Too much of Gordon Ramsay is not a good thing
Currently, we have superstar chef Gordon Ramsay as host and berater of FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen and Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. We also have him as host of the British version of Kitchen Nightmares and Gordon Ramsay’s F Word on BBC America. So, do we need to see any more of the verbally abusive chef who we never see actually cook anything?
Apparently we do. FOX has decided to bring over the Masterchef concept from jolly ol’ England to air in America because, frankly, we don’t have enough cooking shows out there that start or end with Master. The show will be hosted by Ramsay, who will challenge everyday backyard BBQers, homemakers, and folks who can’t boil water to prepare delicious dishes on their way to becoming a MasterChef. As with Ramsay’s 500 other shows, he’ll gently put these innocent folks through their paces to create amazing, culinary creations. That, or he’ll make them crying heaps of Jello.
Ratings Clack – Favre and Baseball create havoc
It was a strange week for ratings. Brett Favre playing against Green Bay made for a huge Monday Night Football (21.84m/9) audience on ESPN. And then the baseball playoffs ran through the rest of the week, calling a lot of the seemingly odd drops in viewers into question. Despite that increased competition, there was some good news to be had. The Biggest Loser, Bones, The Office, Lie To Me, Castle, and The Simpsons all managed to make gains week-to-week. Dollhouse also got in the game, stopping a four episode streak of series lows. On the other side, it’s starting to look like ER took all of it’s viewers with it when it left. The premiere numbers for Three Rivers were not good, and NBC’s dueling medical dramas continue to struggle. Read the rest of this entry »
Ratings Clack – Is Dollhouse about to get pulled?
Week two of the full-tilt-boogie season brought with it some interesting things, including premieres for Animation Domination, The Amazing Race, Trauma, Hank, and The Middle. We also saw more huge numbers from House, NCIS, and Grey’s. But after all of that, the most interesting story again comes from the show with the worst ratings on all of the big four networks, Dollhouse. After season two premiered to a series low last week, things got even worse. Episode two just barely cleared the 2 million viewer bar, while falling below a 1 in the demo. Reached for comment, my BFF Jill said, “OMG! RLY!?”
Yes, really. The situation is dire. Even the hardcore Whedonites are now at DEFCON 1. Someone has got word that the show could be in danger of being pulled from the air. I don’t know anything more than they do about that, but I would expect it to get one more shot this Friday, before baseball takes over. If episode three doesn’t show some sort of improvement though, I wouldn’t be surprised if baseball makes way for a series of House and Bones repeats on Fridays at 9. Read the rest of this entry »
Ratings Clack – Greg, Anthony, and Meredith rule
Holy smokes. After a summer without a lot of numbers to really be excited about, last week was just stuffed to the gills. There were season and series premieres everywhere, bringing in ratings that ran the gamut from outstanding to horrible. The big winners were House, NCIS, and Grey’s Anatomy. On the other end of the scale? The Beautiful Life, Brothers, Dollhouse, and just about all of NBC. Read the rest of this entry »
Ratings Clack – The last summer ratings post
Finally. The weather turned to complete crap in my little burg this weekend, which can only mean one thing: Fall TV premieres are on the horizon! Next week we’ll have numbers for the new seasons of 90210, Melrose Place, Next Top Model, So You Think You Can Dance, Glee, Vampire Diaries, and Supernatural(!). Until then, we have one last reality-heavy week to look at. There is a small bonus though … we did get our first look at Glee, Fringe, and Medium in their new time slots. They were repeat airings, but interesting just the same. Over on cable, more records as Bravo and Food had great months, and the NFL scored for ESPN. Read the rest of this entry »
Ratings Clack – True Blood can’t be stopped
Seriously, what the heck is going on with True Blood? Where do all of these people keep coming from? The show managed to set another series high this week, with 5.3 million viewers. That alone is cause for celebration. Even better, the DVDs continue to sell like hotcakes. In its 13th week of release, the season was still the number one TV show. That set has now racked up over $40 million in sales. It’s crazy. But that was just one of the many stories from cable last week. We also saw huge numbers for the Wizards of Waverly Place movie, records for Warehouse 13 and Burn Notice, and new seasons announced for Leverage and Drop Dead Diva. Over at the networks … well, we’re getting close to the fall premieres. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
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