Hugh Laurie in House by Isabella Vosmikova/Fox
ADDENDUM: Veronica Mars drew 3.3 mil in each of its last two season premieres, since many were asking.On this first "real" Tuesday of the new ratings season, as Dancing with the Stars' all-male revue averaged 18.34 million total viewers over its 90-minute run:8 pm/ETNCIS' shinier, happier backstage mood paid off on-screen, as it (13.65 mil) outperformed last year's premiere by 530 thou. Bones (8.25 mil) was down 16 percent versus its own previous opener. With three mil, Beauty and the Geek kissed off about 340K week-to-week.9 pm House's season premiere fared a hair better than last year's, with 18.13 mil. (What's more, it did better in key demos than the older-skewing DWTS and was Fox's highest-rated drama premiere in nearly seven years.) The Unit (10.73 mil) recruited 1.4 mil fewer than last fall. The arrival of the CW's Reaper (3.22 mil) improved upon its Geek lead-in.10 pmSVU topped the hour with 12.1 mil, albeit a 16 percent premiere-to-premiere plunge. Cane got some sugar from ...
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Jericho box art courtesy Paramount Home Video
Jericho: The First Season arrives on DVD Oct. 2 in a six-disc, 22-episode set. My copy came packed with (real, not styrofoam) peanuts; yours, probably not.... Tuesday's premiere of CBS' Cane will be fully sponsored by Chevrolet and thus feature limited commercial breaks.... Season 2 of Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks premieres on Adult Swim Oct. 8 at 11:30 pm/ET.... Charles Durning will receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award when the 14th Annual SAG Awards are presented on Jan. 27, 2008.... From Oct. 2 to Nov. 7, Starbucks will give away a total of 50 million free "Song of the Day" downloads, starting with Bob Dylan's "Joker Man," to promote a new iTunes wireless service.
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Cane print ad courtesy CBS
CBS has created for its freshman series Cane a "first-of-its-kind" print ad that tastes like a nonalcoholic lime mojito. The ad, appearing in the issue of Rolling Stone on newsstands Sept. 7, promotes the fictional Duque Rum brand featured in the family-centered drama by way of a tamper-proof packet containing a lime-mojito-flavored dissolving taste strip.The two-page ad also directs readers to LuciaDuqueRum.com, a website created for the series and where details can be found on the search for "The Duque Rum Girl," who will be cast in an upcoming episode.Nonalcoholic or not, I'm betting that if you lick a few dozen of these ads, you'll get a nice buzz going.
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Question: Why did NBC move The Office so it now conflicts with Grey's Anatomy? I guess putting Scrubs after it might give that show the break it deserves. And now they put Cane opposite Boston Legal. I don't have TiVo, so I guess I have to dust off my VHS. Do they really want to weed out good (old) shows or jeopardize new ones? On another topic, what happened to Shark?
Answer: The move of The Office has nothing to do with giving Scrubs a break. This is Scrubs' final season, and nothing's going to make it a breakout hit. Actually, none of NBC's comedies on Thursday are runaway hits. The move probably has to do with giving 30 Rock a more protected slot at 8:30 pm/ET, between My Name Is Earl and The Office. The fact is that some good NBC comedy is going to have to go up against Grey's Anatomy and CSI, and The Office is arguably better suited, thematically and content-wise, for the later time period. And Cane vs. Boston Legal? CBS had to put something there, having basically vamped with
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Skeet Ulrich in Jericho by Robert Voets/CBS
Frankly, I was surprised and a bit dismayed that CBS didn’t have symbolic bowls of nuts in the room as the network launched its portion of the TCA press tour Wednesday morning. Which didn’t stop Jericho from dominating much of the conversation when CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler took the stage to introduce one of the more ambitious and controversial new lineups in CBS’ recent history.Tassler said she couldn’t go to a neighborhood camera store, or even a doctor’s office (where the doctor pulled a bag of peanuts out of his coat in reference to the fan campaign) without being reminded of the furor over Jericho's cancellation and subsequent renewal for seven episodes at mid-season. She says she went on message boards, read the e-mails, “and what you saw was a huge segment of the population that really felt they were not being counted, but more specifically, that they had a knowledge and an awareness of the show that was so detailed and so committe...
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Kid Nation by Monty Brinton/CBS
CBS' premiere-rollout plan is as follows, starting off with the reality series Kid Nation (which reportedly skirted child-labor laws by classifying the production as a "summer camp" and taking advantage of a loophole in New Mexico labor rules that has since been closed. Hey, at least these "campers" were able to dodge Paris and Nicole.) For scads of CBS press-tour goss — including the current spin on Criminal Minds/Mandy Patinkin — see the Ausiello Report.Wednesday, Sept. 198 pm/ET: Kid NationThursday, Sept. 208 pm: Survivor: ChinaSunday, Sept. 237 pm: 60 Minutes9 pm: Cold Case10 pm: SharkMonday, Sept. 248 pm: How I Met Your Mother8:30 pm: The Big Bang Theory 9 pm: Two and a Half Men9:30 pm: Rules of Engagement10 pm: CSI: MiamiTuesday, Sept. 258 pm: NCIS9 pm: The Unit10 pm: CaneWednesday, Sept. 269 pm: Criminal Minds10 pm: CSI: NYThursday, Sept. 279 pm: CSI10 pm: Without a TraceFriday, Sept. 288 pm: Ghost Whisperer9 pm: Moonlight10 pm: NumbersSaturday, Sept. 298-11 pm: Ass...
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It isn't enough for CBS to be the most-watched network. At the presentation of its new fall schedule, network execs announced they want their shows to be talked about, too.It's a new version of an old tune. For years, CBS has had the largest number of viewers, but many of them were old and not as desirable to advertisers. Recently, the network has gotten much more competitive for the 18-to-49-year-old crowd that Madison Avenue pays most for. Yet shows such as ABC's Ugly Betty get a lot more ink and watercooler chatter than the higher-rated Two and a Half Men or Survivor (CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler drove the point home to the audience at Carnegie Hall by citing how Betty's ratings have dropped 40 percent since its premiere).With a solid foundation of dependable hits, Tassler says this is the year she can afford to take a few programming risks to improve her share of buzz. Even if CBS' new shows fail, its regular program lineup will deliver ratings close to what it did t...
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3:46: CBS' Upfront starts in 15 minutes and I'm lost. Does anyone out there know how to get to Carnegie Hall!? Ba-dum-bum. 3:48: I've got an awesome seat right in the center. Some might say I have a birds-eye view of the stage. Ba-dum-bum.3:53: CBS is young and hip — and they've got a DJ spinning records in front of the stage to prove it!3:57: You haven't lived until you've heard CBS' NFL theme song remixed with "We Will Rock You."4:00: Showtime! Oooh, we're starting with a musical number! A reggae group is welcoming us with a song about the upfronts.4:05: Ladies and gentleman, make way for King Les Moonves!!4:10: "For the fifth year in a row, CBS is America's most watched network," Les proclaims. So humble, that one. 4:15: Moonves introduces a YouTube clip that a fan compiled featuring David Caruso's endless one-liners from CSI: Miami. Funny stuff.4:16: Someone in row 12 smuggled a freakin' laptop in here! No fair! She should be forced to Blackberry-blog like me! (It's not eas...
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CBS on Monday began tipping its hand, ordering several new shows.On the drama front, there is Cane, starring NYPD Blue alum Jimmy Smits as the head of a Latin-American family in the rum biz; Moonlight (FKA Twilight), starring Alex O'Loughlin as a P.I. who is, by the way, a vampire; Viva Laughlin, a Hugh Jackman-produced import of a BBC series, concerning a family man who dreams of opening a casino in Laughlin, Nevada; and Swingtown, an Ice Storm-esque look at couples swapping partners in the '70s.The laffer bound for the Eye is The Big Bang Theory, starring Roseanne's Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons as science geeks who befriend a party girl, (8 Simple Rules' Kaley Cuoco). CBS presents its full schedule on Wednesday. — Matt Webb Mitovich
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