Will ‘Lost’ Get Canned?
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Lost, Ratings, Renewals,
I’ve been reading too much doom-and-gloom about the falling ratings that Lost has been experiencing. Many are predicting that the series won’t last much longer because less people are watching these days. I would love to know why people aren’t tuning in anymore. Is it the sheer frustration that some questions get answered while creating new questions… with still so many unsolved mysteries? To me, that just keeps me tuning in for more. There’s a lot of confusing information, but it’s heading somewhere. And don’t viewers want to be there in the end, when all of the information we’ve been presented with clicks into place?
This latest article, posted on Yahoo, predicts that Lost may be “killed off before its time.” Marc Berman, a TV analyst for Media Week Online, says that “Lost is the tragedy of the season.” He adds that ABC “really prematurely put the nail in the coffin. It’s too late to save it.” Ratings have gone from over 20 million in the beginning, to just 12.8 million for this week’s show. That is a significant drop, to be sure… but come on, there are so many sub-par shows out there that keep getting renewed. Are we to believe that viewership for these shows is stellar, or is Lost just too dang expensive to keep producing if the ratings don’t support it? Berman is predicting that the show will be back for one more season, but doesn’t expect it to go beyond that. Other reasons for the slip in ratings—the new 10:00 p.m. time, without a strong lead-in, and the break between “mini-seasons” that caused the series to lose momentum.
Read More 
| Yahoo! News
Gallery: Will ‘Lost’ Get Canned?
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‘Identity’ Game Show Returns in March
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Games, Prime Time, NBC, Ratings, Renewals,
Remember that new game show, Identity, with Penn Jillette? It only aired for a week, then seemed to vanish into oblivion. If you’ve been missing it, fear not—it returns to the schedule in March. The week it aired earned decent ratings, debuting with 12.3 million viewers on December 18th. Overall, the show averaged 9.3 million viewers during the week. Good enough to bring it back, it seems. Identity will return to the roster on Friday, March 16th at 9:00 p.m. Subsequent weeks, it will air on Fridays at 8:00 p.m., replacing 1 vs. 100. If you didn’t catch the show, it’s basically a game of first-impressions and stereotypes. Contestants must identify which of 12 strangers fits a certain trait—the episode I saw had contestants determining the occupation of each person. The prize for correctly matching the trait with each person is $500,000. Eh, not a thrilling show, but Penn makes it entertaining and it could easily become a guilty pleasure.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: ‘Identity’ Game Show Returns in March
Sarah Silverman Program Gets Renewed
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, Cable, Cable/Satellite, Ratings, Renewals,
I just reported last week about the phenomenal ratings that the new Comedy Central show, The Sarah Silverman Program enjoyed. Unbelievable enough, after just two episodes, the comedy network ordered a second season. Comedy Central announced today that the second season will include fourteen episodes total, seven of which will air in the fall. The two episodes that have aired drew an average of 1.7 million viewers, with a timeslot win for 10:30 - 11:00 p.m for men ages 18-24. With solid numbers, the network couldn’t pass it up. Lauren Corrao, Comedy Central’s executive vice president for original programming and development said of the renewal, “The exceptional critical acclaim combined with the fantastic ratings has created a new Thursday night destination for our viewers. The show is smart, innovative, irreverent and politically incorrect—that, to me, is the purest example of a Comedy Central success.”
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: Sarah Silverman Program Gets Renewed
Last Comic Standing Continues for Another Season
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, Reality, NBC, Renewals,
NBC announced that a fifth season of the stand-up talent show, Last Comic Standing, will air this summer. Thankfully, last season’s host, Anthony Clark, has been replaced. I don’t have anything against Clark, but he didn’t seem to add much to the show and had a frightful amount of makeup on. This go-around will have comedian Bill Bellamy taking on the hosting duties, plus the show goes international. So, no longer will auditions be held solely in American cities—we’ll also see what kind of comedy chops there are during auditions in London, Sydney, and Montreal. Former Last Comic Standing contestants, Alonzo Bodden, Kathleen Madigan, and Ant will be on hand to scout out talent in the audition cities. No word yet on when exactly the series will air or if the contestants will be living together.
Read More | Yahoo! News
Gallery: Last Comic Standing Continues for Another Season
Bring it on Julie Chen! Yep, the eighth installment of Big Brother has been given the greenlight. While I’ve grown a bit tired of the series, due largely to the dud that was the All-Stars edition, I still think this show can be fun. With the promise of a fresh cast and a silly reality show that airs in the middle of the summer doldrums, Big Brother proves a nice diversion from the other summer programming. Will viewers tune in though? If they’re like me, probably not. My biggest beef with this show is the amount of time it consumes. You have to watch it when it airs 2 or 3 nights, plus, if you’re geeky like me, you suck up half of your life looking for recaps of the live feeds. Don’t get me wrong, I do have a life! So, you know the drill, contestants sharing a house and voting off someone each week, all while their every move is caught on camera. More details to come as summer approaches.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: Big Brother 8 Announced
ABC Renews Three Reality Programs
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Prime Time, Reality, ABC, Renewals,
Three ABC reality programs have been picked up for additional seasons—maybe one of your favorites was among the bunch?
First, America’s Funniest Home Videos will be making another return for, get this, its eighteenth season. Unbelievable that it’s been on so long. And even more unbelievable to me—how people getting hit in the crotch passes for a funny video? I don’t know about you, but I always feel bad for the people who are hurt. But hey, if you’ve got a shot at earning money for your pain, why not go for it?
Wife Swap will also return, marking its fourth season. This show is so strange to me because I don’t know why anyone would want to switch and play mommy to another family. Call me crazy. Especially since some of the families on this show are nuts.
Supernanny also returns for a fourth season, and, of the lot of these renewals, this is the one I really enjoy. The nanny on this show has heaps of credibility, mainly because of her accent. I mean, did you see Mary Poppins? Jo Frost (pictured right) has got the nanny air about her. Seriously though, she seems to have the touch and I often wonder what kind of nanny miracles she could work on my rambunctious kids.
Read More | AOL News
Gallery: ABC Renews Three Reality Programs
Hargitay and Meloni Extend SVU Contracts
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, NBC, Renewals,
Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni, stars of the hit NBC series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, have just extended their contracts for two more years. This comes after weeks of negotiations and some speculation that the series would go on without the star power of Hargitay and Meloni. The two will continue on the drama through 2009. The show’s creator, Dick Wolf, has made no announcements about the dollar amount of the deal, but it has been reported that each could be earning more than $6.5 million annually. Hargitay is joining the big leagues, with an estimated $300,000 to $340,000 per episode, putting her in the range of Kyra Sedgwick, who was recently named as one of the top paid female television stars. Creator Dick Wolf said of the agreement, “I’m thrilled that Chris and Mariska have decided to stay with a show that they’ve made an indelible stamp upon, as we move into our ninth season.” Both have been with the series since it started in 1999.
Read More | Yahoo! News
Gallery: Hargitay and Meloni Extend SVU Contracts
CBS Greenlights Another Year of Survivor
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Prime Time, Reality, CBS, Survivor, Renewals,
CBS announced that Survivor will go on at least for another year. And why not? The reality show competition, where contestants use their survival instincts for a shot at a million dollars is a ratings winner. With an upcoming 14th season airing soon, Survivor still manages to bring it. The additional year will have two more back-to-back seasons in store, marking seasons 15 and 16. Survivor: Cook Islands, the latest season to air, did well with 15.75 million viewers. That’s big business considering the popularity of their competitor, the freshman hit Ugly Betty. There has been no announcement yet about what the next two seasons will have in store or where they will be located. You can be certain there will be some new twists up Mark Burnett’s sleeve though, I’m sure. “Survivor: Fiji” starts on February 8.
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Gallery: CBS Greenlights Another Year of Survivor
Rachael Ray’s Show Renewed Through 2010
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Daytime, Food & Home, Talk Shows, Syndication, Ratings, Renewals,
Brace yourselves… we’ve got two more seasons of Rachael Ray-isms to endure. Her daytime gabfest has been extended through the 2009-2010 season. Don’t get me wrong, I love her recipes and can sorta stomach her 30 Minute Meals program on the Food Network. An hour of her talk show Rachael Ray is just way too much to endure though. Her personality seems over the top—maybe it is genuine, but there is just too much hyper energy behind it for me to stick through an entire hour of her show. Folks love her though—she really appeals to the masses and she’s the polar opposite of stuffy Martha Stewart. Her show is the top new syndicated show of the season, so she certainly has a following. Roger King, CEO at CBS Television Distribution, said of the renewal, “It’s clear that Rachael’s devoted fans are happy to welcome her into their living rooms every day and the positive response from our affiliate stations has been tremendous. We look forward to many more years of fantastic shows from Rachael and the show’s talented creative team.” Can she keep the energy up for a couple more seasons? My money says yes, and then some.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: Rachael Ray’s Show Renewed Through 2010
Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune Through 2012
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Games, Syndication, Ratings, Renewals,
Wow, here are two shows that have legs. I mean, I can remember both of these when I was a kid, and that was ages ago! Seriously though, both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune have been around since the mid-70s and this latest announcement proves that the shows’ concepts translate through the years. The renewal will take both game shows through 2012, with CBS Television Distribution giving each a two-year extension of their current deal. At the end of it all, Wheel will have run 29 years on the air, with Jeopardy! trailing closely behind at 28 years. Harry Friedman, the shows’ executive producer through Sony Pictures TV, said “With these unprecedented renewals, we will continue to infuse our classic games with energy and originality through 2012 and beyond.” Who can go wrong with the colossal viewership of both shows—Wheel averages more than 46 million per week; Jeopardy! comes in at 37 million per week.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune Through 2012
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