CBS A HIT ON THURSDAY EVEN WITH RERUNS; NBC COLLAPSES

All of the broadcast networks aired reruns Thursday night, with CBS far in the lead in every half hour of primetime among both total adults and 18-49 year-olds, according to Nielsen Media Research. Its 8:00 p.m. comedy The Big Bang Theory actually drew 10.2 million viewers, nearly as many as those watching all of the [...]

NBC UNDER COMCAST: ITS WOES WORSEN

Despite cleaning out NBC’s old management, increasing the budget for fall shows, and introducing some costly new shows supported by equally costly marketing, Comcast, which now controls the network, not only hasn’t seen ratings for the network improve, it has seen them grow worse, the New York Times observed today (Tuesday). “While every other network [...]

ABC TOPS AMONG AFFLUENT VIEWERS

During the first week of the new season, CBS may have come out ahead in the ratings as the most-watched network among total adults and Fox as the most-watched among the key 18-49 demographic, but ABC wants it known that it came out on top among affluent viewers. Among adults 18-49 with incomes of $100,000 [...]

GEORGE LOPEZ LOPPED OFF TBS

TBS’s hope of creating a solid two-hour late-night block of Conan O’Brien followed by George Lopez has gone the way of the primetime Jay Leno/O’Brien-Tonight-show fiasco, with Lopez axed after less than a year in his midnight timeslot (and O’Brien struggling in the ratings). TBS, however, is not allowing Lopez the long goodbye that NBC [...]

EMMY SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Friday Night Lights, the critically praised but ratings-challenged drama, is going out with a bang. The show, which recently was able to stay alive by first being televised on DirecTV before being rerun on NBC, was nominated today (Thursday) as one of the five dramas in the best drama category in the 63rd Primetime Emmy [...]

THE CLIMAX OF THE OFFICE IS ANTI-CLIMACTIC

In the end, the climactic episode of The Office — the one in which Steve Carrell as office manager Michael Scott checks out — turned out to be an anticlimax. The episode was as jumbled as the ratings, critics said. They seemed to agree that it was mostly boring but with some solid laughs thrown [...]

WILL FERRELL COMING TO NBC’S THE OFFICE

While NBC’s The Office has always been a favorite with critics and Emmy voters, it has never been a big hit with viewers. (Last week it ranked No. 28 on the Nielsen ratings chart.) Hoping to lift the show’s numbers during the final weeks of the season as Steve Carrell departs and a new series [...]

GERVAIS: “I DON’T CARE WHAT PEOPLE THINK OF ME”

Ricky Gervais insists that he is not concerned about the negative reaction from members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to his stinging jokes during Sunday night’s Golden Globe presentations. In remarks taped for airing on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, Gervais says, “It’s not my job to worry about what people think of me, that’s [...]

CARELL TO EXIT THE OFFICE BEFORE SEASON ENDS

Steve Carell will leave NBC’s The Office a month before the season finale, and the remaining four episodes will concern the chaos that ensues when the show’s regular characters vie for his job, producer Paul Lieberstein has told New York magazine’s Vulture blog. “If the show was ending, it would be about [Carell's character leaving]. [...]

CBS RULES ALL-RERUN NIGHT

All four major networks aired a full schedule of reruns Thursday night. The somewhat surprising result is that CBS managed to do quite well with its mix of comedies and dramas, taking first place in total adults in every half hour of primetime — as well as first in adults 18-49 in every half hour [...]

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