Search Results for: “Vegas”

Record-Breaking Memorial Weekend 2013! ‘Fast & Furious 6′ Easy #1 With $36M Friday/$110M For Franchise Biggest; #2 ‘Hangover III’ $15.5M/$52M; #4 ‘Epic’ $10M/$44.2M

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 11:32pm PDTTags: Box Office, Epic, Fast & Furious 6, The Hangover Part III

Box Office Hangover Part IIIFRIDAY 11:30 PM, 6TH UPDATE: Summer 2013 keeps sizzling as huge grosses for the Top 6 movies add up to the biggest Memorial Day weekend and the biggest 4-day holiday weekend ever. (Numbers below.) That’s potentially $300+ million, easily beating 2011′s all-time Memorial Weekend record of $276M. Yowza! The easy #1 is Universal’s Fast & Furious 6 pulling ahead with $36M Friday (including Thursday late shows and Friday midnights) to target $110M for the holiday weekend from 3,658 domestic theaters. After 12 years, five films and more than $1.5 billion at the global box office, the sixth Fast & Furious installment successfully transitioned from street racing to heist action to terrorist plot and will be the franchise’s biggest opening by far. Audiences gave it an ‘A’ CinemaScore which will help word of mouth. Universal claims the cost of the movie is $160M. F&F6 debuted in 2,409 North American theaters for Thursday 10 PM late shows and Friday midnights and made $6.5M which speeded past Fast 5‘s $3.8M late show grosses from an uncrowded April 29, 2011. It debuts day and date in 59 total international territories this weekend and already has $53.4M from 34 international markets, opening #1 in all of them as the franchise’s biggest. Another 25 territories release Friday. No studio has ever dared to keep changing the genre of a successful franchise – but chairman Adam Fogelson and co-chairman Donna Langley again hired Chris Morgan to freshen it yet again. Dwayne ‘The Rock’Johnson is back as a federal agent alongside Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and of course director Justin Lin (behind the camera for the 4th time) and longtime producer Neal Moritz. It also stars Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Elsa Pataky plus newcomers Luke Evans and Gina Carano.

The #2 film is Warner Bros’ The Hangover Part III co-financed with Legendary Pictures making $15.5M Friday after earning $11.7M for its Wednesday late shows/Thursday midnights. As the only R-rated comedy, it’s aiming for a $52M Memorial Weekend from 3,555 North American theaters and $63.5M cume over 5 1/2 days. Studio claims the cost was $103M. Pic’s $11.7 million start for Wednesday late shows and Thursday midnights was miniscule compared to H2‘s April 2011 Thursday opening of $31.6M - the highest-grossing opening day ever for a live-action comedy. Audiences only gave The Hangover Part III a ‘B’ CinemaScore compared to the ‘A-’ which the sequel scored. Reviews were only 26% positive on Rotten Tomatoes compared to H2‘s 34% which was considered embarrassingly awful. (By contrast, both F&F6 and Epic both scored 70+% positive RT reviews.) But worldwide moviegoers really like this mindless summer crap. Internationally, the comedy is taking off in only 3 markets this weekend – the UK, Australia and New Zealand with strong early numbers. Next weekend H3 opens in 32 markets, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil. Memorial Weekend wouldn’t have been so crowded if either Warner Bros (who came late and then moved from a Friday to Thursday wide release) or Universal (who tagged it from the beginning) blinked. “But they just stared each other down as they both were driving off a cliff,” one rival studio exec says. Strange because the weekend of May 31st stayed open until Will Smith’s After Earth grabbed it. H3 is positioned as ”the epic conclusion to the trilogy of mayhem and bad decisions” and ”fans have to see how the most popular comedy franchise of all time ends”. Director Todd Phillips returns Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms and nemesis Ken Jeong to Las Vegas where it all began.

And #4 right now is Twentieth Century Fox/Blue Sky Studios’ 3D toon Epic which is looking at $10M Friday and expecting $44.2M in 3,882 U.S. and Canadian locations for Memorial Weekend.That’s about par for the course for original content animated films in a very competitive environment. (Opening weekends for recent comps range from $37M-$39M. This may pop since audiences gave it an ‘A’ CinemaScore which will help word of mouth. Sibling of the hit Ice Age and Rio franchises looks more earnest and less fun but benefits greatly from what has been a drought of family fare since March when The Croodsopened. Fox claims cost was $93M for this Chris Wedge-directed animated actioner with screenplay credited to James V. Hart & William Joyce, Dan Shere, and Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember. Producers were Lori Forte and Jerry Davis. Beyoncé was the cast ‘get’ plus Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler. Blake Anderson, and Judah Friedlander. Epic began its $14.5M overseas rollout last weekend in only 16 markets - only 3 top – with 20 additional international territories opening this Memorial Weekend.

There are also 3 proven blockbusters still in the marketplace: Disney/Marvel’s Iron Man 3 in 3,424 theaters, Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s The Great Gatsby in 3,090 locations (which Friday crossed $100M domestic after only 14 days and is the first Baz Luhrmann film to do so), and Paramount/Skydance’s Star Trek In Darkness in 3,907 theaters.

Here’s the Top Six based on Friday estimates. Refined numbers in the morning:
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Full 2012-2013 TV Season Series Rankings

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 4:04pm PDTTags: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, NCIS, Sunday Night Football, the CW, TV Ratings

The 2012-2013 TV season is officially over and there were some top spot shifts among the series rankings from last year. While NBC’s Sunday Night Football remained No.1 among adults 18-49 spot, it was tackled by CBS’ NCIS in total viewership, with the latter squeaking out a win for the period from September 24, 2012-May 22, 2013. Still, NBC is hyping a viewership victory by counting all 19 telecasts of Sunday Night Football starting September 5 and the 21.5 million they pulled in on average compared to NCIS‘ 21.3 million. The network is citing Nielsen’s allowance to broadcasters to track ratings results from a show’s debut even if it occurs before the season starts. Sticking to the boundaries of the season, the 26 scheduled airings of NCIS beat the 14 regularly scheduled broadcasts of SNF in the 2012-2013 season by just under 350,000 viewers. (See comprehensive series ranking lists for the 2012-2013 season according to both total viewership and Adults 18-49 after the jump)

Related: 2012-2013 Season Network Rankings

Within the confines of the 2012-2013 season start and end dates, SNF was essentially the same in terms of viewership and ratings as last year. Coming off a strong 10th season, NCIS was up 10% in viewers and even in the ratings. Replaced by Big Bang Theory in the second spot among the 18-49s, the Wednesday airing of American Idol fell 25% from last season. Elementary, the now cancelled Vegas and The Following were the only new shows to make it into the Top 20 most watched series this season. NBC’s Revolution joined Fox’s Following as the only new shows to make it into the Top 20 shows among Adults 18-49. CBS’ Rules of Engagement was the highest rated show to be cancelled this year while Vegas was the most watched show to get the axe. Among the Big 4 networks, NBC’s Community was the lowest rated scripted show of the season to be renewed with CBS’ Undercover Boss as the lowest rated unscripted show of the season to be returning. The CW’s Nikita was the lowest-rated show overall to be coming back. Here are the full final rankings: Read More »

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2013-14 The CW New Series

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday May 22, 2013 @ 1:50pm PDT

2013-14 The CW New Series
Dramas

The Originals – Family is power. The Original Vampire family swore it to each other a thousand years ago. They pledged to remain together, always and forever. Now, centuries have passed and the bonds of family are broken. Time, tragedy and hunger for power have torn the Original Family apart. When Klaus Mikaelson, the original vampire-werewolf hybrid, receives a mysterious tip that a plot is brewing against him in the supernatural melting pot that is the French Quarter of New Orleans, he returns to the city his family helped build. Klaus’ questions lead him to a reunion with his diabolical former protégé, Marcel, a charismatic vampire who has total control over the human and supernatural inhabitants of New Orleans. Determined to help his brother find redemption, Elijah follows Klaus and soon learns that the werewolf Hayley has also come to the French Quarter searching for clues to her family history, and has fallen into the hands of a powerful witch named Sophie. Tensions between the town’s supernatural factions are nearing a breaking point as Marcel commands his devoted followers and rules with absolute power. For Klaus, the thought of answering to his powerful protégé is unthinkable, and he vows to reclaim what was once his – the power, the city and his family. While they wait to see if their sister Rebekah will leave Mystic Falls and join them, Klaus and Elijah form an uneasy alliance with the witches to … Read More »

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2013-14 ABC New Series

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday May 22, 2013 @ 1:20pm PDT

2013-14 ABC New Series

Dramas

Betrayal — A chance meeting between photographer Sara Hadley (Hannah Ware) and Attorney Jack McAllister (Stuart Townsend) leads to an instant and undeniable attraction. Sarah’s husband, Drew (Chris Johnson), is a successful prosecutor with political aspirations, while Jack is married to Elaine (Wendy Moniz), the daughter of his boss, Thacher Karsten (James Cromwell). When Karsten’s brother-in-law Lou is murdered, all evidence points to Karsten’s son, T.J. (Henry Thomas). Jack, the company’s lead counsel, will have to defend him, but for Sara’s prosecutor husband, Drew, this is the kind of high-profile murder case that can secure his political future. Just as Sara and Jack’s affair is starting, the lovers find themselves in an impossible situation — on opposite sides of a murder investigation. “Betrayal” stars Hannah Ware (“Shame,” “Boss”) as Sara, Stuart Townsend (“The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”) as Jack, James Cromwell (“Babe,” “American Horror Story”) as Thacher Karsten, Henry Thomas (“E.T.,” “Gangs of New York”) as T.J. Karsten, Chris Johnson (“The Vampire Diaries”) as Drew, Wendy Moniz (“Guiding Light,” “The Guardian”) as Elaine, Elizabeth McLaughlin (“The Clique”) as Val and Braeden Lamasters (“Men of a Certain Age”) as Vic. “Betrayal” was written by David Zabel (“ER”) and directed by Patty Jenkins (“The Killing,” “Monster”) and is executive-produced by David Zabel, Rob Golenberg (“Red Widow”) and Alon Aranya. “Betrayal” is produced by ABC Studios.

Killer Women — Of all the notorious lawmen who have ever patrolled the violent Texas frontier, none are more … Read More »

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Hammond On Cannes: Sun Comes Out As Parties, Deals And Movies Take Over Croisette

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday May 20, 2013 @ 4:31am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Dallas Buyers Club, Harvey Weinstein, Inside Llewyn Davis, Leslie Moonves, Paul Haggis, Tim Burton
Pete Hammond

The sun finally came back to a windy and rainy Cannes but the weather clearly couldn’t slow the nonstop parties, premieres, deals and hype for which this festival is famous. And despite the rain on Saturday the turnout for Lionsgate’s big Catching Fire bash was wall-to-wall at Baoli Beach, with everyone including star Jennifer Lawrence crowded into the large tent. One exec there actually was happy with the monsoon-like conditions. “The rain probably kept 30% of our RSVPs away which is probably good because i don’t know how we could have squeezed them in,” he said.

With everyone drying out Sunday there seemed to be even more party-hopping than usual. At the crowded Participant Films party at the Carlton, Focus Features CEO James Schamus was accepting congratulations on his re-upping at the company. I have rarely heard him wax more eloquently about a film than Focus’ recent pickup of The Dallas Buyers Club, the movie where Matthew McConaughey lost about 50 pounds to play an early AIDS victim. It’s not dated yet according to Schamus but is planned  for fall sometime. “It’s just a bloodbath trying to pick the right date in that period but this movie is extraordinary. I just so admire what Matthew has been doing with his career in the last couple of years between Magic Mike, Killer Joe, The Paperboy, Mud and now this. You know me, I don’t rave like this a lot, but he really knocks this one out of the park. It is the performance of a lifetime,”  he says of the actor in a film that is sure to be a main focus of Focus’ awards-season plans. Read More »

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Hot Trailer: CBS Films’ ‘Last Vegas’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 8:41am PDTTags: CBS Films, Last Vegas

Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline are headed to Sin City in CBS Films’ Last Vegas. The comedy sees the four pals hold a bachelor party for the last of the gang to remain single (Douglas). Mary Steenburgen, Jerry Ferrara, Romany Malco and Roger Bart also star. Jon Turteltaub directed the pic from an original screenplay by Dan Fogelman. The domestic release is set for November 1. Check out the teaser trailer:

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CW 2013-14 Schedule: ‘Hart Of Dixie’ & ‘Beauty And The Beast’ Move To Monday, ‘Supernatural’ To Tuesday, ‘Carrie Diaries’ To Friday, ‘Reign’ To Follow ‘Vampire Diaries’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday May 16, 2013 @ 6:00am PDTTags: the CW, Upfronts
Nellie Andreeva

The CW schedule features far more sweeping changes than any network this year. Like last fall, the CW is introducing three new series this fall — The Vampire Diaries spinoff The Originals, costume drama Reign and sci-fi drama The Tomorrow People — with three more series — dramas The 100; Star-Crossed; and reality show Famous In 12, from the TMZ team — on tap for midseason. For a second year in a row, the CW will hold its fall launches until October to avoid the blitz of new shows and allow for more uninterrupted originals. Here is the schedule, followed by analysis and descriptions of the CW’s new series:

Related: CW New Series First Looks: Video

CW FALL 2013-2014 SCHEDULE
(New programs in UPPER CASE; NN=New Night)

MONDAY
8-9 PM – Hart Of Dixie (NN)
9-10 PM – Beauty And The Beast (NN)

TUESDAY
8-9 PM – THE ORIGINALS
9-10 PM – Supernatural (NN)

WEDNESDAY
8-9 PM – Arrow
9-10 PM – THE TOMORROW PEOPLE

THURSDAY
8-9 PM – The Vampire Diaries
9-10 PM – REIGN

FRIDAY
8-9 PM – The Carrie Diaries (NN)
9-10 PM – America’s Next Top Model

The CW is shaking up its schedule big time, with changes on every night. In all, only the network’s two top series, The Vampire Diaries and Arrow, are staying put. They are being used to launch two of the CW’s highest-profile new series, the Mary, Queen of Scots drama Reign and the Greg Berlanti-Julie Plec produced futuristic The Tomorrow People. CW brass has high hopes for female-centered reign, so it opted to launch the series behind the network’s series with the highest concentration of female viewers, Vampire Diaries.

Related: ‘Nikita’ To End Run With Final Six-Episode Installment Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Debuts Down, ‘NCIS’ Finale Down, ‘The Voice’ Dips, ‘Wipeout’ Hits Series Low

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ 9:17am PDTTags: NCIS, New Girl, So You Think You Can Dance, The Voice, TV Ratings

There were a lot of moves on television last night and not just the five finales inprimetime. So You Think You Can Dance (1.9/6) was back for a 10th season with a first-time May sweep debut. Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy were joined by guest judge Jesse Tyler Ferguson of Modern Family as LA hopefuls auditioned and angled for a ticket to Las Vegas. The premiere stumbled 14% from last season’s debut on April 24, 2012 but was up 19% from Season 9’s finale on September 18. The other dance show of the night, ABC’s Dancing With The Stars (1.8/5), was up 6% from its results show from last week and was the third-most-watched show of the night with 11.59 million viewers.  Back on Fox, the season finales of comedies New Girl (2.1/6) and The Mindy Project (1.3/4) followed. The second-season ender of the Zooey Deschanel starrer was even with its May 7 show but down 25% from its May 8, 2012 Season 1 finale. The freshman finale of Mindy was also even with last week’s show. Over on ABC and moved to Tuesday, Wipeout (1.1/4) saw the second week of its latest season fall 15% from its May 9 premiere and tie a series low. At 10 PM, Body Of Proof (1.4/4) was even with last week’s show.

NCIS  (3.2/10) wrapped its 10th season Tuesday. The night’s most watched show with 18.16 million viewers was up a scant 3% from last week, and the powerhouse procedural was down 11% from last season’s finale. NCIS: LA (2.5/7) had a similar but slightly more exaggerated result: The spinoff was up 4% from its May 7 episode but fell 17% from its two-hour Season 3 finale last year on May 15, 2012. The now-cancelled Golden Boy (1.2/4) ended its tractionless freshman season, with a ratings drop and the loss of more than 6 million viewers from its lead-in summing up the police drama’s problems. The fact that last night’s show was flat with its May 7 airing to tie a Tuesday broadcast low does too. CBS won the night in total viewers with 12.870 million, while NBC took the top spot in adults 18-49. Read More »

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Cannes: Christoph Waltz Joins Robert De Niro & Jason Clarke In ‘The Candy Store’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 14, 2013 @ 2:53pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Christoph Waltz, Jason Clarke, Robert De Niro, The Candy Store

Los Angeles (May 14, 2013) – Two-time Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds) is joining two-time Academy Award®-winner Robert De Niro (the upcoming Last Vegas, Silver Linings Playbook, Raging Bull, The Godfather: Part II), Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, the upcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Omar Sy (The Intouchables, the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past) in Good Universe’s and Lionsgate’s THE CANDY STORE, a character-driven action thriller by Academy Award®-winning writer and director Stephen Gaghan (Traffic, Syriana).

Lionsgate will distribute in North America. Good Universe is handling international sales and presenting the film as part of their slate in Cannes.

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ABC 2013-14 Schedule: Rebel Wilson Gets Post-‘Modern Family’ Slot, ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ On Tuesday, ‘Dancing’ Shrinks To One Night

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 14, 2013 @ 9:00am PDTTags: ABC, Dancing With The Stars, Super Fun Night
Nellie Andreeva

ABC is launching eight new series in the fall and taking some big swings, including a Tuesday lineup of all-new series, anchored by Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Rebel Wilson’s hot streak continues, with the rising star landing the post-Modern Family slot for her comedy Super Fun Night. ABC is looking to stem Dancing With The Stars‘ ratings decline by eliminating the Tuesday edition, with the Monday 8-10 PM show incorporating both performances and results. Dancing, as well as The Bachelor, Shark Tank and The Taste have been formally renewed for next season. Here is ABC’s fall schedule, analysis and descriptions of all 13 new series for next season, including newly picked up adventure reality series The Quest from The Amazing Race creators Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri:

Related: ABC To Air Some Dramas In Two Batches Of 12 Episodes

ABC FALL 2013-2014 SCHEDULE
(New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8 PM – Dancing With The Stars
10 PM – Castle

TUESDAY
8 PM – MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
9 PM – THE GOLDBERGS
9:30 PM – TROPHY WIFE
10 PM – LUCKY 7

WEDNESDAY
8 PM – The Middle
8:30 PM – BACK IN THE GAME
9 PM – Modern Family
9:30 PM – SUPER FUN NIGHT
10 PM – Nashville

THURSDAY
8 PM – ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND
9 PM – Grey’s Anatomy
10 PM – Scandal

FRIDAY
8 PM – Last Man Standing
8:30 PM – The Neighbors
9 PM – Shark Tank
10 PM – 20/20

SATURDAY
8 PM – Saturday Night College Football

SUNDAY
7 PM – America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 PM – Once Upon A Time
9 PM – Revenge
10 PM – BETRAYAL

From ABC’s returning series, left off the schedule are comedy Suburgatory and reality series The Bachelor, which comes on in midseason, and The Taste.

Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘Now You See Me’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday May 13, 2013 @ 7:13pm PDTTags: Now You See Me, Summit Entertainment, Trailers

Four days after Summit released the first four minutes of its ensemble heist thriller Now You See Me, another trailer has hit the web. The newest look at Louis Leterrier’s first helming effort since Clash Of The Titans shows a group of Vegas illusionists pulling off a trick that leaves their audience in the money. Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman, Isla Fisher and Mark Ruffalo star in the pic that Lionsgate unleashes May 31:

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Tom Welling Suits Up For ‘Draft Day’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday May 13, 2013 @ 11:06am PDTTags: Draft Day, Tom Welling
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Welling has landed a role in Draft Day, the Lionsgate-Summit and Odd Lot Entertainment football movie starring Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner and Denis Leary among a starry cast and is being directed by Ivan Reitman. Reitman’s Montecito Pictures is producing. Welling will play Brian Drew, a veteran quarterback in the crossroads of his career, in the story about a Cleveland Browns GM (Costner) who attempts to trade up for the first pick in the NFL Draft and save football in the city. Welling, the former Smallville star repped by WME, just wrapped a supporting turn in the JFK pic Parkland, and this one has also began shooting including during the real NFL Draft last month.

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UPFRONTS 2013: The Big Comedy Reboot

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Saturday May 11, 2013 @ 2:46pm PDTTags: Comedy Pilots, TV Pilots
Nellie Andreeva

Clues had been coming in for the past couple of weeks. After last fall failed to produce a single breakout new comedy series, the networks stepped up their comedy development efforts. That resulted in a glut of hot comedy pilots that made network executives giddy. It was clear that, with the nets fawning over their comedy development, they would likely bet heavily on new half-hour series. But they went further — an almost complete redo of last season on the comedy side, as if it never happened. Out of 16 new comedies picked up last May, only one, Fox‘s The Mindy Project, has been renewed. Another one, ABC‘s The Neighbors, is expected to join it after a deal is completed. Compare that to 7 freshman half-hour series who made it to Year 2 last May.

So far, 19 new comedy series have been picked up for next season by the broadcast networks. One to two more will likely be added by Monday, with NBC‘s Craig Robinson and CBS‘ Friends with Better Lives among those talked about. (Fox’s To My Assistant and NBC’s Assistance also have a shot down the road after possible retool.)  Not surprisingly, NBC leads the pack with 6 half-hour series already ordered. With The Office leaving, NBC pretty much wiped the slate clean, only bringing back Parks & … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Undercover Boss’ Up Strong, ‘Blue Bloods’, Touch’ & ‘Fashion Star’ Finales Down, ABC Wins Friday Night

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday May 11, 2013 @ 10:20am PDTTags: Blue Bloods, Kitchen Nightmares, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Touch, TV Ratings

There were finales and there were finales on Friday. Some shows, like CBS’ Blue Bloods (1.1/4) and Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares (1.1/4) ended their season while others ended altogether when the network hammers dropped this week. After a cycle in which it consistently took in the most viewers for its night and had solid ratings, the renewed police family drama ended its third season last night as the most watched show of the night with 9.90 million viewers, but third among Adults 18-49 for its 10 PM time slot. Blue Bloods was down 15% from last week’s show and down the same percentage from the 1.3/4 that its season 2 finale received on May 11, 2012. Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares saw Gordon Ramsay in Arizona as the unscripted series wrapped up its sixth season on Friday. The series was even with its May 3 show and dipped 8% from its fifth season ender on March 30, 2012.

Kiefer Sutherland may be returning to Fox in a limited series version of 24 but his Touch (0.6/2) won’t. After two lackluster seasons in two separate time slots, the network pulled the life support this week. Up 14% in viewers from its May 2 show, last night’s season and now series finale was even with last week’s show. Compared to its Season 1 closer on May 31, 2012, this year’s Touch crashed down 54%.
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UPDATE: ABC Picks Up ‘Once Upon A Time’ Spinoff, ‘Mixology’, ‘The Returned’, ‘Killer Women’, ‘Lucky 7′, ‘Betrayal’, ‘Trophy Wife’, Cullen Bros, ‘Influence’, ‘The Goldbergs’, ‘Super Fun Night’, ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ To Series

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 10, 2013 @ 6:13pm PDTTags: ABC, Disney, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Rebel Wilson
Nellie Andreeva

When all was said and done tonight, ABC picked up a total of 12 new series — seven dramas and five comedies. All comedies are single-camera as ABC passed on both of its multi-camera pilots. Here is how it all came down today as the network opened the pickup process with one Disney-friendly shoo-in pilot, Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D., and closed it with another, the Once Upon A Time spinoff. Descriptions of all ABC series and first-look photos at the bottom of the post.
ABC’s Once Upon A Time is officially a franchise as the network just ordered spinoff Once Upon A Time In Wonderland to series, joining the original series, which also was renewed.

Also picked up at ABC are ensemble comedy Mixology, which had been heating up, drama The Returned, now called Resurrection, said to be one of Paul Lee’s favorite pilots, and female procedural Killer Women, executive produced by Sofia Vergara and Ben Silverman. The Malin Akerman starrer Trophy Wife also has gotten a series pickup.

It’s a great day for David Zabel, who just got a pickup call for both of his ABC pilots, dramas Lucky 7 and Betrayal.

Two more series pickups at ABC to two 20th TV pilots, the Cullen Bros. comedy starring James Caan and executive produced by Aaron Kaplan, titled Back In The Game, and the Steve Zahn-Christian Slater procedural Minds Games (formerly Influence).

Also getting a series pickup at ABC is comedy frontrunner Adam Goldberg, whose autobiographical 1980s dysfunctional family comedy is now called The Goldbergs. 

ABC wants to be in the Rebel Wilson business. The network’s first new comedy series pickup went to Wilson’s Super Fun Night. The pilot was not perfect, but with Wilson’s star rising so fast, the network couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have her on its air.

No surprise here — ABC’s first new series order for next season has gone to Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D., from The Avengers’ Joss Whedon. The network will air a first-look at the series, officially titled Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., during the season finale of Once Upon A Time on Sunday. This marks the first pilot and first series for Disney-owned Marvel on ABC.
Read More »

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SHOCKER: ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Gets Pass At CBS, Likely To Be Shopped Elsewhere

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 10, 2013 @ 5:50pm PDTTags: Beverly Hills Cop, CBS, Paramount, Primetime Pilot Panic
Nellie Andreeva

This has got to be one of the most surprising moves this season: I’ve learned that CBS has passed on the Beverly Hills Cop reboot from Shawn Ryan and Eddie Murphy. It is likely that the project, which had multiple suitors before landing at CBS in a bidding war last fall, will be shopped elsewhere. Beverly Hills Cop originally was produced by Sony TV. After it had already been picked up to pilot at CBS, Paramount – which is looking to enter the TV business — exercised an option to buy into the show, creating an odd pairing between former corporate siblings Paramount and CBS and making odd bedfellows of Les Moonves and Brad Grey. I hear the pilot, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, will likely be shopped to other networks. It stars Brandon T. Jackson as Axel Foley’s son and Murphy reprising his signature role as Axel.

Related: CBS’ ‘CSI: NY’, ‘Golden Boy’, ‘Vegas’, ‘Rules Of Engagement’ Cancelled

Related: CBS Picks Up ‘Crazy Ones’, Greg Garcia, ‘Mom’, Rob Greenberg, ‘Hostages’, ‘Intelligence’

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UPDATE: CBS’ ‘CSI: NY’, ‘Golden Boy’, ‘Vegas’, ‘Rules Of Engagement’ Cancelled

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 10, 2013 @ 3:53pm PDTTags: CSI: NY, Vegas
Nellie Andreeva

UPDATE: Midseason drama Golden Boy and veteran comedy Rules Of Engagement too have been officially cancelled. Golden Boy did give us Brit Theo James, who looks like a movie star in the making. Meanwhile, Rules will go down as one of the most under-appreciated utility players in TV history. The sitcom, which never got much love, successfully plugged any hole on the CBS schedule it was assigned to, most recently replacing swiftly cancelled freshman comedy Partners on Monday this season. Its producer Sony TV fought hard for renewals in the past but this time, with the cast’s deals up, it didn’t make much sense, especially with the show safely over the 100-episode mark.

PREVIOUS: CBS has started to cancel existing series. I’ve learned that veteran CSI: NY has been axed, joining fellow spinoff CSI: Miami, which ended its run last season. Also over is freshman Vegas. Coincidentally, the two shows shared the same Friday 9 PM slot this season. None had been expected to survive. CSI: NY, starring Gary Sinise, had a respectable nine-year run. With it gone, the mothership CSI series, already renewed for next season, is the only member of the powerful CSI franchise still on the air. Period drama Vegas, which starred Dennis Quaid and Michael … Read More »

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May The Fourth Scores For ‘Star Wars’

By JEN YAMATO | Saturday May 4, 2013 @ 11:42am PDTTags: Disney, Lucasfilm, May the 4th, Star Wars

May the 4thThe Force is strong today as Star Wars fans turn May 4 into a viral plug for the 36-year-old brand. The annual “holiday” known as Intergalactic Star Wars Day scored major pick-up on broadcast and online media for Lucasfilm and new owner Disney. The punny “#maythefourthbewithyou” and “Happy Star Wars Day” celebration/branding blitz was trending worldwide on Twitter today – not bad for a catchphrase that’s three decades old. Even the White House joined in, Tweeting to 3.4M followers: “Happy Star Wars Day! #maythefourthbewithyou (We’re still not building a Death Star)”. Disney/Lucasfilm also got a bump from the month-old geek photo meme known as “Vadering”, which picked up again in popularity leading into May 4. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Happy Endings’ Finale Up, ‘Undercover Boss’ & ‘Shark Tank’ Down, ABC Wins Night In Demo

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday May 4, 2013 @ 9:41am PDTTags: Blue Bloods, Happy Endings, Shark Tank, TV Ratings

No definite word yet where it could end up next year but last night was, without putting too fine a point on it, a happy ending for the third season of ABC’s Happy Endings. The 8 PM (0.8/3) airing of the Windy City-based thirtysomethings comedy rocketed it up 33% from last week’s series low. The actual season finale at 8:30 PM (0.7/3) rose 17% from its April 26 show, which had been even with the prior original two weeks before. So now the question for ABC’s ratings challenged but youngest skewing show is will the network bring Happy Endings back, will it die or is it heading over to USA Network? Otherwise, the rest of ABC’s night was a bit of a mix. While the highest rated show of the night, Shark Tank (1.7/5) fell 15% from last week. However, at 10 PM, the “True Confessions” episode of 20/20 (1.6/5) repeated one of the Happy Endings shows’ results and shot up 33% from its April 26 show. That also ties the news magazine series best performance in the 25-54 demo since November 30 last year. ABC won the night among adults 18-49 but CBS took the top spot in terms of total viewers.

Related: Primetime Pilot Panic: Broadcast Networks Are Very Happy With Their Comedy Pilots; How Much Should Bubble Shows Worry?

Over on CBS, everyone except Blue Bloods (1.3/4) took a hit. … Read More »

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