Tag Archives: ABC

American Crime- Social Media Presence

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After a few weeks on the air, things are still not looking good when it comes to the possibility of renewal for another season for “American Crime”. However, it seems as if the show has created an impressive social media presence for itself, which has helped to generate conversation for the show during its live broadcasts.

In addition to official “American Crime” Twitter account retweeting comments from fans, the main stars of the program have been live tweeting with viewers during the show. The show has faced stiff competition on social media with March Madness dominating much of the conversation over the last few weeks, but it has found a community of talkers nonetheless.

“American Crime”‘s social media presence likely won’t save the program from cancellation, but if it continues to grow, it would make the case for renewal more compelling.

The Odd Couple 2.0: A Look Back at its First Revival

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As The Odd Couple continues its hiatus because of the NCAA Basketball tournament airing on CBS, I thought it would be a good opportunity to take a look back at the history of the show. Particularly, at the fact that this new version of The Odd Couple is not the show’s first TV revival. In anticipation of the series’ return back in February, USA Today ran a great article on the program’s history (http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2015/02/25/odd-couple-tv-film-broadway/23980183/). While the critics were not too enthusiastic about this new CBS version of the show, the ratings have not been dismal. However, turning the clock back to October 29, 1982, when the first revival of the show premiered on its original network, ABC, this new African-American version was panned by critics, even reused scripts from the original series and was canceled after a run of just eighteen episodes. What is more, the failures of The Odd Couple adaptations are not just limited to the small screen. According to IDBD.com, in 1985, Neil Simon (the creator of The Odd Couple) updated his original play, this time with an all-female cast, featuring popular television personalities Rita Moreno and Sally Struthers as Olive Madison and Florence Ungar. The show flopped and ran for only eight months, compared to the original 1965 production, which was huge hit and ran for nearly two and one-half years (http://ibdb.com/production.php?id=4375). Therefore, given the track record of The Odd Couple derivatives, it will be interesting to see whether or not the show finds its way onto the CBS Fall 2015 schedule.

Secrets and Lies – Post 6

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March 22 saw Secrets and Lies reel in its second highest rating since the show premiered on March 1. The 1.5 rating in the key 18-49 demographic was a 0.13 gain from the week prior. The show has been consistent in its audience topping at least 5.4 million viewers each week.

The show is a production of ABC Studios and was created by Barbie Kligman. A Shonda Rhimes disciple, Kligman previously served as executive producer and co-head writer on Private Practice and The Vampire Diaries.

ABC ordered 10 episodes of the Secrets and Lies, but signed a two-year contract with Kligman in case the show goes into a second season, according to Deadline Hollywood. The murder mystery is yet to be canceled, but it is also yet to be renewed.

Secrets and Lies – Week 5

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“Secrets and Lies” continues to be a stable presence on Sunday nights. Although the show has not demonstrated an ability to grow its viewership, TV by the Numbers says the mystery has retained 95% of its audience from its premier on March 1. One major obstacle for the ABC drama is overcoming the stacked CBS Sunday line-up. Weekly, CBS pulls in at least 11 million viewers at the 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. hours for “60 Minutes” and “Madam Secretary,” solid lead-ins to the “The Good Wife” at 9:00 p.m.

When it comes to reviews, the critics drastically disagree. In February, the Hollywood Reporter endorsed the cast of the show. That same month, SFGate.com, a Hearst owned entity, came away unimpressed and delivered a scathing review. Critic Dave Wiegand said, “Even before you’ve finished watching one episode, you’ll be convinced that ‘Secrets and Lies’ is the single worst show of 2015 so far.” The varying reviews have not stopped the show’s publicists from promoting the cast. An ABC News article published Wednesday, seeks to promote and humanize actors Ryan Phillippe (Ben Crawford) and Juliette Lewis (Andrea Cornell) who high speak about their personal lives and attempt to tease future episodes. However, in my opinion, teasing future episodes of a fictitious murder mystery is pointless. Regardless of the show’s plot, the mystery always gets solved in the end. Furthermore, this ABC show gives viewers another clue; there will be secrets and lies along the way.

American Crime- Second Episode Ratings Drop

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During “American Crime”‘s second week on television, the series drew headlines for losing a sizable chunk of its audience compared to the week before. In the 18-49 demo, the show lost six tenths of a rating point, and has left many wondering how the show will perform in the next few weeks of its 11-episode season.

“American Crime”‘s lead-ins “Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy” were also down, so that almost certainly contributed to the show’s drop-off, but there could be another reason why the show isn’t performing like some anticipated it would.

The series has a different feel to it than its time slot predecessor “How To Get Away With Murder”, and viewers seeking a Shonda Rhimes sensationalized hour of TV may feel empty after watching “American Crime”. The series may just not be the type of programming that ABC viewers are looking for on Thursday nights, which doesn’t diminish its quality, but may just indicate that it needs to find a different place on TV.

American Crime- First Week

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“American Crime” performed well during its first episode premiere on March 5th. Ratings wise, approximately 8.4 million people tuned into the show, which benefited from its lead- in (“Scandal”) and heavy promotion during the Academy Awards a few weeks prior. However, while the show started on fairly solid footing, there was a noticeable drop off when it came to viewers 18-49 from “Scandal”. “American Crime’ only captured about 60% of viewers 18-49 from the hour preceding it.

Reviews for the show have been strong, and critics have been almost universally giving it high praise. However, there has been some conversation about whether this type of program is appropriate for broadcast television, when it has more of a “cable-esque” feel to it.

 

Secrets and Lies – Week 4

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“Secrets and Lies” debuted to mixed reviews Sunday night. The two-hour premier reeled in 5.83 million viewers, the second largest audience that night. Only CBS’s hit show “The Good Wife” had more people watch with 8.92 million tuned in. The new ABC murder mystery premiered the same night that FOX debuted “The Last Man on Earth.” Critics from the Hollywood Reporter were surprised by the success of the FOX show. It seemed to appeal to a younger demographic as its 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic was the best at the 9:00 hour. This is bad news for “Secrets and Lies.” If both shows remain in the same time slot “Secrets and Lies” is likely to struggle.

Additionally, I thought it was an unusual approach to have a two-hour premier for a show that was poorly promoted. In my opinion, I don’t see the average TV viewer budgeting two hours of their time to catch-up on a murder mystery.

Weird Loners – Blog Post 4

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The launch date for Weird Loners on FOX is rapidly approaching! March 31st will come sooner than you may think.

With about a month before its premiere, I thought I would check out what FOX has done to promote Weird Loners via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This is what I found…

Facebook: 

  • Since May of last year, there have been a total of 13 posts. 
    • 6/13 released within two days of Valentine’s day.

Twitter:

  • 30 tweets

Instagram: 

  • 10 posts

Ultimately, I think FOX is doing a poor job of promoting Weird Loners. This show may want to take some pointers from ABC’s American Crime whose promotions began over a year ago.

It was definitely smart for Weird Loners to take advantage of Valentine’s Day for promotional value but that simply won’t deliver FOX the ratings they are looking for.

Most of Weird Loner’s social media buzz relates with the audience’s ability to relate to the show’s title. Thus, if this show hopes to become a major competitor, they are going to need to step up their promotion game ASAP. 

 

Galavant – Post Two

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Galavant finished it’s eight episode four-week run with a whimper as it earned a 1.1/3 in the 18-49 demo according to Nielsen.  The show was up against no special programming, as it’s usual competitor, Sunday Night Football, finished its season the previous week.  Though the ratings leave something to be desired for ABC, the production team at Galavant seemed confident a renewal would come through.  They ended the season with a number of cliffhangers that left fans wanting more, but will leave the story very unfinished should the show not be picked up for a second season as TV Line predicts.

On the upside for Galavant, the soundtrack to the miniseries, written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater, seems to be achieving moderate success, with a 4.3/5 rating on Amazon and a 4.5/5 on iTunes. The well known Menken seems to be the greatest draw to the series, with his musical style established in films like Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and Pocahontas.  Variety pointed out that should the soundtrack win any Emmy awards this season, Menken will be amongst the elite who possess an EGOT.

Secrets and Lies – Post 2

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The countdown to the premier of “Secrets and Lies” is just over a week away. As the date nears the publicity the show has received has increased. In many ways the show appears to be an experiment. The story is told almost entirely from the perspective of Ben Crawford, who is accused or murder. Some critics suggest that the character is in almost every seen. While shows in the passed have centered around one character (consider the likes of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and the “George Lopez” show), this murder mystery will be a new challenge. Murder mysteries often encompass multiple people and many details. I am interested to see how the show develops its plot and tries to fill in blanks before viewers become too confused to watch.