GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK: October 4, 2014

GOOD WEEK: "THE VOICE"
We've gotten used to The Voice being one of TV's top shows in the past couple years. But when it premiered this season, it showed some serious sign of decline even with new judges Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams. The season premiere's 3.9 demo was down 23% from last fall's premiere. Then the Tuesday episode climbed to a 4.1 demo (down 12%). This week, Monday's episode had a 4.0 demo (down 14%) while Tuesday again climbed to a 4.1 (down just 8%). The trend is getting better for The Voice as it is holding up quite well. It may be past its peak, but it's not too far past it and audiences are responding well critically to the new judges.

BAD WEEK: NEW COMEDY BLOCKS
Launching a one hour comedy block with two new shows seems to be an exceedingly hard task for the networks. In fact, I can't think of a successful one in years but I can think of tons of quickly gone bomb blocks (Animal Practice/Guys with Kids, Go On/The New Normal). At best, I can think of instances where one show survived (The Goldbergs over Trophy Wife, Brooklyn Nine-Nine over Dads, Up All Night over Free Agents). This year's two combos look pretty pathetic and we might go 0 for 4 with the new shows. On Tuesday, ABC's Selfie and Manhattan Love Story had pretty anemic premieres then it went even worse for NBC on Thursday with Bad Judge and A to Z. Perhaps the problem is that none of those four shows are very good.

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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...

EPISODE GUIDES: Rhoda Season Five

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Five (the final season) of Rhoda ! RHODA: SEASON FIVE 1978 13 episodes Rhoda' s final season was a truncated one as the show was cancelled in December 1978 after only 13 episodes had been produced (and only nine had aired). This feels like a continuation from season four in many ways except with the ill-advised split between Ida and Martin (more on that below). While Rhoda has an occasional good moment and even a couple decent episodes, it is a show that seems so wildly different from season one and not in a good way. Rhoda could never figure out what it fully wanted to be and only made it four and a half seasons as a result. Starring Valerie Harper as Rhoda Morgenstern (13 episodes) Julie Kavner as Brenda Morgenstern (13 episodes) Ray Buktenica as Benny Goodwin (11 episodes) Kenneth McMillan as Jack Doyle (9 episodes) Nancy Wa...

SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1995-1996 Thursdays

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1995-96 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 10:00 Sep Charlie Grace The Monroes Various Programs Oct Murder One Nov Various Programs Dec Various Programs Thursday Night Movie Jan Feb World’s Funniest Videos Before They Were Stars! Mar Apr May NBC was the powerhouse on Thursday nights but ABC still gave it the old college try in the Fall of 1995 with a trio of new dramas that they hoped would help them cut into the Peacock's dominance. Headlining their night was Murder One , a high profile new show from Steven Bochco that received much of the network's attention before the season started. The series focused on one murder case for an entire season, whi...

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