Archive for November, 2009

World Series scores again in ratings

Fox was the overall leader in the ratings game during October because of 2 huge sports events. According to time zone-adjusted figures from Nielsen, Game 4 of Yankees vs. Phillies netted in an average of 22.8 million viewers overall. Compared to last year’s Game 4 between the Phillies and Rays, that’s a big jump of 47% in viewers. The World Series game was telecast after the NFL’s Vikings vs. Packers game which itself had 33 million viewers during the opening half hour. The postgame football show “The OT” also had great success with 18.2 million viewers

ABC came in 2nd overall largely because of the hit series “Desperate Housewives”, which had 13.8 million viewers. “Brothers & Sisters” was the 2nd hit for ABC with 9.4 million viewers, followed by “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” with 10.8 million viewers and the ever popular “America’s Funniest Home Videos” which was down in ratings but still held the 4th spot in ABC with 7.8 million viewers overall.
“Amazing race” and “60 minutes” were the winners for CBS which held 3rd place on Sunday. “Amazing race” raked in 11.1 million viewers overall, while “60 minutes” which ran against the big sports on Fox did a decent job bringing in 12.3 million viewers. However the dramas “Three rivers” and “Cold case” only managed 7.7 million and 8.6 million viewers respectively.
NBC lagged behind in fourth place, largely because of its popular “Sunday night football” taking a break because of the World Series. “Football Night in America” could manage only 2.6 million viewers and even the movie “National Treasure” drummed up only 4.6 million viewers.

Masterchef coming to Fox

A culinary ‘American Idol‘ is set to hit the United States. Masterchef, starring Gordon Ramsay will feature nonprofessional cooks who will compete to create that perfect dish. Ramsay will co-produce the show through his domestic banner. Production is due to begin soon, with Fox expected to order close to 12-15 hour-long segments of the show. Fox has so far only confirmed that it had sealed the deal with Reveille, but has declined to comment on other details.


Several manifestations of the MasterChef format have aired in the UK, with the oldest one dating back to 1990. The Australian edition is by far the most popular, with its finale one of the country’s most-watched program in a decade.

Howard T. Owens, Executive Producer, Reveille said, “This is a huge, nationwide search for the best amateur cook in America. It is about people who are lawyers, construction workers and stay-at-home moms, but whose real passion is to make great food. This is their shot to prove they have what it takes.”

Fox’s MasterChef is expected to closely follow the format of its Australian counterpart, with each season seeing a contestant create a dish for the panel of three judges to earn their respective spots in the semi-finals. The remainder of the contestants meanwhile compete for the rest of the weeks on team-based challenges.

The show is yet to be scheduled and tentative plans at Fox include a late spring edition of Hell’s Kitchen, which will go into summer, and then will be followed by the unveiling of MasterChef.

Kirstie Alley to go unscripted for A&E

Kirstie Alley has landed herself with an unscripted show for A&E. Set to walk into reality television for the first time; Alley has ten half hour episodes on A&E. The show, produced by FremantleMedia North America remains an untitled series.

The reality show will follow Alley as she struggles with weight loss and handles life as a single mom to two teenagers in Hollywood.
Robert Sharenow, VP, Nonfiction/Alternative Programming Senior, A&E says, “Kirstie is exactly the kind of star A&E is drawn to. Her personal life has been playing out in the media for years, but this will be the first time she’ll be opening up her home to reveal her real life for the cameras.”

Weight has always been an issue with Alley and has landed her a few parts on TV. She played a version of herself in Showtime’s ‘Fat Actress’ in 2005, which was a party improvised series loosely based on her weight loss struggles and tries at finding work in Hollywood.
The untitled Alley show will see the star prepare to launch a weight loss program. Apart from this new show, Alley is also amid “producing a feature film, patenting multiple inventions, working hard to raise two normal Hollywood teenagers, taking care of eight ringtail lemurs and, on top of everything, looking for love,” according to A&E.
The new show on A&E will be produced by George Moll and Alley; Sharenow and Colleen Conway will come on board as executive producers for A&E.

TNT picks up Southland

Southland, NBC cop drama will get a new lease of life by TNT. This means, starting from January 12, 2010, Southland will air on TNT on Tuesdays at 10pm – keeping in line with the original time slot. This 10pm slot means Southland will also be competing for viewership with the franchise that pushed it off NBC: The Jay Leno Show.

The pickup of the discarded NBC show is part of TNT positioning, which is to expand its original programming strategy as opposed to broadcast webs. Turner programming topper Michael Wright said Southland fit squarely into the channel’s drama-centric brand. Thus, TNT will start its run of Southland with the seven episodes that ran the previous season on the Peacock, followed by airing of the other six episodes produced for NBC.

Based on the response received during this run, if TNT decides to put Southland back into production, the cable company will pay Warner Brothers $1.4-1.5 million an episode.

“After the first few weeks, we’ll know” whether TNT is picking up new episodes, he said. “We won’t belabor it… We enjoy a good relationship with talent. The last thing we want to do is abuse that.”

Ben McKenzie stars in Southand as a rookie cop assigned to a vet on the force played by Michael Cudlitz. Other stars in the series include Regina King, Tom Everett Scott, Michael McGrady, Kevin Alejandro, Shawn Hatosy and Arija Bareikis. TNT changes to the existing episodes will not be much, but they did confirm that they would let some expletives remain uncensored.

Rhys-Meyers set to age in the Tudors

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, in the final season of The Tudors on Showtime will appear as the older, more debauched Henry VIII. Following much debate on the topic, Jonathan finally consented to ‘some aging’. Initially, most considered him to be an unlikely choice to play Henry VIII, however, it proved to be a brilliant choice.

Named after the Tudor dynasty, the Michael Hirst creation is an Irish produced historical fictional television series. The fourth and final season of The Tudors story line follows the winter of his (Henry VIII) life that consisted of him cheating on his last two wives; Catherine Howard and Catherine Par.

Written by Michael Hirst himself, the final ten episodes will air during the spring of 2010. Jonathan, in 2008, won an award for the Best Performance by an Actor – Drama at the Monte Carlo Television Festival Golden Nymph Awards.

An actor and model, Jonathan, aside from the Tudors, is famous for his role in the Velvet Goldmine. Speaking about playing the role of Henry VIII, Jonathan said that while he was in love with this character, he did not like his diet. Speaking on the Tudor diet, he said, “They would take a chicken, tear the top off, giblets on the top, and they would take giblets from the bottom, they would take the throat, and the head, and the feet, and they would clip the wings, and they would cook those. The breast would go to the poor.”

‘Ghost’ duo set dramas for ABC

Ian Sander and Kim Moses are gratified by ABC’s response to them, as the Alphabet approved three of their projects for development. “At a time when everyone in TV is having to deal with adjustments, we’re fortunate to be able work with some wonderful writers on these really interesting ideas,” Moses said. The three projects revolve around strong female characters that have unusual occupations. This common thread reflects the interest of married duo Sander and Moses, who want to explore the evolution of the roles of women in the workplace. “These shows reflect the way in which our culture has changed and continues to change,” said Sander.

“Jane and Dick”, set in an all-female firm is a legal drama. The story revolves around a woman who is about to get married and inherit her father’s firm, when her ex-boyfriend from her teenage years re-enters her life. Author Jennifer Weiner (“In Her Shoes”) is co-writing the pilot with Michael Reisz (“Boston Legal”). “Police Surgeon” is about a female police officer who is also a surgeon, “We’ll save lives and solve crimes,” Sander said. The show is probably inspired by real life, as writer Lance Gentile is also a practicing emergency room physician. Gentile has also worked with Sander and Moses on the latest “Ghost Whisperer” vidgame.

The third project is titled “Ghost World,” which is only natural, considering the longstanding interest the executive producers have in supernatural themes. The story is about a male ghost who helps a female homicide officer in Gotham to solve her cases. Through his actions the ghost hopes to find clues to his own life and death. Sander and Moses are seasoned Executive Producers and Directors; the hit show “Ghost Whisperer” is one of their biggest successes.

Channel 4, BBCW deal fails to fly

The deal between Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide seems doomed after Andy Duncan, the outgoing CEO of U.K. web Channel 4, abandoned his hopes and threw in the towel. “The BBC struggles to be a good partner and is a very complicated organization. It’s naturally an empire that likes to do everything itself and control things. Whereas Channel 4 is naturally a very good partner,” he said to the media. “We are hopeful that some smaller deals can be struck with Worldwide, but I think any progress will now happen next year, when a new chief executive and chairman of Channel 4 have been installed.”

Regulator Ofcom will appoint a Chairman this week to replace U.K. entrepreneur Luke Johnson. The new Chairman’s top priority will be to find a successor to Duncan. Among the potentials are the head of UKTV David Abraham, Warner Bros. U.K. topper Josh Berger and the former head of Discovery Channel Jane Root.

Duncan was convinced that a joint venture between digital services E4 and the UKTV channels would secure Channel 4’s future. The failure in negotiations means new management at Channel 4’s will be forced to look at cost cutting measures and also come up with a viable commercial strategy that will safeguard their reputation for creative innovation. Channel 4’s program portfolio, however, is generally regarded as healthy and as such offers some hope.

Andy Duncan is well known for his lengthy battle to win a public subsidy for the hybrid pubcaster, which also failed.