Skip to main content

GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK: January 26, 2013

GOOD WEEK: "THE FOLLOWING"
FOX has had a real rough fall especially with its new shows - The Mob Doctor and Ben and Kate have been cancelled while The Mindy Project has been a huge disappointment. FOX has very little on the bench so its last best hope is The Following. So far, so good after a strong Monday premiere that gave FOX some hope for the future. Now of course the 3.1 demo premiere is similar to last year's failed Terra Nova and Alcatraz, but the show has had real positive feedback. The best sign to me is that it held up well over the hour which means it didn't turn off viewers with the gore and spookiness. FOX is running it for 15 weeks straight and the competition isn't any tougher until The Voice and Dancing with the Stars return in late March. 

BAD WEEK: TUESDAY COMEDIES
Heading into the season, there was a lot of talk about how much comedy there was on Tuesday night including a logjam at 9pm. Now several months in, the results are not good. ABC's adult 9pm block has tanked with Happy Endings struggling and Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 yanked this week. NBC was doing well until The Voice ended and now Go On and The New Normal have been in freefall, plunging to new lows. FOX's sitcom block has struggled mightily with Ben and Kate cancelled and New Girl being the only show that can break a 2.0 demo. Tuesdays seem like a wasteland for broadcast TV out of the NCIS twins on CBS and it looks like comedy is not the answer.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

SEASON IN REVIEW: 2017-18 Miscellaneous Awards

As usual, I am ending the season with a few miscellaneous awards. The blog will be quiet this summer but I will continue to do the week ahead posts with broadcast TV news as it happens this summer. Then I'll be back for previews, pilot reviews, and more in the fall! BEST RETURNING COMEDY Superstore (NBC) - Superstore was awarded my "Best Returning Comedy" last year, but it only got better in season three. The funniest ensemble on TV took another step forward with some truly hilarious moments (the season premiere, the Golden Globes party, and the Christmas episode to name a few) and some major plot points moving forward. It also has the potential to be surprisingly sentimental at times. I think back to the first year of the show and how I felt like it had so many funny elements but didn't always bring it completely together. Well now it does on a weekly basis and it is one of those shows that just seems to be in the sweet spot of what will hopefully be a long run. ...

EPISODE GUIDES: Happy Days Season Five (Part 1)

On Thursdays, I take a detailed and critical look at a TV show by season. Today I am looking at Season 5 (Part 1) of  Happy Days ! HAPPY DAYS: SEASON FIVE 1977-1978 27 episodes Season Five is the year where Fonzie infamously jumps the shark. It happens at the beginning of the season and while  Happy Days  does eventually decline in quality, it is not this season. In fact, this season graded out slightly higher than the previous season even though it doesn't feel as strong. I think that's because there's not a lot of outright stinkers in this season. It's a very solid season with the show continuing to hum along. There are some signs of the troubles to come but it doesn't happen on a regular basis in the fifth season. Starring Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham  (27 episodes) Henry Winkler as Arthur Fonzarelli  (27 episodes) Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham  (27 episodes) Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham  (27 episodes) Anson Williams as Potsie Webber  ...

EPISODE GUIDES: That 70s Show Season Seven

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Seven of  That 70s Show ! THAT 70s SHOW: SEASON SEVEN 2004-2005 25 episodes The seventh season of  That 70s Show  is the final season with Topher Grace as a series regular and also the final full season for Ashton Kutcher. Despite still having both of those cast member, the show finds itself flailing especially with Topher Grace's Eric, who is stuck in a terrible arc for most of the season. The show also brings many characters back at one point or another but everything just feels tired. This season actually graded out the worst for me. Even worse than the often maligned final season (more on that next week). Every title this season is named for a Rolling Stones song. Starring Topher Grace as Eric Forman  (25 episodes) Mila Kunis as Jackie Burkhart  (25 episodes) Ashton Kutcher as Michael Kelso  (25 episodes) Danny Masterson as Steven Hyde  (25 e...