Category Archives: Spring 2016

The Real O’Neals update 3/30/16

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To be honest, ABC has a bit of a dilemma on their hands. The show “The Real O’Neals has had very inconsistent ratings during their time on ABC. This week they garnered a 1.0 rating, which is consistent with the last week rating, but not consistent with the 1.85 rating that it received with the second episode which gave us a lot of hope for the sitcom. Also, Christian and Catholic groups as well as publications such as The Christian Examiner have went on a attack, saying that the show mocks God. Let’s see how this backlash affects next week show. Personally, I would not renew the show but as we all know, numbers speak louder than words. I believe they won’t renew if it goes lower than a 1.0.

Twitter followers for the show are now at 5717 which is also a confusing sign. Are the followers of the show not social media users? Or is the show just not picking up with the youth and the trend setters?

Shades of Blue: Post 8

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Word Count: 162

Last Thursday (March 24), Shades of Blue earned a 1.05 rating in the 18-49 demo with 5.13 viewers which was a .61% increase from last week.

This week Variety reported that it was announced that Sky has bought the U.K rights to Shades of Blue, and the show will play on the networks channel Sky Living. It was reported that the show will premiere in the U.K. later this year.

Digital Spy reported that Sky 1 and Sky Living director, Adam McDonald, said, “This New York detective drama is a perfect fit for the channel, and I can’t wait for customers to see the brilliant pairing of Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta in action.”

The season finale is next week, and I have not heard anything about season 2 yet. As soon as Shades of Blue finishes it looks like the following week there will be an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit then the following week it will be an all new Game of Silence. 

 

 

 

Second Chance Post #9

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Second Chance continued to pull similar ratings for FOX this past week. Since February 26th, the show has been pulling a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic and has garnered anywhere from 1.17 to 2.15 million viewers with this same rating. It’s not terrible for FOX, but there was a reason, after all, that the show was moved to Friday’s after only two weeks.

This past Friday, March 25th, Second Chance reached the end of its original episode order. FOX only ordered eleven episodes of the show (cut back from the original order, as I’ve blogged about before) and that programming ended with this past week. There’s no official word either way from FOX on whether or not the show will continue, but a Bustle article from just a few days ago makes a strong case for its renewal. That article also links to this Entertainment Weekly piece from back in January noting that FOX did spend quite a bit of money on reshoots for the show which the author argues they probably would not have done if they didn’t believe in it. Based on what I’ve seen online, the show has a dedicated fanbase, but it’s still unclear whether or not keeping the show around will make sense for FOX from a business standpoint.

Kings and Prophets #3

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With the premiere of Kings and Prophets came gut wrenching reviews that left viewers not surprised. According to USAToday.com, the downfall before the show premiered was predicted because it was the same team that produced the biblical “flop” Exodus: Gods and Kings. The USAToday article stated:

The problems with this laughable, sometimes unintelligible gloss on the biblical story start with Saul himself. In the Bible, he’s the ancient uniter of Israel and Judah. In the hands of British actor Ray Winstone, he’s more like a London mob boss who’s losing control of the family business while fighting off attacks from the rival Philistine gang.

The show’s initial ratings were in 0.8 in adults 18-49. It was troublesome for the network and with the history for the Tuesday 10pm time slot, it could be possible that the show will be cancelled. Last premiere season, Wicked City had the Tuesday 10pm slot and was cancelled after three episodes.

Kings and Prophets: Post #2

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With the Eater season upon us, ABC has chosen an ideal time to promote a biblical series around the holiday. Premiering on Tuesday March 8th, Kings and Prophets is the tale of King Saul and David from the Old Testament. ABC.com has made the Kings and Prophets page live with profiles of the new face cast, videos of behind the scenes, and public blog posts from an ABC writer. Critics are anxious to see the collation between this biblical series and biblical film Risen (premiering February 19th) and FOX’s live special Passion which is a musical that portrays a modern view of the Resurrection.

Critics are also concerned with the writing team for Kings and Prophets. Exodus: Gods and Kings (premiered in 2014) caused some negative reviews based on the “white-washing” of the cast portraying Egyptians and the Jewish slaves. Adam Cooper, who was a writer for the movie, is now the principle writer for Kings and Prophets. 

Second Chance Post #8

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This past Friday, Second Chance continued to drop in the ratings. Even for FOX, a 0.5 in the 18-49 demo isn’t very good, but a total audience of about 1.91 million is still respectable. According to TV By the Numbers’ renew/cancel weekly standings, the show still has not been officially cancelled by FOX, but it’s thought that this will probably occur by May of this year. Being that the season order was cut down before the show even aired, renewal isn’t likely.

It is interesting to note that since I last blogged about Second Chance’s Facebook pages, the number of people who like the page has increased by over 7,000. The total number of likes now sits at over 18,000. Everything the page posts gets good social engagement and fans seem very happy/dedicated to the show. When going to the FOX website, Second Chance is pretty far down on the homepage so they don’t seem to be actively promoting it on web. A cool feature that they do have is called Latest Buzz which is found on the show’s homepage within the FOX website. Here, they curate what people are saying about the show on social media which includes official show accounts, stars of the show, and general fan tweets. It’s done in a very attractive and clean layout. Just shows once again that social is really a requirement for today’s television…

Shades of Blue: Post 7

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Word count: 182

We are now on the 11th episode of Shades of Blue, and the numbers have been leveling off the past couple of weeks. On Thursday, March 17, the  audience numbers for Shades of Blue actually increases, although the trend has been decreasing. In the 18-49 demo the Nielsen reported that the show had 5.099 viewers and earned a rating of 0.97. This is the lowest rating thus far in season 1. However, the ratings have been staying around 1.0.

On Thursday March 10, the rating was 1.01 and the episode brought in an audience of 4.859 million in the 18-49 demo.

Although the show was picked up for a second season, the number indicate that it may be canceled before it makes it to season 3.

The shows social media accounts continue to stay active and engage with viewers. Every week the shows following increases, as the show really pushes using the hashtag #shadesofblue. On NBC’s main page they show that a sneak peak clip from Shades of Blue is “trending now.” NBC also has a page that allows you to watch all episodes of the show.

Twitter Following: 21.3 K
Facebook Page Likes: 178,898

 

 

 

The Real O’neals 3/15

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Today was a decent showing for The Real O’Neals. The show pulled in a 1.03 rating for the 18-49 demographic, as well as a decent 3.469 million viewers. This is a change from the last three episodes higher ratings, however this was to be expected. The way they launched the show with the certified hit Modern Family, there was bound to be a drop off in viewership until we reached a consistent point with the show. This happens with many shows that aren’t out of the gate successful, but find a cult following that keeps the show alive until something better comes up. Social media output has steadied since the launch of the show, however its less of a forceful pushing and more of a normal push now.

The Real O’Neals 3/8

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This second official week of The Real O’Neals is hard to really understand. There was a big drop off in viewers for this week, bringing in a 1.14 for the 18-49 demographic with close to four million viewers. Last week’s numbers were 1.79 and 1.85 for both episodes with around 6 million viewers for each one. The show did move to its main day (Tuesday’s 8:30 PM) and now have a weaker (but successful) show in Fresh Off The Boat. It’s a bit early to really decipher how successful this show will be so far, but we’ll see if the show sinks or swims in it’s original time. Also, advertising on social media is still seeming to be flooding my timeline, but that’s good for reaching us. If it goes too long though it may have a negative affect on the perception on social media.

Shades of Blue: Post 6

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Word count: 431

Shades of Blue is down in ratings these past few weeks, and continues to look viewers. Neilson reported that in the 18-49 demographic in the last week viewers went from 4.98 to  4.73 million viewers. The rating stayed about the same at 1.

Dan Buffa, an Entertainment contributor of KSDK, did a review on the show that brings insight to some of the choices NBC may be making.

Unlike most reviews I have read, Buffa said that Ray Liotta is what makes a “normal run-of-the-mill cop show” great. Although he said Liotta helps the show, he said a show like this shouldn’t expect to see any Emmy Awards.

“All network cop shows have some good and lots of bad. The days where David Mamet and Michael Mann patrolled these streets are long gone and showrunners like Adi Hasak (screenwriter of 3 Days to Kill and From Paris with Love) try to do their best imitation of true grit for a season or two before it starts to stink,” he said.

Although Buffa said a show like Shades of Blue has many imperfections, he suggests people “soak up the tiny moments of greatness. It’s a fast food restaurant with an occasional great order. It has its moments.”

Buffa notes that this is because there are some very well written scenes and great acting with Liotta in season 1.

“He is the reason to watch this show,” Buffa said. “Without him, the show dies faster than a romantic subplot.”

He believes Liotta is key to the show because he “automatically commands your attention with his intensity, approach to a character, and complete buy in.”

On the note of Jennifer Lopez, Buffa said, “when you look at J. Lo and wonder if she went from the set straight to her concert show in Las Vegas, just look back at Ray and smile with satisfaction.He’s a real old school actor. He elevates this show. Hasik knows this and puts him in nearly as many scenes as Lopez.”

Buffa said he thinks the show has gotten better week by week, but the ratings don’t agree with that. Regardless they have been picked up for a second season.

“NBC knows it can leverage a corruption story mixed between NYC cops and the FBI for at least one more season. With star power like Lopez and a talent like Liotta, this show can run for a while. Law and Order: SVU may run until I am in a nursing home, so Shades of Blue has a little pasture to gallop across and the writing doesn’t have to improve much,” Buffa said.

Twitter Following: 19.9 K