Behind the Numbers: Ratings Hit for CSI, Housewives, 30 Rock
Here are other ratings highlights from the TV week ended Sunday:
- With Idol Gives Back taking over Wednesday, the Idol results show was pushed back to Thursday, which was actually bad news for Idol. CBS' CSI (third place, 20.09 million) came within about 40,000 viewers of topping the untoppable Fox show (second place, 20.1 million).
- ABC's Desperate Housewives (eighth place, 16.4 million) was back. Nearly 3 million of its usual fans weren't.
- Absence didn't make hearts grow fonder for NBC's ER (36th place, 7.5 million), which returned from the writers' strike about 2 million patients lighter.
- The same went for NBC's 30 Rock (55th place, 5.8 million), which was down nearly 1 million viewers from its season average.
- Something people wanted to see, and apparently badly: The first new episode of The Office in five months. The NBC comedy (25th place, 9.3 million) was up 1.5 million viewers.
- The return of NBC's Scrubs (45th place, 6.6 million) wasn't a big deal in the overall rankings. But in the race for 18- to 49-year-old year-old viewers, the potentially ABC-bound comedy placed 17th.
- Actually, all of NBC's Thursday night shows, even the aged ER, were top 25 hits in the young-adult demoexcept for 30 Rock.
- With CBS' comedies preempted due to college basketball, ABC's returning Samantha Who? (19th place, 10.4 million) represented in the top 20 for the enfeebled genre.
- Miss USA is doing about as well as the U.S. dollar. Viewership for the NBC pageant (58th place, 5.7 million) was down 23 percent from last year.
- Impressively, CBS' Secret Talents of the Stars (78th place, 4.6 million) didn't lose a single viewer from its season premiere to its season finale.
- In cable, a prime-time SpongeBob SquarePants on Nick (6.1 million) ruled all.
- Lifetime had a good week. First, it got Project Runway. Then, it aired the top-rated TV movie, The Memory Keeper's Daughter (5.8 million). To top it off, The Golden Girls killed in late night (822,000 for a 1 a.m., Tuesday episode).
- Other cable standouts: The season finale of VH1's Rock of Love 2 (5 million); Spike TV's original Star Wars trilogy marathon, led by a Sunday night airing of Return of the Jedi (4.1 million); and, the continuing drama of MTV's The Hills (3.6 million).
- Bravo may not have Project Runway after this summerseason five premieres in July, the network announced Mondaybut it'll always have Coyote Ugly (643,000 for its latest Friday night outing).
- In late night, the Tonight Show's slumpit's still No. 1, but down more than 1 million viewers from last seasonis Late Night's burden. For the first time ever, the NBC Conan O'Brien show was bested by CBS' Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: 1.8 million viewers compared to 1.9 million viewers, for the week ended April 4.
In the network races, Fox just edged out CBS in total viewers, averaging 10.27 million to the latter's 10.25 million. It scored a bigger victory in the 18-to-49 department, also over CBS.
In cable, USA was the top prime-time network (2.6 million), followed by Disney Channel (2.3 million) and Star Wars-assisted Spike (2.2 million.)
Why Did the Road End? What's Next for Betty and Grey's? ABC Boss Speaks
Just got back from a chat session with ABC's big cheese Steve McPherson, where we dug into today's fall schedule announcement, what lies ahead for some of our favorite shows and stars—and why he didn't bring back two fan favorites.
Here's what we learned:
Scrubs Is Moving to ABC (Duh): In the reveal of what is perhaps the worst-kept secret in the Industry, McPherson announced that ABC will air 18 episodes of Scrubs this fall. "Given the fact that it's been moved 17 times and still doing better than any other NBC comedy on Thursday than The Office…We think it's really a great addition for us." Holler.
Ted on How I Met Your Mother Is Screwed: McPherson confirms that Sarah Chalke is most definitely back on Scrubs for the new season on ABC. Full-time. Stelllllaaaa! If she is the mother, Ted's gonna have to wait.
Men in Trees and October Road Are Gone: On behalf of all you heartbroken fans (I feel your pain), I asked McPherson if this call was made purely from a ratings standpoint. "It was, yeah," he replied. "It was a really hard decision. I think both shows were incredibly well done and we have a fantastic relationship with (Men in Trees creator) Jenny Bicks. We're hoping to do some great things with her. But even when we gave it a pretty decent run on Thursday, I would have loved to see it pop."
As for October Road: "It was like the little engine that could. It was a pilot that was picked up late and the series was picked up late. It was a terrific show—it just had a very, very small but dedicated core audience. [Road producers] [Josh] Applebaum] and [Andre] Nemick and [Scott] Rosenberg are going to work on our new drama Life on Mars and have some great ideas about this version. So we love the people, but it's just unfortunate that we couldn't find the kind of audience that would make it worth keeping."
McPherson Calls the New Fall Schedule "Incredibly Stable": With only one new drama and two new unscripted series, there isn't much change at all. Still, he adds that there are 17 pilots still in development for midseason, so clearly, thanks to the strike, there wasn't a lot of grooming time this year.
Life on Mars Looks Pretty Awesome: Cherry-picked as the only new scripted series coming to ABC this fall, this British import about a cop who gets sent back to 1973 actually looks pretty engaging. (They showed a clip.) Jason O'Mara (most recently McDreamy and Meredith's latest brain-tumor patient on Grey's) stars and the series is produced by David E. Kelley and the brain trust behind October Road (Applebaum and friends). It will air after Grey's on Thursday nights at 10.
Also Coming to ABC: Opportunity Knocks, a game show from Ashton Kutcher that McPherson describes as "Extreme Home Makeover meets Millionaire" (the show comes to your house with a truckload of prizes and asks you to answer trivia about your own family and community) and an untitled Ashton Kutcher-Tyra Banks reality show, which is "a beauty pageant like you haven't seen before" that McPherson says "we are keeping under wraps for now at their request."
Ugly Betty Is Most Definitely Moving to NYC: Says McPherson, "The pilot was shot in New York. The show is based in New York. And the studio made the decision that given the current climate in New York, it made a lot of sense to move it back. We're excited from a production standpoint to have that real New York quality, because as much as people try to cheat New York, it's really hard to do so. So I think it's sort of funny that people are taking issue with the fact that it's cheaper to do a show in New York about New York." McPherson also says all castmembers will be on board, but that Rebecca Romijn has "left the show." When asked why, he says Rebecca's run was always supposed to be a limited engagement and now that run is over. (Something tells me that's news to Rebecca.)
Ugly Betty Is Getting Back to Betty: "Silvio [Horta] is very smart to do what he's doing. I think that on Ugly Betty, there was sort of a flight of fancy that was going on there and it was funny, but I think it got away from the core that really is the heart of the show. And some of the episodes at the end of this year have gotten back to that." Also, LiLo will be back. "[Lindsay Lohan] is going to do more episodes next year. I don't know that the New York move will affect that, but she is doing more than one episode next season."
Is Edie Gone from Desperate Housewives? When asked if Nicollette Sheridan will return, McPherson initially gives a firm "Yes." When pressed for clarification, given that Marc Cherry was just quoted as saying that's the last we're gonna see of her for years, McPherson just smiles and says "Maybe." Hmmm…
Pushing Daisies Love: My beloved Pushing Daisies, which will back next season in its old time slot, is still all about the love. The ABC new-season video they showed us featured Lee Pace saying, "I've fallen in love with Anna Friel," and how that's a good thing because they can't touch on the series so they really have to sell the love through their eyes. Awww…
Grey's Anatomy Is Planning Something Big: "Grey's has got a big idea for next year that Shonda's getting ready to launch on people," says McPherson, but wouldn't go into further detail (shocker). "But the other shows we feel like are firing on really good waves, so there's no big kind of shift." (Read into that transition what you will.)
Why Eli Stone Got the Pickup (Hurrah!): "In comparison to the big shows we have it's not particularly expensive," McPherson explains. "And we just felt like it had a very tough launch amid the strike without our original programming to really launch it. And creatively we felt like it grew from the beginning to the end of the first 13, so we really feel like it's got a big up side…We also think we have a better lead-in for it with Dancing With the Stars." As for the big twist in the 13th ep, McPherson says: "That was always Greg Berlanti's design of where it would go."
Lost Time Slot for Midseason? TBD, according to McPherson. "At this point, we still like this 10 p.m. on Thursday, and we could move Life on Mars at that point. But it's also been a great 9 p.m. performer and 8 p.m. performer, so I think quite honestly we have to see how the fall plays out."
Questions? Rants? Raves? Post them below…
Exclusive! Oprah Winfrey to Guest on 30 Rock as Tina Fey's Best Friend?
Dreams really do come true, and don't let anyone tell you differently!
Just two weeks ago, while discussing some dream casting options for her NBC comedy 30 Rock, Tina Fey told reporters, "I still want Oprah to play my best friend…and I don't know what I need to do to make that happen."
Well, as of today, it might happen. Chicagoland sources who were at the taping of The Oprah Show starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for Baby Mama just wrote in to tell us this fantastic news:
According to members of the live audience, during a commercial break, Oprah said she had heard Tina wanted to be her best friend and asked whether Tina meant in real life or on the show. When Tina said "both!" Oprah said, "Have your people call my people."
Oprah then said that she was "definitely interested" and would love to appear on the show, to which Tina gestured to the people in the audience, to the effect of "You heard it!"
So…Tina Fey and Oprah Winfrey? Together? If this happened, I would never ask the TV gods for anything ever again, because…seriously! Best boost ever. If Britney can lift How I Met Your Mother's ratings by 1 million, just think what freaking Oprah could do for the Rock. (That said, can we get her on Friday Night Lights and Reaper, too?)
Now, click in to take our 30 Rock guest superstars poll, and post about your dream-come-true cameo-makers in the comments!
TV Press Tour '07: NBC's Clusterfrak of Funny
Hello, my friends. Korbi here, seriously geeking out at Press Tour, as NBC's comedy block panel just came to an end.
Digest this lineup: Scrubs' creator Bill Lawrence and Zach Braff, Office creator Greg Daniels and John Krasinski, 30 Rock's Lorne Michaels and Tina Fey and My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia accompanied by Jason Lee. Can I just say it was a clusterfrak of funny, and the burden of having to relay just how special the half hour was is a bit overwhelming.
I think Bill Lawrence expressed it best when he informed us of how honored he felt to be sitting up onstage with representatives from the three other shows: "[Compared to NBC comedy blocks past], this lineup is better. [Historically], it was a s–t sandwich, with three great shows and a big, giant piece of doo-doo right in the middle…like Caroline in the City [yup, he said it]…there's no weak link here."
And perhaps to further promote camaraderie among each of the shows, NBC is planning a green-themed Thursday night sometime later this season, in which each of our favorite comedies will attempt to encourage environmentally friendly behavior. John Krasinski's take on the whole idea? "We're a paper company. We're screwed."
All right, now for the news and random fodder. I think I'll tackle it show by show…
The Office: Rashida Jones, aka Karen Filippelli, will be back this fall. Greg Daniels and company were able to work out a deal where she’ll show up for at least an episode or two when The Office returns this fall.
Jenna is doing fine, though still recovering from her May injury, and will most definitely be sitting behind the reception desk at Dunder-Mifflin come September, but the producers may have to go easy on her the first few episodes. Says Daniels, “Luckily, Pam sits a lot on the show.”
We’ve seen the last of David Denman, aka Roy, for the time being, since he’s been fired and is no longer dating Pam. However, he’s not dead and, according to Greg, could return at any time.
We will see more of Ryan this season! There will be great stuff between Michael and Ryan now that Ryan’s the boss. But sadly for Kelly, things between her and Ryan are not going well.
Jan really is moving into Michael’s condo, and when I asked if she’ll be wearing stretch pants, Greg Daniels was kind enough to confirm.
The hourlong episodes (announced earlier this year) will be the first four of the season, probably because Scrubs won’t be on yet.
The season-three DVD drops Sept. 4, and Daniels says they overproduce so much, there will be about five or six hours of extras on it.
30 Rock: After moving through the initial season, Tina Fey says they've learned a lot about the tone of the show. They want the characters to be believable enough that you're able to actually care about them, but at the same time still able to do crazy jokes with them: "I think you can make [Jack and Tracy] big, but it's probably better if, at some point, you believe they're actual human beings."
Speaking of Jack, Alec Baldwin will be back on the show, despite Tina insisting she's never actually met the man. According to Lorne Michaels, the reports of his possible departure are false: "He's brilliant on the show. I think he loves the show. He'll be back."
Tina said she's tremendously excited to have Jerry Seinfeld joining them for the season premiere: "Maybe people in America will actually watch it, even if it's just for that one time."
How has her life changed since jumping from head writer on Saturday Night Live to head writer and actress on 30 Rock? "The biggest change is working the day shift instead of the night shift. Going to work at 5 a.m., instead of getting home at 5 a.m., took some getting used to. But I would rather shoot a scene for seven hours where I'm pretending to write a sketch than actually have to write a sketch!"
The biggest difference between Tina and her TV counterpart, Liz Lemon? Apparently, Liz's jugs are bigger.
Regarding Studio 60, if Tina had been told a year ago that only one behind-the-scenes-of-SNL-type show would get a second season, she'd have been 100 percent sure it was 30 Rock: "I have a nasty SNL competitive streak." Lorne Michaels concurred, "She really does."
The season-one DVD will be available Sept. 4. Tina has listened to the first 15 minutes of Tracy Morgan's commentary and insists there is no evidence he's ever watched the show.
Scrubs: According to Bill Lawrence, he believes this is the year Scrubs becomes a big hit: “We always really geared the show to peak in its seventh year.” Yes, that joke got big laughs.
Regarding the possibility of J.D. and Elliott ending up together, Lawrence says the relationship between those two is not a Sam-and-Diane, will-they-or-won’t-they sort of thing. However, he felt it was a good way to end the season, with two dysfunctional people screwing up their respective relationships. As far as whether or not the two characters belong together, Bill said he does keep up with Scrubs' passionate online fan base and, as cheesy as it might sound, will strive to give them the ending they desire when the series finale rolls around later this season.
As far as the decision to end the show on NBC rather than moving to ABC for its final year, Bill said it really wasn’t a difficult choice. He was clearly appreciative of ABC president Steve McPherson’s guarantee to pick Scrubs up if NBC had opted to cancel it. Apparently, ABC did offer an extra four eps (NBC will produce an 18-episode final season as opposed to the usual 22), but Bill shared that they really wanted to finish the show’s run where they began.
Zach is looking forward to the final season: “There’s something really exciting about saying ‘Okay, there are 18 more.’ I think it will reinvigorate [the cast and crew]. We’ve had pretty much the same crew since the beginning, and as cliché as it might sound, it really is a family. [It’s really nice to be] going out with a bang, and going out the way Bill wanted to.”
My Name Is Earl: Regarding the changes the show underwent from the more formulaic episodes in season one to more serial type storylines in season two, Greg Garcia said they were certainly looking for more flexibility going into the second year. They decided to tell some stories that would play out throughout the year. Earl ending up in prison is one of those stories, and yes, he’s in prison for a while this fall: “We’re very fortunate that Earl has a past where he happens to know a lot of people in prison. There are people in there on his [to do] list…” Of course, the list will always exist; however, they’ll be looking to move the action forward in other ways, including flashbacks.
Is Jason Lee afraid of what might happen to Earl in prison? Well, Garcia said there are a few scripts he hasn’t yet shown to Jason…