for Brothers & Sisters last year to a 1.8 for Pan Am.

ABC Sun Track    9.25  10.2  10.9  10.16 10.23 10.30 11.6

Am Fun Videos    ---   ---   1.4   1.6   1.5   ---   ---* 
Once Upon a Time ---   ---   ---   ---   4.0   3.9   3.7*

Desp Housewives  3.2   3.0   2.8   2.7   3.0   3.1   2.8* 
Pan Am           3.1   2.6   1.9   1.8   1.8   1.8   1.8* 

###

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THE SKED:: ABC Hands Out Halloween Candy Corn Pick-Ups

4:47 PM | Labels: ABC, happy endings, Last man standing, Man Up, Once Upon A Time, pan am, The Sked

ABC was in a giving mood today, and the swag was full season pick-ups. ONCE UPON A TIME, of course, has already richly earned its extra episodes with 2 splendid weeks of ratings. HAPPY ENDINGS probably cemented its claim last night, when it shot up half a ratings point from the last time it had an original Modern Family lead-in and marked its third straight strong outing--the ABC Wednesday night line-up may not be the highest rated comedy block of the week (Monday on CBS gets that title), but more and more, it's looking like the one with the highest quality (sorry, NBC Thursdays)--and they still have the return of Cougar Town and the highly promising pilot Don't Trust the Bitch in Apt. 23 in the tank. And then there's LAST MAN STANDING, which would have had to be an utter disaster not to get a pick-up... instead of a huge disappointment, which is what it merely is.

Anyone who wants to see PAN AM survive had better tune in to the next couple of episodes, because at this point in the season, the network's order of 5 additional scripts but no new episodes is more of a Hail Mary than a vote of confidence. And the lack of any new investment in MAN UP! tells you all you need to know.

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THE SKED: Sunday Ratings - Network Scorecard

11:06 AM | Labels: 60 minutes, allen, csi, Desperate, football, network scorecard, Once Upon A Time, pan am, simpsons, the good wife, The Sked, TV ratings

The fairy tale continues for one of this season's new arrivals.

ABC: The back order for ONCE UPON A TIME should be arriving any minute. The fantasy soap has clearly found an audience sweet spot, and even with what will probably be the season's strongest Simpsons as competition (not to mention NBC's football and a CBS schedule boosted by the late afternoon game), it held beautifully in its second week. In an ideal parallel universe for the network, the show would lift DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and PAN AM by more than 0.1 each, but ABC will take its happy ending as it comes.

FOX: The SIMPSONS Treehouse of Horror episode outrated last year's installment (4.0 to 3.7), but that didn't do anything for the debut of ALLEN GREGORY, which won't be long for the schedule with numbers like last night's 2.4. (Probably not coincidentally, FOX chose today to announce a back 9 order for Season 2 of Bob's Burgers; clearly the network knew it would have some space to fill on Sundays.)

CBS: Football and a promotable 60 MINUTES helped the early part of the evening, but GOOD WIFE and CSI MIAMI aren't budging from the 2 neighborhood this season, and it remains to be seen whether the network will find that acceptable in the long term.

NBC: Not a good game, as it turned out, but the presence of 2 marquee teams did wonders for the network's football rating compared to the past couple of weeks.

Tonight brings some depressed ratings due to Halloween, and the arrival of the NBC news series ROCK CENTER, not to be confused with the NBC comedy series 30 Rock. No, really--don't confuse them.

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The Sked: SUNDAY RATINGS October 30 & Sweep Update

8:48 AM | Labels: allen gregory, November, Once Upon A Time, sunday, sweep, The Sked, TV ratings

A very good night for network television last night as three of four broadcast networks were up substantially over this night last year. NBC averaged a 6.7 Adult 18-49 rating in the fast nationals Sunday night, and we are giving that a preliminary official national adjustment up to a 7.5 rating (well over the 6.0 official national rating for last year). CBS had the NFL late afternoon game over-run and took full advantage of it with the 60 Minutes interview of Bernie Madoff's wife and son. CBS averaged a 3.7 rating for the night (up from a 2.4 last year). With Once Upon a Time working well, ABC averaged a 2.5 for the night (up from 2.2 last year). FOX was the only down network, averaging a 2.7 last night (compared to a 5.3 last year with the late afternoon NFL game and the World Series). Updated sweep standings follow. Note that NBC is in second place four nights in, but the best time to judge relative placement of the networks is 7 nights and 14 nights into the sweep period.

           NOVEMBER SWEEP SCORECARD
          2011 vs 2010 Through Day 4 of 28

                 2011    2010
          FOX 4.9 3.8     +30%
          CBS 2.3 2.2     + 6%
          ABC 2.2 2.3     - 4%
          NBC 3.1 2.7 +13%

ABC had a very good rating from week two of Once Upon a Time (3.9 fast national rating, compared to a 4.0 premiere last week). Desperate Housewives (3.1) and Pan Am (1.9) were each up a tenth of a rating point from last week.

CBS enjoyed a 9.1 rating from 7:00-7:30 (New England at Pittsburgh), and 60 Minutes (airing 30 minutes late) averaged a 4.2 rating. The show was very well programmed with two segments featuring Bernie Madoff's estranged wife and son and a segment about a Boston University linebacker's battle with cancer. Amazing Race did a solid 2.9, while Good Wife and CSI Miami drifted down to a 2.0 each.

NBC's football game (Dallas at Philadelphia) featured great markets and teams but a horribly lopsided game. But the play on the field mattered less than the teams involved or the point spread that had to be covered: the game portion of NBC's night averaged an 8.2 in the fast nationals, which is certain to go up to a high-8 at the very least. Last year's football game on this night averaged a 7.3 in the official nationals.

FOX's "Animation Domination" tagline really only applies to the 8:00 half hour last night. The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" turned in a solid 4.0 rating, while Allen Gregory premiered immediately following at only a 2.4. Family Guy bounced back to a 3.2 (good but not great for it), and Cleveland Show finished the night with a soft 2.3.

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THE SKED'S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: "Once Upon A Time"

2:08 AM | Labels: ABC, drama, fairytale, fantasy, Morrison, Once Upon A Time, parrilla, sunday, The Sked, tv reviews

A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have had their own turnover in the off-season) give plenty of notes, both helpful and otherwise, and critics begin to rear their ugly heads. The results can include changes to tone, pace, casting and even story. Here at THE SKED, we're going to look past the pilots and present reviews of the first regular episodes of this year's new series as well.

Previously... on ONCE UPON A TIME: Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) is a Boston bounty-hunter who's celebrating a solitary birthday when her doorbell rings and 10-year old Henry (Jared Gilmore) turns up, announcing that he's the child she gave up for adoption after his birth. What's more, he has a crazy story for her about Storybrooke, the town where he lives as the adopted son of Regina, the Mayor (Lana Parrilla): it seems that everyone there was originally a fairy-tale character, and the Mayor, who was the Evil Queen of that universe, cursed them all by bringing them to modern-day Maine with no memory of who they were. So Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) is the kindly schoolteacher, Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) is the avaricious landlord, and so on. Also? Also Emma herself is the child of Snow White and Prince Charming, the baby who was the only one saved from the curse, and also the only one who can rescue the townspeople and bring them back to their real identities. Emma doesn't really believe any of this, of course--although we in the audience know it's true, because we've been watching the fairy-tale universe in flashbacks--but she does care about Henry, and she doesn't trust Regina. So she decides to stay in Storybrooke for a while, much to Henry's delight and Regina's scheming concern.

Episode 2: The second episode, written by series creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and directed by Greg Beeman, picks up right where the pilot left off. It underscores what's ingenious and fun and also what's problematic about the show's unique concept. The modern day Storybrooke storylines are coming together nicely, with clever revelations about who the local characters really are. This week we met the Enchanted Mirror, who in modern-day Storybrooke is the local newspaper editor (Giancarlo Esposito, for some of us eternally AKA Gus Fring), and Jiminy Cricket is the local shrink (Rafael Sbarge). There was also a nice vulnerable moment for Emma, who knows Snow White is supposed to be her fairy-tale mother, when she finds herself, against logic, drawn to Ginnifer Goodwin's sweet and seemingly youthful schoolteacher. Plus Lana Parrilla is terrifically evil as Regina (ah, for an ABC crossover where Regina could meet Madeleine Stowe's Victoria from Revenge), and she and Morrison are fine adversaries. There were also some tantalizing hints about Rumplestiltskin having obtained Henry for Regina in Phoenix, which presumably will lead us to one of the show's central mysteries: the identity of Henry's father.

But Once Upon A Time insists on its dual-universe structure, so we also got flashbacks to the Evil Queen's implementation of her curse on the fairy-tale kingdom. This section of the show allows for some impressive sets and fine (especially for TV) CG, but it doesn't tell us much we didn't already know, and it stops the drama cold--we already know how that story ends. The point of this week's fantasy sequences was to show just how ruthless the Queen is: she had to murder her own father to make the spell work. But since the entire series is based on the Queen/Regina's evil, that wasn't exactly an open question, and certainly not worth the running time it was allotted in the episode.

The Once Upon A Time premiere had superb ratings, so unless things collapse, it will have a back order soon enough and a full season to figure out the balance of its stories. It's still a work in progress that needs to find a dramatically urgent purpose for its elaborate flashbacks. But there's no question that it's got a compelling idea at its center, and plenty of talent attached. A happy ending could still be in the offing.

Original Verdict: If Nothing Else Is On...

Pilot + 1: The Spell Is Starting To Take Effect

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THE SKED; Sunday Ratings - Network Scorecard

12:16 PM | Labels: 60 minutes, csi, Desperate, football, good wife, network scorecard, Once Upon A Time, pan am, The Sked, TV ratings, world series

Once upon a time in the fairy-tale world of broadcast television, there was a network that got exactly what it most wished for...

ABC: And that network was ABC. ONCE UPON A TIME launched beautifully against male-skewing football and baseball, and was actually within hailing distance of the first half hour of the World Series and Sunday Night Football at 8:30PM (admittedly a wicked witch had cursed the football game, but we'll get to that). Next week the competition gets a lot tougher with the traditionally very strong "Treehosue of Horror" episode of The Simpsons, but for now it's a tremendous success story. Once Upon A Time even lifted the leaky boat of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES to a more tolerable level, although it couldn't do anything for PAN AM, which won't last forever with its current sub-2 rating.

CBS: The network had the late afternoon football game, so 60 MINUTES received a boost. THE GOOD WIFE was down by a tick, which isn't good when you don't have many ticks to spare. CSI MIAMI was also down, but that's probably attributable to the unusual baseball competition on FOX.

FOX: I'm probably representative of much of America in finding it interesting to hear that this year's Series is a good one, but not enough to actually watch a game. The Series to date is barely avoiding baseball's basement, but Game 6 should perk up on Wednesday, and a Game 7 would make FOX's month.

NBC: SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL is disproportionately important for NBC due to the awfulness of its regular schedule, so a game that starts out with a 2-touchdown point spread and turns into a 55-point blowout is a nightmare. Next week's game should rebound somewhat, as Dallas and Philadelphia are both marquee teams despite their mediocre records this season.

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The Sked: SUNDAY RATINGS October 23

8:37 AM | Labels: mlb, nfl, Once Upon A Time, The Sked, TV ratings, world series

ABC premiered Once Upon a Time last night with great success, a 3.9 Adult 18-49 rating, building impressively off a 1.5 rating lead-in from America's Funniest Home Videos. Viewers liked what they saw in the pilot as audience built throughout the show: 8:00-8:30 (3.8 rating) and 8:30-9:00 (4.0). The fairy tale-dual universe drama was also the highest rated entertainment show on the night, followed by Desperate Housewives (3.0) and Amazing Race (2.7). We'll see if the audience sticks with this series over the next few weeks, but give ABC credit for opening the show.

Sporting events were the other big shows on the night: a horrible NFL regular season game that still managed to beat Game 4 of the World Series. NBC had really bad luck with the football game. One hour into play at 9:30 pm ET, the win-less, Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts were being pounded by the New Orleans Saints 28-0. At the same time, Texas was leading St Louis 1-0 in the 5th inning in a tight, well-played game. By 11:15 pm, both games ended with the Saints destroying the now 0-7 Colts 62-7 and Texas winning 4-0 over the Cardinals.

Nonetheless, the Sunday Night Football game on NBC still beat World Series Game 4 (4.6 vs 4.0). Such is the state of the national pastime. Even in the 10 pm hour, when the NFL game was long since decided and the baseball game still in doubt, Sunday Night Football out-rated the World Series. From 10:00-10:30: NFL (4.3) vs MLB (4.1). 10:30-11:00: NFL (3.9) vs MLB (3.8). When the official nationals for Sunday are out Tuesday morning, the NFL game will probably go up to a 4.9 and Game 4 up to a 4.4 rating.

World Series Game1 Game2 Game3 Game4
18-49 Rating Wed Thu Sat Sun
2007 BOS-COL 5.8 5.3 4.3 7.1
2008 PHI-TAM 4.8 4.0 3.2 5.1
2009 NYY-PHI 6.3 5.8 4.7 7.8
2010 SFG-TEX 4.7 4.0 2.9 4.3
2011 TEX-STL 4.2 4.0 3.5* 4.4* *est. official rating

With the Texas victory last night (creating a 2-2 series tie after four games), the chance of a Game 7 Thursday has zoomed to 69% (based on the 39 past World Series tied 2-2). Only with a Game 7 will Major League Baseball -- and FOX -- see ratings worthy of major sports championship.

Updated season to date averages to come.

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THE SKED PILOT REPORT: ABC's "Once Upon A Time" - PREMIERING TONIGHT

12:48 PM | Labels: ABC, drama, fantasy, goodwin, Morrison, Once Upon A Time, serial, sunday, The Sked

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 reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content of the new shows coming your way.

ONCE UPON A TIME - Sunday 8PM on ABC: If Nothing Else Is On...

ABC's ONCE UPON A TIME certainly gets points for originality. When other shows talk about their "mythology," they mean a general set of rules for some overarching story structure, but this show means business. Pay attention, there'll be a quiz: the tale by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (of Lost) begins in a fairy tale kingdom, where Snow White and Prince Charming are about to be married; the kingdom also includes such characters as Rumplestiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother, Geppetto and Pinochio, etc. Before the wedding can happen, though, the local Evil Queen storms in to announce that she's placing a horrible curse on the kingdom... and we're suddenly in modern day New England. Where we meet the show's actual heroine, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a bounty hunter confronted on her birthday by Henry, the son she gave up for adoption 10 years earlier.

Emma wants no part of this, and drives Henry back to his home in Storybrooke, Maine, and his adoptive mother, who turns out to be Regina (Lana Parrilla), the town's Mayor. Along the way, Henry tells Emma that in fact Regina is the Evil Queen of the stories, and the entire town of Storybrooke consists of fairy tale characters living under her curse, which has placed them into stultifyingly ordinary lives, completely unaware of their magical selves. So Snow White is now a schoolteacher (Ginnifer Goodwin), Rumplestiltskin is a greedy landlord (Robert Carlyle), and so on. But wait, there's more: Emma herself is the daughter of Snow White and the Prince, sent away to the "real" world to escape the catasrophe, and destined to battle the Queen and end the curse. Emma is understandably skeptical about this, but once she meets Regina, it's clear enough that she's an evil something, so Emma will be hanging around in Storybrooke for Henry's sake (and, along the way, presumably fight for the soul of the town).

Got it? Now, here's the problem with trying to judge Once Upon A Time as a continuing series: half the pilot is set in fairy tale land, with opulent sets and special effects, but by the end of the hour, the Queen's curse has taken effect and that kingdom no longer exists, which--I assume--means that the show itself won't have the dual-world structure that's enlivened Fringe, but will basically take place in the modern day town of Storybrooke. So the characters will be, along with Emma and Henry, ordinary people like the Mayor, the schoolteacher, the landlord, etc. We get very little sense of what that show will look like in the pilot, but shorn of its fantastic elements, it may not be much more than a small town soap opera with a bitchy villainess and a plucky heroine, plus some fanciful underpinnings.

Viewed as a self-contained hour of television, the Once Upon A Time pilot is interesting, but thin. Morrison and Parrilla deliver their good and bad girl personas in roles that, as written, don't seem to be designed for any kind of psychological complexity. The very appealing Goodwin, in her modern day scenes, is blandly nice (she gets more to do while she's still Snow White), and the only character to really make an impression is Rumplestiltskin, who's apparently as nasty in 2011 as he was back in the day. Mark Mylod's direction is most impressive in the fairy tale scenes; the modern day sequences that seem to be the real basis for the show are less notable.

It's hard to discern what the intended audience is for Once Upon A Time: although it will air at 8PM and features fairy tale motifs, it's not a kid's show. and without the characters knowing they're magical and doing fantastic things, it's not going to attract geeks. Paired as it is with Desperate Housewives and Pan Am on the night, it's probably aimed at women, but other than the fact that the antagonists are female, there's not much to attract them (certainly it's not on a level with Vampire Diaries or True Blood, two supernatural fantasies built on female fans). The show will be airing against Amazing Race, The Simpsons and (NBC hopes) football, and Mitch Metcalf's projections have it mired behind them all. Without any clear constituency, Once Upon A Time seems ill-placed to find its happily ever after.

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