FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (MONDAY 7/6/15)
ABC FAMILY: Chasing Life (Premiere) at 9pm
CNN: Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Premiere) at 8pm
DISNEY XD: Star Wars: Droid Tales (Premiere) at 9:30pm
DIY: Yard Crashers (Premiere) at 10pm
DIY: House Crashers (Premiere) at 11pm
HGTV: Tiny House, Big Living (Premiere) at 9pm and 9:30pm
HGTV: Tiny House Hunters (Premiere) at 10pm
TRAVEL: Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations (Premiere) at 9pm
NBC: The Island (Finale) at 10pm
What prompted independent cable channel Reelz to grab the rights to the 2015 Miss USA Pageant, dropped by NBC and Univision’s UniMas following derogatory comments about Mexican immigrants made by Donald Trump? Aside from a fire sale price, “I think we did the right thing by stepping up to this,” says CEO Stan E. Hubbard. “The city of Baton Rouge and the state of Louisiana put up a lot of money to hold this pageant, and all the women who have been looking forward to competing shouldn’t have to pay a price for a political controversy.” As for advertisers, “Just having 11 days notice is tough anyway. As we’ve been reaching out to brands and agencies we hear they applaud what we’re doing, but are wary of taking a chance with their brands. We knew going in we might have no advertising. But it’s live, and it’s big and there aren’t too many iconic TV events that are available for an independent network like ours. We’re not kidding ourselves thinking we’ll have the viewership NBC would have had, but I think we’ll have good viewership.” Hubbard has distanced himself from Trump, calling the presidential candidate’s remarks “insensitive and wrong,” but notes, “controversy opens up opportunities. There may be more attention paid to this pageant than there has been for decades.” Pageant is set to air Sunday, July 12.
(Source: Cynopsis)
NBC canceled A.D.: The Bible Continues after a freshman run that averaged 6.5 million viewers and 1.0 among A18-49, but the story’s not over. Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have plans to continue the show on their upcoming faith-focused OTT channel, slated for launch in late 2015 or 2016.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Showtime is offering the season three premieres of Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex across multiple platforms ahead of their linear launches on Sunday, July 12 at 9p. Viewers can sample the series free on YouTube and SHO.com, as well as select providers’ On Demand channels and web sites.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Chasing Life, moved from an August 17 premiere to tonight, July 6, will also change timeslots. The ABC Family drama takes over the 9p spot where critically acclaimed Becoming Us has been drawing soft numbers (down from 638,000 and .2 among A18-49 for its debut); the transgender docu-series slides to 10p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Law & Order will air dubbed in Spanish for the first time in the U.S. on NBC Universo starting today, and Law & Order: Los Angeles beginning tomorrow. L&O takes up the cable net’s Monday-Thursday slot with back-to-back eps at 5p, while L&O: LA is slated for Tuesdays at 9p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Sonia Manzano is moving off of Sesame Street. Manzano, who played Maria on the PBS children’s show for 44 years as well as serving as a writer, is retiring. Thanking her supporters, Manzano tweeted, “Don’t be bummed!”.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Animal advocate Betty White is set to host Discovery Family summer stunt “Pawgust,” showcasing animal-themed series, specials and movies starting Saturday August 1 at 8p with 101 Dalmations. Pawgust is anchored by the net’s first original series, From Wags to Riches With Bill Berloni, launching Thursday, August 6 at 9p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Busy Betty White has also been tapped to serve as a panelist in ABC’s To Tell the Truth reboot, along with NeNe Leakes (Real Housewives of Atlanta). White’s no amateur – she was on the game show’s original panel in 1961.
(Source: Cynopsis)
USA renewed Suits for a 16-episode season 6. Round five of the Universal Cable Productions drama, airing Wednesdays at 9p, opened June 24 to 3.4 million total viewers P2+ and 1.3 million P18-49 – but don’t look for more of the same. “Aaron Korsh has some great surprises for the audience at the end of Season 5 that should really set future seasons on an exciting new course,” said Jeff Wachtel, chief content officer, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment and president, Universal Cable Productions.
(Source: Cynopsis)
NBC ordered an eight-episode season two of summer series I Can Do That. The Armoza format, which averaged 1.7 among A18-49 and 5.7 million viewers for NBC during its first go-round, is currently in production in 15 countries.
(Source: Cynopsis)
E! renewed Botched for a season three. Season two of the plastic surgery docu-series from Evolution Media is averaging 863,000 among A18-49 and 1.5 million total viewers in Live+3. Mid-season finale airs Sunday, July 12 at 9p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Manson’s Lost Girls (wt), focused on teenagers who fell under the spell of murderer Charles Manson, got the green light from Lifetime. The movie from Asylum Entertainment stars MacKenzie Mauzy (Into the Woods) as a girl who breaks away from the cult after the Helter Skelter murder spree and turns herself in as a witness for the prosecution.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Louis J. Horvitz is onboard to direct his 17th Emmy Awards, announced the telecast’s exec producers, Don Mischer, Charlie Haykel and Juliane Hare. Baz Halpin, creative director for Katy Perry’s Super Bowl halftime extravaganza, has been named production designer. Emmys air Sunday, September 20 at 8p on Fox.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Disney XD greenlit the pilot for Epic Offenders. Hidden camera comedy was written by Adam Small (Mad TV) and Trevor Moore (Whitest Kids U Know).
(Source: Cynopsis)
I Am Chris Farley features the late comedian’s most memorable skits and characters and offers insights from colleagues and co-stars including Dan Aykroyd, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Bob Saget and Bob Odenkirk, among others. Documentary debuts on Spike TV Monday, August 10 at 9p, after a theatrical run in New York and LA.
(Source: Cynopsis)
WE tv’s second annual “Snark Week” runs today through Friday, July 10, featuring a line-up of the net’s “snarkiest characters and shows.” Look for one-liners from Braxton Family Values, Cutting It: In the ATL and Marriage Boot Camp Reality Stars, as well as Law & Order, Roseanne and Will & Grace.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Also coming up on WE tv: L.A. Hair returns for season four Thursday, July 30 at 10p. The opener features “Queen of Hip Hop” Soul, who’s set her first appearance on Fox’s Empire.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Castaway Dawn Wells hosts MeTV’s “Maryann’s Three Hour Tour,” featuring three hour’s of the actress’s favorite episodes of 1964-67 comedy Gilligan’s Island. Special event airs Sunday, July 19 from 7p-10p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Melissa Leo landed the role of Lady Bird Johnson opposite Bryan Cranston’s LBJ in HBO movie All the Way. Steven Spielberg is exec producing.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Season two of Fox hit Empire will feature Marisa Tomei in a recurring role. The Oscar winner plays a venture capitalist enmeshed in Lyon family drama.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Laurence Fishburne will star as Alex Haley in A+E Networks reboot Roots. Scripted series will be simulcast on History, A&E and Lifetime.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Jessica Lucas (Evil Dead) landed a series regular role on season two of Fox drama Gotham. Lucas plays Tigress, sister of Theo Galavan.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Mark Valley (Boston Legal) joins Bravo’s Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce for a six-ep arc. Valley will play a TV personality.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The Sunday, June 28 premiere of AMC’s Humans delivered 2.5 million total viewers in Live+3, up 43 percent from Live+SD. The sci-fi drama drew 1.0 million viewers among A18-49, up 52 percent.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS won the week ending June 28 in viewers with 5.449 million, with assists from the season premieres of Under the Dome (6.25 million) and Big Brother (Wed. 6.92 million, Thurs. 6.42 million and Sunday 5.56 million). Among A18-49, NBC topped the week with 1.1/4, versus 1.0/4 for ABC, .9/4 for CBS and .9/3 for Fox.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS event summer series Zoo premiered to 8.07 million viewers, according to Live+SD ratings for Tuesday, June 30. Among A18-49, the drama scored 1.2/4. The season two premiere of Extant on Wednesday didn’t fare as well, delivering 5.2 million viewers and .7 among A18-49 in Live+SD, down 46 percent and 56 percent, respectively, versus last year.
(Source: Cynopsis)
USA’s Mr. Robot bowed to a combined audience of 3.7 million total viewers P2+ (2.83 million for the 10p telecast and 823,000 for the 11p encore), including 1.04 million P18-49 for the 10p premiere.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Discovery’s Deadliest Catch scooped up 3.7 million viewers and topped cable for P/M25-54 (2.29/2.93 rating) on Tuesday, June 16 in Live+3, ranking as the night’s number two show in all television in M25-54 and M18-49 after NBC’s America’s Got Talent.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The BET Awards on Sunday, June 28, simulcast on BET and Centric, drew nearly 12 million total viewers during the evening beginning with the BET Pre-Show with 1.9 million viewers, the BET Awards 2015 premiere delivering 6.5 million viewers and the BET Post-Show with 3.4 million viewers.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The week ending June 21, Entertainment Tonight rose 7 per cent versus the week prior to tie Inside Edition, up 3 percent, with 3.0, topping syndicated magazine shows. It was a three-way tie at the top among game shows, with Family Feud (down 3 percent), Wheel of Fortune (down 2 percent) and Jeopardy (steady) all scoring 5.9. Year over year, Family Feud was the big winner, up 23 percent.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Hallmark’s A Country Wedding on Saturday, June 27 drew a 2.1 HH rating and 2.2 million total viewers, becoming the number one-rated program of the day and top-rated movie of the week.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Major Crimes reached 8.9 million viewers across TNT‘s multiple platforms and averaged more than 7.4 million viewers in Live+7 delivery for its June 8 season premiere and encore.
(Source: Cynopsis)
WE tv was up 29 percent and 26 percent respectively among W18-49 and W25-54 for 2Q15 versus the first quarter and up 8 percent and 10 percent among W18-49 and W25-54 versus the second quarter of last year.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS daytimer The Talk topped ABC rival The View in total viewers (2.54 million versus 2.52 million) and W25-54 (.9/6 versus .8/6) for the first time in any quarter.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The season finale of TBS’s Your Family Or Mine delivered a combined audience of 2.1 million viewers in Live+7 for its premiere telecast and encores, including 1.1 million A18-49.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Food Network Star ranked third in its 9pm timeslot among cable on June 28, hitting a season-to-date high .9 rating (915,000 imp) among A25-54, up 12 percent versus last year, and drawing over 2 million P2+ viewers. To date the series is averaging a .9 rating (over 2 million P2+ imp), up 14 percent versus year-ago.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Not to be outdone, Cooking Channel marked its five-year milestone in June with viewership at its highest ever among A25-54 (up 14 percent year-over-year) and W25-54 (up 21 percent), delivering its fifth straight monthly gain.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The June 30 season premiere of OWN’s The Haves and the Have Nots set a network record with 3.3 million total viewers, the most-watched season premiere ever, and a 2.8 rating among W25-54, the highest-rate telecast in series history in the key demo.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Bounce TV posted its most-watched quarter ever in 2Q15, up year-over-year 17 percent in primetime in HH (to 179,000), and 14 percent in A18-49 (to 90,000) and P2+ (to 246,000). Helping spur growth was new series Mann & Wife, with premiere episodes outperforming the previous four-week time period average by 77 percent in African American HHs, 102 percent in P2+ and 158 percent in A18-49.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Writer/Producer Chris Thompson died June 26 after a long illness. He was 63. Thompson created comedy series including Shake It Up!, Action and The Naked Truth, and co-created Bosom Buddies.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Actress Diana Douglas, first wife Kirk Douglas, died July 4 of cancer. She was 92. In addition to movie roles, Douglas appeared on dozens of television shows, including The Waltons, Dynasty and ER.
(Source: Cynopsis)
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
Jurassic World – $30.9 million
Inside Out – $30.1 million
Terminator: Genisys – $28.7 million
Magic Mike XXL – $11.6 million
Ted 2 – $11 million
(Source: Box Office Mojo)
Keely's Korner 