This week on Minority Report the ratings dropped again. The ratings dropped to a .63 and it had about 1.7 million viewers. There hasn’t been much buzz around the show lately except for when Fox dropped the last three episodes, which is surprising considering Spielberg is the executive producer of show. I was curious if he had any involvement or if he was just given a check so that the show could put his name on the show. It turns out that he was involved a lot in the beginning of the show. He took part in casting to the point where he had to sign off on every casting decision and allowed the producers and directors to use the same machinery and props from the original film. Spielberg was involved with everything preproduction involving casting, visual affects and props, and cinematography. He was not however involved in the writing which makes me wonder how he feels about having his name attached to a show that is not doing very well and will eventually be canceled.
Category Archives: Fall 2015
Week 9 Best Time Ever with NPH
That’s a wrap folks. Well at least for this season. Best Time ever with NPH has come to its finale episode for its first season. There has been no word yet if it will be picked up for a second season, as the network has been very quiet up to this point. Of course the ratings have not been through the roof, even with last week’s ratings coming in at an all-time low for its time slot, yet with the time change one would hope that they would have all the kinks worked out for a new season, with even more fun-filled celebrity guests appearances. NPH appeared on The Today Show this week just days before this finale to discuss the upcoming show and he seemed to look quite frazzled and stressed. Even the host Savannah Guthrie seemed concerned at his appearance and his overall well-being in preparation for such a live event, as he remained calm, cool and collected and responded, “even if its a disaster, it will be hilarious.”
Quantico #9: Trouble at Quantico
Thursday 10/29 the news broke that executive producer of Quanitco, Mark Gordon, is being sued for stealing the idea for the show from a CNN documentary. Paula Paizes and Barbara Leibovitz Hellman and Jamie Hellman, creators of the documentary in question, Quantico: The Making of an FBI Agent, are the ones bringing the lawsuit. Paizes had previously worked for Gordon and brought him a movie idea about Quantico, which his company optioned, agreed for a producer credit, and to receive profits from the movie.
The documentary that Paizes ended up creating gave her exclusive access to the actual FBI training center, with personal stories from trainees. Paizes 2 years later in 2003 went back to Gordon to create that movie she always wanted, but Gordon and his company gave her no answer.
Voilà! 2014 comes along and ABC orders Quantico with the Mark Gordon Company producing. Paizes lawsuit says, “”the detailed knowledge of training techniques, lifestyle and terminology used in Quantico could only have derived from the transcripts and notes obtained by Leibovitz and Hellman during their unprecedented access to FBI recruits for the Documentary, copies of which were retained by [Gordon].” Gordon’s company has declined to comment and ABC has not released a statement yet.
Grandfathered Post #9
Last week, Grandfathered got the full season order from Fox which followed their Tuesday night partner in crime, The Grinder’s, pick-up, as well. According to Deadline, it has always been the plan to give full season order to these freshmen Fox comedies. All of the fates of Fox’s fall lineup have been decided. Minority Report was the only show to receive a reduction, which shows the Fox overall had a strong Fall Primetime lineup. Interestingly, Grandfathered is a co-production between 20th Century Fox TV and ABC Studios, which is important because the content is shown on Fox.
The mixed reviews are in for Fox’s Grandfathered.
According to Critics reviews MetaCritic, many feel that that show is extremely similar to the comedy Raising Hope. I initially did not make this connection, but now I definitely see where those critiques are coming from. Also, many viewers feel that John Stamos’ character Jimmy is strong, but it is the supporting characters that need work. The characters portrayed by Josh Peck and Christina Milian are definitely in need of some tweaking according to the critics, but fortunately the show will now have time do develop these characters during the remainder of the season.
Scream Queens – Post #9
The fall TV season has surpassed its first month of being on air, and the fate of new series are beginning to be announced; renewals, series limitations and general cuts. Scream Queens has yet to hear back from FOX executives, and though it may seem a bit late in the game, patience has become the new norm. Due to increased viewing in live+3 and live+7, broadcasters like FOX are forced to evaluate a plethora of data and then interpret said information. Executives must also balance future revenue opportunities. Since Scream Queens has FOX as its producer, distribution deals are a helpful side aspect to be taken into account. A great benefit from this specific series is that it targets a young female audience – advertisers have trouble reaching this category elsewhere. Ultimately from all of the data, FOX will evaluate the series with all of these factors taken into account. Does FOX foresee a reliable long tail for the future for Scream Queens fans?
“Rosewood” Post #9
Due to Game 2 of the World Series, “Rosewood” did not have a new episode this week. Instead, the series is using this time to promote viewership among past episodes on Fox.tv. Also, the series is using this time to promote their upcoming guest stars. Jaina Lee Ortiz recently instagrammed a picture with Lisa Vidal (“Third Eye”, “The Division”, “ER”) with the caption “Sneak peak…you’re gonna fall in love with her #mom,” so we can only assume that Vidal will join the series as the leading actress’s mother.
Moreover, a lot of the promotions that could be found on the TV series’ Twitter and other platforms revolve around this idea of family and showcasing the relationships between the characters and their family members. This seems like a new concept for a medical show, which helps to set a part “Rosewood” from other medical dramas. I look forward to seeing how these new guest stars and family dynamics play out with the full season order.
Quantico #8: Found – a title & a notion
This week’s episode title “Found” is quite apropos for the shows success. ABC Sunday nights at 10:00 have finally found a stronghold show, ABC has found another show that can be aired on network TV with the risqué contend and contend with the nature of many cable shows. Quantico has also found its voice for accurate dialogue that talks about all the different stereotypes of characters in the show without being cliché. As Chopra has already said, “It is, however, more a mirror to society in the USA — a multi-cultural mix of people from all over the world, connected to their ethnicity in some way but who primarily consider themselves citizens of the United States of America.” http://movies.ndtv.com/television/priyanka-chopra-hopes-quantico-will-open-the-right-doors-for-india-1237222
Variety calls it a, “sexy terrorism thriller” that has helped a network achieve a feat no one has been able to in a while, find a strong 10pm Sunday show. http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/fall-tv-ratings-blindspot-quantico-1201626729/
This week’s episode had two steamy sex scenes and a heart-wrenching scolding and confession about the struggle of being a gay man in today’s society. These are 3 pretty hefty topics to throw onto network television, but to keep up with cable you have to stay spicy. http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/quantico/250036/quantico-found-review
Quantico #7: The Power of Priyanka Chopra
Now that Quantico has been ordered to almost a full season, you can see the power of Priyanka Chopra coming to fruition. ABC casting executive, Keli Lee, went through the long and exciting courtship of bringing Chopra to the US to be the first Indian to lead a network TV series. Chopra said the most difficult transitions were not speaking in her own language and not having a heavy accent for her lead role, which she chose from about 26 different pilots ABC had offered her.
Some numbers on Chopra to show her international power: has previously been in over 50 Bollywood films, Miss World 2000, owns her own production studio in India, 11.4million followers on twitter, and advocate for the opening of doors for Indian actors, producers, writers and technicians to explore the US market.
On Quantico’s premiere night the show got tons of free publicity from the outpouring of support, on twitter, from Chopra’s fellow actors and actresses in India, (http://newsworldindia.in/entertainment/bollywood-wishes-priyanka-chopra-for-quantico-on-social-media-videos-messages-inside/132739/) which opens up ABC to the market of people they are definitely trying to attract by having her as the lead.
With only 5 episodes having aired, and 14 more to go, ABC has already created the next project offer for Chopra, her own celebrity talk show where she will be the host. http://movies.ndtv.com/television/priyanka-chopra-to-host-an-american-celebrity-talk-show-1236817
The Grinder: Post #8
What makes a new comedy series successful? According to Fox’s president of entertainment, David Madden, the combination of razor-sharp wit and relatable family dynamics does the job. Good news for all Grinder fans, Fox has sent out a request for a continuation of the whole season!
Although we did see a large decrease from W1 air date to W3, with numbers dropping approximately 42%, I observe a recent 14% uptick of viewership numbers with both last week and this week remaining steady number at a .9 rating.
The Grinder’s lead-in, Grandfathered, featuring the handsome John Stamos, continues to dominate every week, although by small numbers as stated by B&C. Of course, let us not forget the big competition at hand, The Voice, which other new series are contending with as well. The prominent show won the NBC network a broadcast ratings contest last week for such high Nielsen overnight ratings (`1.8 rating A18-49 & 6 share). Despite the heavy competition, The Grinder can sleep soundly at night because they will continue on for a whole season unlike others who did not make the cut.
Week 8 Best Time Ever with NPH
Former All My Children star Kelly Ripa (LIVE with Kelly and Michael) joins Neil Patrick Harris in the primetime slot as the celebrity guest announcer for Best Time Ever yesterday, Tuesday October 27th at 10pm. Kelly Ripa helped guide viewers through the Halloween-themed episode from the studio’s guest announcer booth. Kelly Ripa is seen daily on her own show, surprisingly on another network:ABC. ABC of course is owned and operated by DisneyABCMedia Group which is a rival of NBCUniversal who is running Best Time Ever. I am curious to see how NBC was able to get her on the show crossing over her already established ABC contract, just in time for Halloween. Ray Parker Jr. also joined the stage for “Singalong Live” with the Academy Award-nominated theme song to “Ghostbusters” where three home viewers challenged and completed for a chance at winning $1,000. Another segment entitled “Neil Versus” had NPH and his child doppelganger “Little NPH” against Pussycat Doll sidekick Nicole Scherzinger and “Little Nicole” in a game moderated by another NBCUniversal tv show host, Meredith Vieira (The Meredith Vieira Show). The season finale is next week November 3rd. Looking forward to seeing what they have in store to knock it out of the park in order to get renewed.