Stars Crossed Over

As mentioned earlier in the fall, 9JKL’s lead Mark Feuerstein is known for his role in USA’s Royal Pains, which is now streaming and the producers are using that streaming popularity to their advantage. Last week they pulled from their guest star line up, the actress Brooke D’Orsay who played his brother’s wife, Paige, on Royal Pains.

On this episode of 9JKL, she plays a love interest to Mark’s character, Josh, who has to take his mom to the spa for his parent’s anniversary because his dad gets sick as is unable to come. Josh, though, is much more interested in Natalie who works there.

Since the days of St. Elsewhere or even before, there has been a tendency for shows to bring in guest stars from prior shows, which can sometimes bring in more viewers.

The week of November 27^th though, viewership remained steady, so maybe their bet didn’t work quite as they hoped, even with the promo they had in place. Brooke is not a major network star either as most of her work has been on cable in such shows as Drop Dead Diva, some Hallmark TV movies and a stint on broadcast in a few shows including The Big Bang Theory.

If the star were bigger or the crossover more familiar, it may have worked in the ratings, but as Royal Pains, though big on streaming, was on the USA Network, it didn’t get the eyeballs that perhaps CBS was betting on to get a rise in viewers for their freshman show with the ratings at 4.61 total viewers with 0.9 viewers in the 18-49 category.

Their episodes are running out and there is no news as of December 6^th whether or not 9JKL will continue into the spring with more orders. It has seemed to find a steady audience though that CBS appears to be okay with, so perhaps, with time, this show will be fine.

ROYAL PAINS — “Open Invitation” Episode 511 — Pictured: (l-r) Paulo Costanzo as Evan Lawson, Brooke D’Orsay as Paige Collins — (Photo by: Giovanni Rufino/USA Network)

Photo Courtesy of CBS

9JKL Gives Thanks

(For more episodes)

It’s that time of year for Thanksgiving specials and apparently, 9JKL’s Thanksgiving special paid off because as of Friday, according to Deadline, CBS ordered three more episodes.

It’s like going back for the mashed potatoes but not the whole meal… yet. But still, those potatoes are amazing and that’s good news for 9JKL whose ratings, even with the time change, have remained steady. People have found their comfort food on Monday night.

Their “Make Thanksgiving Great Again” episode reminded all of us of the family dynamics of the holiday. Mark’s character Josh is finally back for his first Thanksgiving home in a while. He cancels his parent’s reservations at a local restaurant and his sister-in-law agrees to cook the turkey in doing so going back to tradition but throwing a new tradition out the door. This, of course, leads to more comedic moments in the series that apparently the top brass could relate to as they gave it more time to roast.

Next week will be following the holiday season and has the potential to adjust viewership. Or not, 9JKL is one of those shows whose ratings have become pretty predictable in the last month landing at a 4.4 / 0.8.

A Bear of a Program

There are some interesting stories around bears. In college, a friend of a friend ran into one in the Wyoming wilderness and called out, “Whoa, bear!” and we took up the quote and used it for anything that was surprisingly shocking in our lives. Being college students these instances weren’t as dramatic as one thinks though when thinking of a bear.

When in Alaska I met many people who wanted to see a bear and I had to remind them of what that actually meant and they retracted. No one actually wants to see a bear like our Wyoming friend above.

Neither do TV shows.

I came across an interesting ratings system this week on TV By the Numbers called the “Cancel Bear” at the bottom Cancel Bear lists itself as someone who “tracks and devours low-rated TV shows.”

And guess who made the list?

9JKL

On the whole of the CBS lineup, it is the only show that has two bears.

The bears look cute, but like those in the wild, they are dangerous. Unfortunately, the reasoning is legit behind the potential cancellation. Viewership dropped 43% with Superior Donuts as a lead-in last week as well as a time change.

Could Cancel Bear be wrong? Maybe. Tomorrow is a new day and the second time 9JKL will air at 9:30 pm. Maybe it will pick up viewers again that had a week to adjust or perhaps it will stay the same or continue to fall and get eaten by Cancel Bear.

 Slicing and Dicing

Thus it begins… The first cancellation of the season on CBS.

Per the comments on Deadline Hollywood, most were surprised that it wasn’t 9JKL, but the other freshman series, the single-camera, Me, Myself and I.

The timeslot didn’t fare well, but some thought it was maybe Bobby Moynihan that had difficulty carrying the show.

The Eye instead gave a second season earlier than anticipated to Man with a Plan, starring Matt LeBlanc.

9JKL is now moving to the 9:30 pm time slot effective immediately. This could lead to the death of that show though because moving a freshman comedy barely a month in may not bode well with new viewers who are just becoming accustomed to a new schedule. Also, that timeslot was one of the big reasons that apparently killed Me, Myself and I.

A good concept, popular with critics, but not with audiences it seems. Moving timeslots may not resurrect the ratings, but make them worse.

That saying, “getting set up to fail,” seems to be what is happening for 9JKL.

A re-run of The Big Bang Theory will be put in 9JKL’s former time slot next week then, Man with a Plan takes the 8:30 pm time slot the week following.

Just last week the network wanted to try and not move the timeslots of the freshman comedies, but with this move to 9:30 pm, 9JKL could be on the cutting board next.

The new Kevin Can Wait lead in saw a huge drop in ratings for 9JKL unlike

The Big Bang Theory. How big? According to The Wrap 9JKL lost 49%, almost half, of its audience last Monday.

The good news is that CBS ordered 3 more episodes of 9JKL, so they’re hopeful. It will be interesting to see if they will continue to order more episodes later. However, without The Big Bang Theory lead-in, who knows?

What is interesting are these changes make for an all multi-cam comedy lineup Monday nights for CBS until Scorpion finishes out primetime.

Let the Shifting Begin

This week Thursday Night Football has begun and CBS takes week 4, so in preparation, the network is starting to prepare their TV lineup and that means some shifting is afoot.

Superior Donuts starring the familiar Judd Hirsch who got his comedy chops on Taxi will have its second season premiere this week at 9:00 pm EST / 8:00 pm Central following 9JKL.Perhaps CBS feels this is a better fit than Kevin Can Wait. Me, Myself and I still leads into Scorpion. Big Bang will move to Thursday nights.

What’s interesting about this change though, in an interview with Edward Hersh, a TV consultant based out of New York City, is that he explained that because of a ratings dive from comedy to drama on Monday nights between Big Bang and a procedural, Scorpion was developed that ties the two together therefore holding the ratings for CBS’ Monday nights. This isn’t the first time for this shift as both shows can stand on their own now, but without a Big Bang lead in, it may affect the new kids, 9JKL and Me, Myself and I.

9JKL’s new lead-in is Kevin Can Wait, though the ratings jumped up a touch last week, Kevin Can Wait, with it’s major casting change may not be the best lead-in, but appears to be all CBS has for that Monday night line up. The Eye also doesn’t want to move time slots of its two freshman early in the game either.

The move is interesting to note too as Deadline.com also noticed that there are three multi-cam sit-coms in a row and there haven’t been any back-orders placed by the network yet for their two new shows. They could as 9JKL’s ratings did go up though.

It’ll be interesting to see if this move makes waves next week and any back-orders are placed.

Photos courtesy of CBS

A Look at New Shows and Network Branding 

Margaret Lyons of The New York Times makes an interesting point with the current fall TV season in regards to broadcast networks. She states that each show is becoming more about the brand than the show itself. The big five are looking for a show to fill the roster of what will soon be the demise in the natural rotation of TV sit-coms. For some shows, it may work… “Young Sheldon”, though a one-camera show, is anticipated to be the replacement of CBS’ number one show, “The Big Bang Theory.” “The Mayor” in place of “Modern Family” on ABC and so on. If there is no replacement in place the networks appear to be doing their best to make it like one of their former, very former, successful shows.

So, as mentioned before, “9JKL” is similar to “Everybody Loves Raymond.” But why can’t it simply be “9JKL”?

I don’t believe this is anything new. In TV history if there were successful shows execs tried to re-use that formula, again and again, such as “Friends”. Remember “Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place”? There were many shows like this, some not as lucky as “Two Guys…” and that ran only three years from 1998 to 2001. Many more unmemorable ones faltered.

So why do the networks keep doing it?

It seems to be an unanswerable question. Because sometimes it does work. You feed the audience’s tastes and you’re golden. But what about something new, original and different? That’s okay, as long as it’s successful and that can’t be guaranteed.

Audiences seemed to be getting fatigued already by “9JKL” as their ratings continue to drop week by week. Audiences have seen it before and even though they may have loved Raymond, they are looking for something new to love and that something new may be on a competing network like Fox. Or they may stick with their tried and true talent shows, “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Voice”, which already has history and known viewership in a similar demographic to “9JKL”.

Audiences gave the funny new kid a shot, but in the schoolyard that is network television, it wasn’t funny enough and even though its name dropping it’s similarity to Ray Romano’s show, it’s simply not Ray Romano and audiences know this. Relations will only take you so far. It will be interesting to see how far it takes “9JKL”.

Images courtesy of CBS

Cord Cutting and Individual Streaming Services

Scott Koondel EVP, Chief Corporate Content Licensing Officer of CBS proudly touted CBS All Access to students at a presentation at S.I Newhouse on October 11^th. Following in the footsteps of HBO, CBS All Access has network shows like “9JKL” but also some shows that are solely for the streaming service like the new “Star Trek Discovery.”

HBO’s HBO Go seems to be working well. But as more and more networks dive into creating their own streaming services, consumers may become fatigued as stated in an article on CBS Money Watch.

If consumers note that TV starts to cost as much (or more) than cable, they may go backwards to antenna TV or stick with one of the original streaming sites that carries many options such as Netflix or Hulu. Or viewers may give up on specialized shows because it becomes too much of an effort and, again, too expensive.

You can see what the networks are doing; Disney included, but as to whether it will be successful is still uncertain and may not be seen for a few years yet. Who’s to say that the streaming services won’t be treated the same way as the cable providers with the current cord cutting going on? Investors were not a fan of Disney’s split from Netflix as Disney’s stock dropped following the announcement. Netflix remained the same though according to an article by Variety on September 7^th.

Perhaps not though and going to specialized sites may be the future of entertainment for everyone.

For now, it may benefit the viewing of “9JKL” as people who miss it on Monday nights can catch up or (as CBS is hoping) become new fans of the show and tune into the CBS broadcast station or All Access for future episodes.

Image courtesy of CBS

9JKL Premiere is… all right.

The Los Angeles Times liked it. It liked that it had a familiar 3-camera feel to it. It liked the comfort food factor and there may be something to that considering that the news of yet another mass shooting filled TV screens Monday night. For those that chose “9JKL”, they liked the familiarity of that type of concept and/or was in need of some comedic relief. The worse drama, in this case, being an overbearing mother. Its HH Rating share was 5.3/8 coming in as the bronze medalist for the Monday evening lineup.

Yes, it fared worse than “Young Sheldon” that aired a week prior in second place with 17.2 million viewers according to Nielsen. However, “9JKL” doesn’t have the relation advantage that “Young Sheldon” has with the “Big Bang Theory” lead-in.

A majority of critics still pan it, but many seem to love Albert Tsai, who, as mentioned, got pulled up to a series regular. Popular little guy. The way things are going for him we may be seeing him headlining his own show in a couple years, you know, after he graduates high school.

The good news to note here is that it’s not the critics that keep it on the air, it’s the audiences and thus far, the audiences have given the show their eyes.

It will be interesting to see the return audience next week. Will it hold steady? Improve? Falter? It will only have “Big Bang” as a lead in temporarily. CBS will be shifting “Big Bang” and “Young Sheldon” to compete with NBC’s must see TV Thursday line-up that includes the highly rated “Will and Grace” re-boot.

Because of this, at some point in time, “9JKL” will have to stand on its own, unless they get lucky and CBS moves “9JKL” with the Cooper family to the Upper East Side of TV land.

Photo courtesy of CBS