Televisionista Returns May 1

Dear all,

Within an hour I will be on my way to the airport leaving for a little long weekend in the UK. That means there won't be any updates on "Televisionista" till Tuesday, May 1. Coming up in May, all the sweeps mania, reports from the Upfronts with new schedules and pilots, and then the best and the worst of the 2006-2007 season. I hope you all have a great weekend, thanks again for coming here, and I'll be seeing you back on Tuesday morning.

Justin

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TV Ratings: CBS Wins First Night of Sweeps

CBS won the 1st night of the sweeps on the strength of "Survivor" (a deflated but still dominant 13,82 million), CSI (also down to 19,99 million) and Shark (14,25 million). ABC was close second with a somewhat weakened line-up of "Ugly Betty" (9,56 million,) "Grey's Anatomy" (19,75 million) and "October Road" (9,35 million).

"Ugly Betty" used to average over 13 million viewers earlier this season. Has the comedy run out of Nielsen steam? Also, both CSI and "Grey's Anatomy" failed to crack the 20 million mark. Are more and more people watching these shows via DVR or are fewer people watching TV these days in general?

CSI pulled in over 27 million viewers at this time last year, while "Survivor" scored almost 18 million. This year, "CSI" was still the most watched drama of the evening, while "Grey's Anatomy" was #1 in the 18-49 demo.

NBC's comedy "30 Rock" really went out with a whimper. After averaging 5-6 million viewers all season long, the Tina Fey comedy which has already been renewed for a second season (as we learned, without Alec Baldwin) sunk to 4,82 million, pulling down lead-out "Scrubs" in the process (4,68 million).

10 p.m. drama "ER" was stronger in total viewers (9,39 million), but "October Road" actually won the timeslot in the 18-49 demo. Given the fact that "Shark" had 5 million total viewers more than "October Road" that is quite an impressive result in the demo for the midseason drama.

Finally, over on The CW "Smallville" scored only 3,93 million viewers (one of the worst results of the season), but "Supernatural" retained a great deal of that audience (3,34 million).

Overall however the viewing levels seem to be down.

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It's Smiling Men on "Grey's Anatomy"

What are these fellas so happy about? Unlike George who has some serious woman drama on his hands, Mark Sloan, Preston Burke and Alex Karev seem to be in a really good mood on the upcoming "Testing 1,2,3" episode of "Grey's Anatomy".



Catch the episode on May 10 on ABC.

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"LOST's" Cuse: "It's Not Purgatory"

LOST's new character, the injured parachutist Naomi (Marsha Thomason) dropped a bombshell in the concluding moments of this week's episode - Oceanic Flight 815 wreckage was found and there were no survivors. But, as E! Online reports, before you jump up and scream "Ha! I knew it was purgatory", the show writer Carlton Cuse is there to confuse you.

The producer insists the characters on the show are not dead and the island is not a purgatory. This has been said many times in the past, but with the latest revelation it was necessary for the producer to underline that adding: "If we did such a thing after repeatedly stating otherwise, we'd be tarred and feathered!"

Is Naomi lying? Has the Dharma Initiative arranged for a fake wreckage to be found? If so how were they able to come up with dead bodies that would match the real passengers' DNA? Has Ben asked his "magic box" to recreate a fake wreckage for a rescue mission to find? They better have a good explanation for this one.

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"Grey's Anatomy" Spoilers #3.24: "Testing 1,2,3": Callie Finds Out (May 10)

ABC has released promotional images from the "Testing 1,2,3" episode of "Grey's Anatomy" scheduled to air May 10 on ABC and it seems Callie finally becomes suspicious of Izzie and George. Will feathers fly?


This will be the penultimate episode of the third season of "Grey's Anatomy" followed by the season finale on May 17. The two-hour Los Angeles-based pilot for "Private Practice" airs next Thursday, May 3.

In "Testing 1,2,3" the interns take the biggest test of their careers, their first-year medical exams, as the residents attend to three injured mountain climbers.



As you can see the wonderful Loretta Devine returns as Adele Webber while Elizabeth Reaser continues her guest stint as Jane Doe. Plus Addison (Kate Walsh) returns from L.A.



The week after Cristina finally walks down the aisle (yes, she does) and Jane Doe comes face to face with her husband.

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TV Ratings: "House" & "LOST" Top DVR Shows

Nielsen has begun publishing weekly ratings for "time-shifted" DVR (digital video recorder) viewing for up to 7 days following the original broadcast and FOX's "House" and ABC's "LOST" are the highest rated shows in DVR homes for the week ending April 8.

Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) are advanced VCR-like systems which enable viewers to easily tape a television program, as well as pause live programming, fast forward and rewind.

Only 15-17% of television homes in the U.S. have DVR systems, either from a local cable or satellite system or from TiVo or Replay. For this reason these ratings gains are considered very impressive.

Although the networks will now be eager to include these ratings when setting up new advertising rates for the 2007-2008 season, the advertisers are cautious as about 50% of commercials are fast-forwarded during DVR playback.

Here is now the top-10 chart for the week ending April 8:


1. House (FOX) 2,74 million

2. LOST (ABC) 2,47 million

3. American Idol Tuesday (FOX) 2,46 million

4. CSI (CBS) 2,17 million

5. 24 (FOX) 1,95 million

6. Survivor: Fiji (CBS) 1,91 million

7. The Office (NBC) 1,82 million

8. Desperate Housewives (ABC) 1,63 million

9. American Idol Wednesday (FOX) 1,44 million

10. Prison Break (FOX) 1,36 million


A new chart will be published every Monday.

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"Prison Break" Star Wentworth Miller in Korean Cosmo

One of the hottest men on television, "Prison Break's" Wentworth Miller appears in the latest issue of Korean "Cosmopolitan". The actor recently traveled to South Korea, where he appears to be very popular, as part of his endorsement deal for Bean Pole Jeans.

In a recent interview Miller was asked why he doesn't like to talk much about his personal life. The actor responded:

"I think there's a danger there, because the more people get to know you, the less believable you become in your roles. There are a lot of actors who think that selling off a piece of their personal lives is necessary, but I think the smart one are those who disappear until they have to promote their latest project."

Hmm... Didn't Neil Patrick Harris make the same point last week on "Ellen"? What a coincidence.

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News Corp. Donates $5 Mil to "Idol Gives Back"

FOX has said that charitable donations to relief programs to help children and young people in extreme poverty in America and Africa raised by the "Idol Gives Back" special now top $60 million, doubling the previously announced figure.

News Corp., the parent company of the network, has donated $5 million thanks to the 50 million votes cast (out of the total of 70 million). The 3-hour 2-night special is however estimated to have pulled in at least $45 million in advertising revenue for FOX.

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TV Ratings: "LOST" Finally Kicks CSI: NY Butt

Eat this, Gary Sinise! ABC's "LOST" (11,63 million) finally managed to beat an all-new episode of CSI: New York on CBS (11,18 million) as the procedural lost over 1,5 million viewers since the last fresh installment. "LOST" was also superior in the 18-49 demo.

The extended 2-hour "Idol Gives Back" edition of "American Idol" averaged 26,4 million total viewers. The telecast opened at 8 p.m. with a little over 21 million and then gradually building up the audience.

The closing moments of the special or "The Torturing of Jordin Sparks" scored 29,4 million.

"Jericho" continues to fade in the 8 p.m. slot on CBS. The drama scored 7,68 million viewers last night. Unfortunately, CBS has canceled shows with larger audience in the past (as Ray Liotta discovered last fall).

The sitcom combo on ABC aired opposite "American Idol" this week, which means an immediate loss of over 1,5 million viewers. The not-so-funny hour ended up below the 5 million mark.

Finally, NBC's entire line-up lost viewers with "Crossing Jordan" shedding a million pairs of eyeballs and "Medium" losing half a million. "Medium" however managed to grow out of its lead-in by 33% in the 18-49 demo.

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Why Rosie Left "The View"

She may have made some crude jokes in front of a bunch of 17-year-olds at a media luncheon on Monday making Rupert Murdoch cringe and Barbara Walters cover her face, but it wasn't her naughty tongue that got Rosie to part her ways with ABC's "The View."

According to FOX News the comedian is leaving the daytime talker come June because she proposed co-hosting the show for one more year only at a hefty $10 million price tag, whereas ABC insisted on a 3-year $30 million deal, which O'Donnell found too long.

Rumor has it, however, Rosie has not come to terms with Barbara Walters' reluctance to stand up for her during the Donald Trump fiasco in December before the billionaire with a combover attacked Walters herself and that made her decision to bid farewell to "The View" ladies much easier.

The show went up about 15% in the ratings during Rosie O'Donnell's stint.

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Idol Gives $30 Million Back

FOX's "Idol Gives Back" special raised $30 million in private and corporate donations as not-so-shocking "most shocking results ever" allowed all 6 contestants to move on to the next round. Here are now once again the best performances from Tuesday.

Blake Lewis: "Imagine"

Chris Richardson: "Change the World"

Melinda Doolittle: "There Will Come a Day"

Jordin Sparks: "You'll Never Walk Alone"

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"Heroes" Spoilers: Has NBC Revealed Exploding Man?

NBC loves to spoil its own show "Heroes." Just look at the trailers and promo stills. Now check out this juicy revelation from the latest chapter of the "Heroes" graphic novel titled "String Theory" available now on NBC.com.

According to the comic, the brain-munching serial killer Sylar (played so devilishly by Zachary Quinto) is the exploding man.

The viewers have thus far been led to believe that Milo Ventimiglia's character Peter Petrelli is the exploding man who destroys New York City.

In the comic, Masi Oka's character Hiro is seen in the future revealing the Sylar twist.

He goes on to say that in his universe Claire the cheerleader is dead, so when he traveled back in time to meet with Peter and ask him to 'save the cheerleader and save the world' he may have changed the sequence of events.

The writers may be exploring the theory of inevitability. Although Peter manages to save Claire and therefore change the events, he ends up becoming the bomb himself, since it may need to go off no matter what.

The next episode may shed some light on that mystery as it takes place in the year 2012.

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FOX Cancels "Drive"

FOX has canceled its Monday night drama about a group of people forced to take part in an illegal cross-country race, due to low ratings effective immediately.

The last episode of "Drive"finished fifth in the timeslot pulling in only 4,6 million viewers and drove "24" to record lows in the process.

It is not clear whether the remaining two episodes will be burned off on Fridays in May or streamed online.

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TV Ratings: Deflated "Idol" Wins Tuesday

The most boring season of "American Idol" continued to score winning, but no-longer-impressive numbers remaining last night at the season-low of 25,66 million viewers it had already posted a couple of weeks ago.

"NCIS" on CBS continued to do well opposite "Idol" with 14,08 million total viewers.

Then at 9 p.m. "House" capitalized on its plum lead-in keeping 21,29 million viewers glued to FOX. The elimination of Heather Mills was seen by 16,42 million viewers, while "The Unit" on CBS managed to pull in 9,86 million.

"Boston Legal" was the 10 p.m. winner with 10,12 million viewers.

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Weekly TV Ratings: Old Hits Plummet to All-Time Lows

If you are a fan of "Lost" or "Desperate Housewives" you may have been worried to see the ratings for ABC's groundbreaking series from 2004 sink to all-time lows. Take a look at last week's ratings and you'll see TV shows bleeding all over the place.

ABC's "Ugly Betty" hit all-time low in the 18-49 demo last Thursday. But the comedy was not the only one. "Shark" (CBS), "My Name Is Earl" (NBC) and the FOX trio of "The War at Home," "King of the Hill" and "The Simpsons" did the same.

"Desperate Housewives" matched the all-time low the show had already sunk to two weeks earlier, at Easter.

And there was more carnage. "CSI: Miami," "24" and "American Idol: Tuesday" posted season-lows. "Grey's Anatomy" almost joined the club, but ended up scoring second lowest 18-49 rating this season.

"Lost" millions of viewers abandoned in recent months actually managed to perk up a bit, but the ratings are still much lower than they had been in the past.

Are the viewers finding new platforms to catch up with their favorite shows? Or are they simply bored with the current programming choices and expect new alternatives?

May sweeps which will as always be pumped up with spectacular season finales, celebrity guest stars and razzle dazzle programming should give us some clue.

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Gays Love Betty

The cast of "Ugly Betty" appears on the cover of this month's edition of "Out Magazine" celebrating the comedy's cult status in the gay community. What is it that gays love so much about Betty?

Sure there is glitzy fashion and campy divas throwing around over-the-top zingers, as well as a groundbreaking 12-year old gay character and a unique transgender character, but there's also a lot more that earns Betty a loyal gay following:



According to Judith Light a long-time gay activist who plays the Meade family's deliciously broken matriarch Claire:



"Betty is considered the unattractive one, the outsider, the other - much like the gay community has felt for so long. And yet she is the beauty."

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"Brothers & Sisters" Spoilers: Will One of the Walker Twins Die?

ABC has released additional promotional stills from an upcoming episode of its Sunday night series "Brothers & Sisters" depicting intense drama for Tommy and Julia Walker. Will one of their twins die?

According to a press release the young couple will have to make a life and death decision for their newborn twins as Julia faces "scary complications" in the final stage of her pregnancy.

The episode is titled "Favorite Son" which may or may not indicate what fate awaits one of the twins. Sarah Jane Morris stars as Julia and Balthazar Getty plays Tommy. The episode airs Sunday, May 13.

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Lucy Liu Films "Cashmere Mafia"

"Ally McBeal" vet Lucy Liu was snapped yesterday shooting her new ABC series "Cashmere Mafia" on location on Park Avenue.

The pilot comes from Darren Star ("Sex and the City", "90210", "Melrose Place"), and follows four Manhattan women bonded by their Ivy League educations and executive success.

The women support each other through rocky marriages, rival colleagues, kids' recitals and the hunt for the perfect loft.


Consistently outpacing their male colleagues and husbands in salary and title, they also have to watch out for scheming bitches eager to bring them down. Bonnie Somerville, Frances O'Connor and Lourdes Benedicto also star.

ABC will present its new fall schedule on Tuesday, May 15 at the Upfronts, an event in New York where broadcast networks meet with advertisers to present the pilots they picked and allow marketers to buy commercial time "up front."

"Cashmere Mafia" is vying for a spot on ABC's fall schedule along with a number of notable drama pilots such as "Dirty Sexy Money," "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," "Football Wives," "Women's Murder Club," "Marlowe" and many more.


Grey's Anatomy spin-off "Private Practice" is considered to be a sure bet for ABC's fall schedule.

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DirecTV to Keep "Passions" Alive

Earlier this year, NBC announced it had canceled its daytime sudser "Passions." The show would end its 8-year run in June. Now the network is closing in on a new deal that would keep the series alive on an unusual platform, DirecTV.

This will be the biggest original programming initiative for the satellite provider which has been interested in original content business for a while. It is however not clear at this point what channel the company will use to air the series.

Daytime soap operas normally have a weekly budget of $1 million. Under the new deal the costs are expected to be cut. Also, NBC Universal TV Studio will produce only 4 episodes per week for DirecTV. The show aired 5 times per week on NBC.

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TV Ratings: "Heroes" Takes a Hit

NBC's hit drama "Heroes" returned last night following a 6-week hiatus, but the ratings have actually gone down a bit. "0.7%" was one of the lowest rated episodes of the series with 11,98 million viewers. On March 5, the mid-season cliffhanger scored 14,90 million.

The drama however managed to beat "Dancing with the Stars" in the 18-49 demo finishing first in the timeslot and it also pulled in more viewers than the competing drama "24" on FOX (10,31 million) which actually finished fourth in the 18-49 demo.

"24" however built from its lackluster lead-in "Drive" which continues to sink - last night's episode scored a disappointing 4,6 million.

NBC's "Deal or no Deal" is not as big of a hit as it used to be when it did not air opposite "Dancing," but it still managed to pull in 10,84 million total viewers.

ABC's dancing competition was of course the most watched program of the evening with 18,66 million.

The series premiere of Ashton Kutcher's new reality series "The Real Wedding Crashers" at 10 did not break any records scoring 7,05 million viewers.

This was however an improvement over the last episode of "The Black Donnellys" which was seen by 5,3 million people on April 2. Since some viewers were only sampling the new show, the numbers may go down in week #2.

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"Smallville" Spoilers #620: "Noir"

The CW has released the first images from a special sweeps episode of its hunkfest series "Smallville" titled "Noir." The episode was partially shot in black and white and it features a dream sequence of what "Smallville" would have been like in the 1940s.

The episode begins with a bang. After a secret meting with Lionel (John Glover), Lana (Kristin Kreuk) is shot at the Daily Planet by a mysterious gunman.



Jimmy (Aaron Ashmore) is knocked out while studying photographs of the scene and dreams about a 1940s version of Smallville.

In Jimmy's dream, Lana is a femme fatale who orchestrated the murder of her tycoon husband Lex (Michael Rosenbaum.)


Clark (Tom Welling) works at the Daily Planet as a reporter and Lois (Erica Durance) is a sultry singer working at a bar owned by Lionel.

Meanwhile, back in 2007, Clark discovers why Lana married Lex.



The episode airs on Thursday, May 3. There is also an all-new episode titled "Nemesis" this Thursday at 8/7c on the CW.

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Dern Recounts Homophobic Backlash on "Ellen"

Ten years after she made pop history by kissing Ellen Degeneres on her ABC sitcom, actress Laura Dern appeared on the "Ellen" talk show yesterday to reflect back on the kiss and the heinous backlash caused by religious groups.

Back in 1997, after she came out on the Oprah Winfrey show and in TIME Magazine, Ellen Degeneres decided that her sitcom character should follow suit. Dern, who guest starred as Ellen's lesbian love interest, shared a smooch with the comedian in the 4th season finale, the show's famous "Puppy episode."

The airing of the episode caused a hysterical uproar of the conservative organizations forcing the ABC television network to put a parental advisory notice prior to airing of each of the 5th season episodes. Giving into pressure, ABC ultimately pulled the plug on the show.

Dern explained on Monday that for one year she could not find any work in Hollywood and she found the backlash "awfully terrifying." Degeneres said she was not aware Dern was snubbed by Hollywood and said she was sorry. Dern, however, underlined she was happy to be a part of groundbreaking television.

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