FIRST LOOK
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ON TELEVISION (THURSDAY 11/3/16)
RFD-TV: Small Town, Big Deal (Premiere) at 9:30pm
A&E: 60 Days In (Finale) at 9pm
TRU TV: Impractical Jokers (Finale) at 8pm
The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against AT&T, accusing DirecTV of being “the ringleader of a series of unlawful information exchanges” to influence Cox Communications, Charter and AT&T to avoid carrying SportsNet LA. The alleged effort was intended to gain leverage in negotiations with Time Warner Cable, which wanted the pay TV companies to carry the Dodgers-owned channel. The carriage issues occurred before AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV, responded AT&T, and “the reason why no other major TV provider chose to carry this content was that no one wanted to force all of their customers to pay the inflated prices that Time Warner Cable was demanding for a channel devoted solely to L.A. Dodgers baseball. We make our carriage decisions independently, legally and only after thorough negotiations with the content owner.” AT&T just announced an $85.4 billion deal to acquire Time Warner. The suit was obtained by the LA Times.
(Source: Cynopsis)
TBS and TNT will be the cable home DC Comics movies, adding to the previously announced Star Wars films windfall.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Several members of the executive committee of the Broadcast Television Journalists Association have resigned, protesting a brand partnership with Entertainment Weekly for the next Critics’ Choice Awards, airing on A&E on December 11. “EW will have the same role as A&E in determining the Critics’ Choice Awards that we vote on NONE,” read a memo from the governing body. “EW is a promotional partner, like others we have had before. This is not the ‘EW Awards’ and it never will be. They, like all promotional media partners, are helping to build awareness of and tune-in for our CCA.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Faced with a red-hot World Series on Fox, CBS and NBC replaced original episodes scheduled for last night with reruns. CBS swapped out an original Criminal Minds, while NBC replaced new episodes of Blindspot, Law & Order: SVU and Chicago P.D.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Showtime grabbed Paramount Television and Jerry Bruckheimer Television’s American Gigolo to develop as a series. Neil LaBute will write the drama based on the 1980 film starring Richard Gere.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Marlowe, based on the life of an African-American private investigator, is in development at The CW. Procedural comes from Kapital Entertainment.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Bruce Helford is exiting as showrunner of new CBS comedy Kevin Can Wait, according to Deadline, reportedly due to creative difference with series star Kevin James. Helford, who co-created the show with Rick Reuben (King of Queens) and James, will be replaced by exec producer Rob Long.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Science Channel has two new series on deck for November. World’s Biggest Shipbuilders launches Thursday, November 10 at 10p, followed by Mars: The Secret Science on Monday, November 14 at 10p. Returning are What on Earth? on Tuesday, November 15 at 9p and How the Universe Works on Tuesday, November 29 at 10p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Extreme sports, lifestyle and music net PXTV launches Extreme Life on Sunday, November 6 at 7:30p. Original series explores what motivates extreme athletes to risk their lives for sports.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Survival series Alone is back for season three on History starting Thursday, December 8 at 9p, followed by the series premiere of unscripted The Selection: Special Operations Experiment at 10p. While Alone tracks hardcore survivalists in Patagonia, Argentina, The Selection pushes participants to the limit in extreme training exercises.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Star, following three singers navigating the cutthroat music business, will premiere on Fox Wednesday, December 14 at 9p after the season 3 fall finale of Empire (in a special 8p slot). Star returns in its regular time period on Wednesday, January 4 at 9p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Grammy winners Pentatonix will host their first holiday network special on Wednesday, December 14 at 8p on NBC. The one-hour event will include appearances by Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson, among others. The a capella group won season 3 of NBC’s The Sing-Off.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Stephen Colbert’s Live Election Night: Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going to Clean Up This Sh*t?, airing November 8 on Showtime, will be repeated as Friday’s Late Show on CBS next week.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The season 2 finale of A&E’s 60 Days In airs tonight at 9p. Has the show, which sends innocent volunteers into prison to gather evidence on what’s happening behind bars, had an impact on the system? “After two phases of the experiment, we’re starting to see many needed changes being implemented at Clark County Jail and at correctional facilities across the country,” says Greg Henry, Lucky 8 TV co-president and exec producer. “60 Days In has given us the rare opportunity to create television that’s compelling to viewers and also serves as an instrument of reform.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Don’t have the stomach for current election coverage? Dan Rather is hosting a political movie marathon on HDNET Movies (sister to AXS TV, home of Rather’s The Big Interview) on Sunday, November 6 starting at 2p. The newsman will share stories from his days covering the White House, including a security breach involving a peacock.
(Source: Cynopsis)
PIX11 is all fired up about its airing of the Yule Log this year. Tribune’s New York flagship station will air the original 1966 version of the log as a one-hour presentation on Christmas Eve, 50 years after its debut, and again on Christmas morning. The 1966 version, filmed at Gracie Mansion, aired through 1969 until the tape degraded. A new Yule Log was filmed in 1970 as a replacement, and has aired ever since. The original was discovered over the summer by PIX11’s digital director and archivist.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Disney has three holiday musical specials in the works, originating from Disney World and Disneyland. The shows will be presented on ABC and Disney Channel as well as branded digital platforms.Julianne Hough (Grease: Live) and brother Derek Hough (Hairspray Live) will host The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration on Thanksgiving, November 24 at 8p, as well as The Disney Parks’ Magical Christmas Celebration on Sunday, December 25 at 9a. Stars of Descendents 2 will host and perform on Disney Parks Presents: A Descendants Magical Holiday Celebration on Disney Channel Friday, November 25 at 8p. On each special, the wishes of families will be granted as part of Disney’s “Share the Joy” campaign to inspire the spreading of goodwill.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Up next on Nat Geo WILD’s “Savage Kingdom” programming event: special Destination WILD: Feast of the Grizzly (gulp) on Sunday, November 6 at 9p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
A Thanksgiving weekend marathon of all ten episodes of Versailles will follow the Ovation costume drama’s finale on Saturday, November 19 at 10p. Marathon runs Friday, November 25 through Sunday, November 27, starting each night at 10p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
NBC is following its telecast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 24 with the 15th Annual National Dog Show Presented By Purina from noon-2p. John O’Hurley (Seinfeld) returns as host, with an assist from behind-the-scenes reporters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Holliday Granger landed the female lead in BBC One limited series Cormoran Strike, focused on a war veteran who operates a London detective agency.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Kamar de los Reyes (Salt) will recur on season 4 of Fox drama Sleepy Hollow, returning in 2017.
(Source: Cynopsis)
It was another easy win for Fox Tuesday night – if not for the Cleveland Indians – as Game 6 of the World Series scored 23.4 million viewers, up a whopping 75 percent over last year’s Game 6 and the best since 1997.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Opposite baseball, NBC newcomer This Is Us delivered an impressive 8.4 million total viewers and a 2.3 rating among A18-49, down a mere one tenth versus last week.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Last week’s The Real Housewives of Orange County on Bravo ranked as the highest rated episode of the season to date among P18-49, earning 1.8 million in the demo in Live+3 (up 4 percent versus the prior week’s episode), 2 million P25-54 (up 2 percent) and 3.1 million total viewers (up 1 percent).
(Source: Cynopsis)
Scripps Networks Interactive nets had a treat this month. October 2016 was HGTV’s highest rated October primetime among P25-54, with almost 22 million total viewers each week during the month. Food Network tied for No. 9 in primetime cable for October among P18-49 and tied for No. 7 among W18-49. Travel Channel saw its 12th consecutive month of year-over-year growth among W25-54, and its 9th straight month of growth among P25-54. DIY Network posted double-digit year-over-year growth among P25-54 (up 22 percent) and W25-54 (up 39 percent) in October. Cooking Channel boasted its highest rated and most watched October on record among P25-54 and W25-54, and Great American Country celebrated double-digit year-over-year growth in primetime, with a 26 percent increase among P25-54, a 41 percent lift among W25-54, and a 43 percent jump among P25-34.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Bounce TV posted double digit gains in key demos for October, up 77 percent in the delivery of P18-34, up 91 percent in W18-34, rising 34 percent in P18-49, up 46 percent in W18-49, 16 percent among in P25-54 and 25 percent in W25-54 versus October 2015, and was a top 5 network in the prime delivery of African Americans P18-34 and W18-34 in ad-supported cable.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Actor Don Marshall died October 30. He was 80. Marshall appeared on TV shows including Star Trek, Julia and Bewitched.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Keely's Korner 