Broadcast TV Ratings for Thursday, March 12, 2009 March 13, 2009 6:14 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Nielsen TV Ratings, Television.Tags: Broadcast TV Ratings, Thursday
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The competition was surprisingly tight last night, especially among adults 18-49 where the top four networks were separated by just six-tenth of a point.
CBS was first for the evening, drawing the night’s most-watched show in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation at 9:00pm (#2 among adults 18-49) and placing first place for every hour of the evening among both households and viewers. It wasn’t all good news, however, as ‘CSI’ actually declined by nearly 4 million viewers from last week’s episode.
That decline was partially a result of the return of Grey’s Anatomy on ABC (#2 for the night). Grey’s Anatomy was number two for the night among adults 18-49, but it wasn’t all good for it either, as it was down by double-digits from its last original episode. Elsewhere on the network, Ugly Betty opened stronger than usual, but still below average, at 8:00pm, while Grey’s Anatomy lead-out Private Practice suffered the same fate as its lead-in, declining by double-digits from its last original airing and falling to a last place finish in the hour among households and viewers.
Over on NBC, who finished in third place last night, the season (potential series) finale of Kath & Kim drew just 4 million viewers. I don’t expect that show to return next season, while The Office was below average with under 8 million viewers. 3o Rock declined as well, but it’s retention was good.
The biggest news of the night, was the special episode of ER last night on NBC. The network tried to keep the news of guest starring roles by former stars, including George Clooney, secret (for what reason I don’t know) but many knew regardless, resulting in the show performing the best it has in some time, drawing nearly 11 million viewers and a very solid 3.9 rating in the demo (+23 and +15 percent, respectively, from the week prior).
Rounding out the night’s programs, The CW was in last place with the return of original episodes of Smallville and Supernatural. Smallville performed well, with no loss in A18-49 viewership from its last original episode, but Supernatural? Hmm…, not so much. The show was down by more than 500,000 viewers and a disappointing 21% among adults 18-49.
Don’t forget to click through the jump to check out the night’s full ratings and breakdown’s, including week-to-week comparisons, etc. and even more analysis on an individual show-by-show basis.
New Photo and Concept Art from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland March 13, 2009 3:59 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News.Tags: Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton
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The latest issue of the new Disney magazine, Disney Twenty-Three, has an article about Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland which features images from the film (including of star Mia Wasikowska in her Alice outfit) and concept art from the film. Click the linked image above to head on over to Tim Burton Collective News to see the rest of the magazine scans.
Fallon Finishes His First Week #1 March 13, 2009 3:56 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in CBS, NBC, News, Nielsen TV Ratings, Television.Tags: Broadcast TV Ratings, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Fallon, Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson
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Jimmy Fallon’s first week as host of NBC’s Late Night was a successful one, with the late-night program beating all cable and broadcast competition as well as Conan’s season average. For the week of March 2-6 the program averaged nearly 2.4 million viewers and more than 1.2 million adults 18-49, out-rating its nearest competitor (CBS’s Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson) by 25% among viewers and 60% among adults 18-49.
Additionally, Fallon’s debut week ranked as the most-watched ever in the last decade, besting the bows of The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (2M viewers in January 2005), ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live (1.7M in January 2003) and The Late Show With Craig Kilborn (1.5M in March/April 1999).
Source: Variety
New Line Developing Second 3D Journey to the Center of the Earth March 13, 2009 3:47 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, New Line, News, Walden Media, Warner Brothers.Tags: Brendan Fraser, Eric Brevig, Josh Hutcherson, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Richard Outten
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New Line has decided to take another 3D Journey to the Center of the Earth. The film grossed a respectable $240.6 million worldwide (its budget was just $60M), but New Line wanted to wait and see how the DVD numbers turned out before committing to a sequel. Turns out the performance on DVD was strong enough to warrant pushing along with a sequel.
Contrafilm’s Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson are returning as producers along with Walden Media and Charlotte Huggins. Eric Brevig, who directed the first film, will also be back and will this time be involved in the development of the script
Because the source material is based on just one book from Jules Verne, THR reports that the sequel’s story came together when a spec script by Richard Outten landed at Walden. Titled Mysterious Travels, the adventure tale was based on the fantasy that the literary tales Gulliver’s Travels, Treasure Island and Verne’s own Mysterious Island all occurrred on the same island. The producers all fell for the idea and are now repurposing the script to fit the ‘Journey’ characters (played by Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson–both of whom are expected to reprise their roles).
So Is Juan Antonio Bayona Directing ‘Eclipse’ Or Not? March 13, 2009 3:33 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News, Summit Entertainment.Tags: Juan Antonio Bayona, The Twilight Saga's Eclipse, The Twilight Saga's New Moon
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There are conflicting reports about the accuracy of a piece written by Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily (and later confirmed by Variety) that Juan Antonio Bayona is directing The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse.
Here’s the quick rundown. Yesterday, I reported on news that Summit Entertainment had settled on a director for The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse, and the director would be Bayona. But now comes word from Summit (via a piece in the LA Times) that the reports were inaccurate and that the studio hasn’t settled on director to helm the film. From the LA Times:
“The ‘Eclipse’ directing job hasn’t been offered to Juan Antonio or anyone else,” Erik Feig, president of production at Summit said. “We’ve met with three or four talented filmmakers and we’ll be meeting with three or four more other candidates before we make any decision. No one has been offered the job.”
For her part, Finke stands by her original story and points out that in her original piece she was careful to note that the announcement was being kept under wraps for the time being: “I can confirm that Summit Entertainment is telling Hollywood privately that Juan Antonio Bayona will direct Eclipse.”
So it seems to me that Bayona will be the director, it’s just that Summit wants to be the one to make it all official.
The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse hits theaters on June 30, 2010. The film will be preceded by the second film in the franchise, The Twilight Saga’s New Moon on November 20, 2009.
WB Bringing Stephen King’s It to the Big Screen March 13, 2009 3:15 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News, Warner Brothers.Tags: Dave Kajganich, It, Stephen King
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Stephen King’s horror novel It is headed to the big screen. Warner Bros. has announced that they are adapting the property with Lin Pictures and Vertigo Entertainment.
Dave Kajganich has been hired by the studio to pen the script, which according to THR, will follow a group of kids called the Losers Club that encounter a creature called It, which preys on children and whose favorite form is that of a sadistic clown called Pennywise. When the creature resurfaces, the kids are called upon to regroup again, this time as adults, even though they have no memory of the first battle.
While the novel was set in 1958 and 1985, the feature-film version will be set in present day. The best-selling 1986 novel had a successful small screen adaptation in 1990, airing as a miniseries on ABC.
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