Ratings Clack – Heidi and Tim are back
It’s another week where the ratings news from cable is much more interesting than anything happening on the networks. The big story was the premiere of Project Runway (finally) on Lifetime, but there was plenty more fun to be had. Also getting in on the premiere game was Mad Men, Kourtney and Khloe, Hoarders, Ghost Hunters, and Flipping Out. There were also finales for Hawthorne, and Saving Grace. All that, plus records for True Blood, and the Degrassi kids. The networks countered with Octomom, and Shaq Vs. But not Shaq vs. Octomom, although I wouldn’t rule that out at this point. Read the rest of this entry »
Grace canceled. After this season. Which was extended.
Well, boys and girls, its official. Saving Grace has been canceled. A year, or so, from now, Grace Hanadarko will … er … grace our television screens no longer. Yeah, I said a year. TNT moved the second half of this season, originally scheduled to run this winter, to next summer, and added three more episodes, for a total of nine. It’s definitely the kind of cancellation I would have loved for Journeyman, Firefly, or Defying Gravity (just hedging my bets, but Brett is going to remind us all how poorly it’s doing).
The Week Ahead – Project Runway premieres in HUGE fashion
Highlights of the Week
- Woah, man, like let’s get totally stoned tonight and watch Woodstock: Then & Now. Ever seen a burned out hippie? I have. It’s not pretty. (Mon. 8pm, History)
- The first season of Merlin wraps with a two-hour block starting at 7pm. While it’s been picked up for a second run in native Britain, there’s no word on whether NBC will go again with it. (Sun.)
- I can take him. And while I don’t think we’re going to see Shaq vs. Jason Hughes anytime soon, the series does premiere with the basketball behemoth taking on Ben Roethlisberger. The kick is that Shaq takes them on in their sport, not his. (Tue. 9pm, ABC)
- It’s Invitation Only with Reba McEntire, but don’t worry, CMT has yours so you can check it out. (Fri. 9pm)
- I’ll call this a lowlight of the week … so of course it’s on FOX. Hopefully, they’ll show her for the disaster she is. That’s right, it’s Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage. (Wed. 8pm, FOX)
- Project Runway flexes its muscles on its new home, Lifetime, with a two hour “All Star Challenge” special. That’s followed by the season premiere, so you get three hours for the price of one! (Thu. 8pm)
- But it’s still not over. Lifetime is so stoked, they’re debuting Models of the Runway, which follows the models of Project Runway as they try and make it in the world of high fashion. (Thu. 11pm)
Ratings Clack – An alternative to Nielsen?
The big news in ratings this week wasn’t another series high for True Blood, the further decline of Defying Gravity, or even the return of Millionaire. Instead, it was the announcement that several big media and advertising companies are joining forces to create an alternative to Nielsen. My kneejerk reaction? The announcement is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Well, then again, I suppose it signifies that the networks are pissed about shrinking audiences. Unfortunately, finding a new way to measure shrinking audiences won’t do anything to fix the problem. Read the rest of this entry »
The Week in Clack – Idol hiring, zombies shambling, Miley stripping?
Round and round and round she goes, but where Paula will land, nobody knows. Maybe she can be a zombie on AMC’s forthcoming series.
- The best news ever of the week was that AMC is working on a television adaptation of The Walking Dead. The ongoing comic series is far and away the most compelling “zombie apocalypse saga” I’ve ever seen.
- TNT announced that Saving Grace would wrap with a nine episode run in 2010, because they’re too cheap to produce a full fourth season for the monster hit.
- Comedy Central, on the other hand, yanked Reno 911 after the fact, meaning it’s done and gone.
- The Apprentice’s Omarosa is going to be a minister, and somewhere suddenly cold, Satan is chalking up another win for the home team.
- In a sign that we’ve let this reality TV crap go way too far, Kim’s sister Kourtney Kardashian’s surprise pregnancy is scandalous news.
- Paula Abdul might work on Dancing With the Stars, Ugly Betty, So You Think You Can Dance, something in Australia, a local Wendy’s, or any number of jobs. She’s keeping her options open.
- Meanwhile, Victoria Beckham helped out on American Idol during early audition rounds, and may be lobbying to join the show permanently. And with all that money they saved by not rehiring Abdul, FOX re-upped Simon Cowell for three more years.
- Apparently, the networks are burning through their ’80s and ’90s DVD collections, as now they’ve greenlit a series based on St. Elmo’s Fire. Goonies, anyone?
- Speaking of ’80s and ’90s — toy-themed cartoons proved a hit at the box office again, as G.I. Joe took the top spot at the box office, meaning that I might get my Sectaurs revival sooner than I thought … maybe?
- I refuse to mention a single thing that happened to anyone involved with the Gosselins. But if that saga isn’t train-wreck enough for you, FOX is giving airtime to Octomom.
- HOLY CRAP! STEWIE IS GAY?!?
- Oh, and now the Emmys will be live. All of it. So you’ll have to add six hours to the end of your DVR scheduled recording of it … you know, just in case.
- We get a sneak preview of the future career of Hannah Montana as little Miley Cyrus danced on a stripper pole at the Teen Choice Awards.
So what will cause Grace Hanadarko to change her ways?
Your favorite Oklahoma City Detective and mine, Grace Hanadarko, has been through some serious crap this season. From catching Ronnie cheating, to having her family targeted by an old collar of hers, to, oh yeah, getting kidnapped and held hostage, one could easily say that she’s had a hell of a summer. This week, she let herself get beat to hell to put a murderer behind bars.
I’d said in the past that Grace would never really change. Sure, yeah, she’d mellow out a little, but the hard drinking, hard partying, hard living Grace we’d come to know and love? Well … I doubted that she’d ever really change. Now that she’s been through this season’s experiences, I’m not so sure.
Does the crew at Saving Grace take their practical jokes too far?
(Season Three, Episode Eight)
We’ve talked about some of the elaborate pranks that the squad has pulled on each other in past episodes. I’m actually a big fan of the more simple stuff they do, but when they put their minds to it, they can really design some crazy stuff. Tonight’s episode may have just taken the cake (which, in my mind, was previously baked on the awesomeness of this season’s premier). But did they go too far tonight?
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