Writer’s Block Season 3 Episode 4: It’s Over?

Monday Cable Ratings 10/25/21: American Dad! Halloween Special Hits Series Low, Halloween Baking Championship Ends on New Season High, NFL Monday Night Football Drops

Below are the top 25 programs on cable on Monday, 10/25/21. Items of note include the season finale of Halloween Baking Championship on Food, American Dad! on TBS, and WWE Raw on USA.

(Note: Click any show with its name in yellow or blue to be taken to its page in the TV Ratings Guide Cable Ratings Database.)

Sunday Cable Ratings 10/24/21: Curb Your Enthusiasm and Insecure Return with New Lows, Hallmark’s The Santa Stakeout Strong, Outrageous Pumpkins Ends on Season Low

Below are the top 25 programs on cable on Sunday, 10/24/21. Items of note include the season premieres of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Insecure on HBO, and the season finale of Outrageous Pumpkins on Food Network.

(Note: Click any show with its name in orange to be taken to its page in the TV Ratings Guide Cable Ratings Database.)

Saturday Cable Ratings 10/23/21: Boyfriends of Christmas Past Solid for Hallmark, MLB NLCS Wraps on a 2021 High, Ghost and Molly McGee Ties Series High

Below are the top 25 programs on cable on Saturday, 10/23/2021. Items of note include The Ghost and Molly McGee on Disney, Boyfriends of Christmas Past on Hallmark, and Justice with Judge Jeanine on Fox News.

(Note: Click the name of any show with its title in red to be taken to its page in the TV Ratings Guide Cable Ratings Database.)

The Wonder Years and Home Economics Receive Full Seasons Orders from ABC

Just over a month after their premieres, ABC has handed out its first full season pickups of the season to a pair of their comedies. Freshman comedy The Wonder Years and sophomore comedy Home Economics have both been extended for full twenty-two episode seasons, following initial thirteen episode pickups. Neither show has been a particularly strong performer for ABC in live-plus same-day ratings, with The Wonder Years averaging 0.51 (and recently going as low as 0.39) and Home Economics averaging just a 0.36 (and going as low as 0.29). Despite this, The Wonder Years has been touted by ABC as a strong performer in delayed streaming viewing, while Home Economics has been an internal favorite at the network since its debut. The Wonder Years currently rates as the #4 new series of the season.

Monday TV Ratings 10/25/21: All American Returns Stable with Finale, Average Start for 4400, The Voice Rebounds (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: With popstar Ed Sheeran added to the roster of mentors, NBC's 'The Voice' (0.85) rose by a tenth from last week's Monday low. 'Ordinary Joe' (0.31, -0.06) failed to capitalize on the growth of its lead-in and dropped to its weakest rating yet. A horror-themed 'Dancing with the Stars' (0.71) fell by six-hundredths on ABC but 'The Good Doctor' (0.41) gained three-hundredths after taking the previous week off. A 'Masked Singer' clip show (0.39) couldn't drum up much fanfare on Fox, causing 'The Big Leap' (0.18, -0.05) to sink to a new level of atrocity. The CW's 'All American' (0.23) was steady with its third-season finale for its season four launch. New drama '4400' (0.10) retained less than half of its lead-in but debuted at a pretty atypical rating for the network. CBS was absent from the original programming sphere, opting instead to air encores of 'The Neighborhood' (0.48), 'Bob Hearts Abishola' (0.38), 'NCIS' (0.29), and 'NCIS: Hawai'i' (0.26). The lineup resembled a descending staircase, with each repeat going below the previous. 

Finals Update: The repeat of 'NCIS: Hawai'i' (+0.1) adjusted up. 'Ordinary Joe' (-0.1) adjusted down.

Marietta Season 4 Episode 2 - Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered

Marietta Season 4, Episode 2

Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered

ABC Renew/Cancel Week 5: ABC’s Queens Will Abdicate Their Throne

A new drama premiered last week on ABC, and it's time for my thoughts on this show's long-term prospects. Keep reading for my initial thoughts on Queens.

Friday Cable Ratings 10/22/21: You, Me & The Christmas Trees Solid on Hallmark, Patrick Star Show Returns Higher, Real Time with Bill Maher Nears Low

Below are the top 25 programs on cable on Friday, 10/22/21. Items of note include Sydney to the Max on Disney Channel, The Patrick Star Show on Nickelodeon, and You, Me & the Christmas Trees on Hallmark.

(Note: Click the name of any show with its title in purple or blue to be taken to its page in the TV Ratings Guide Cable Ratings Database.)

Thursday Cable Ratings 10/21/21: President Biden Town Hall Decent on CNN, What We Do In The Shadows Steady at Low, MLB NCLS Slips but Leads

Below are the top 25 programs on cable on Thursday, 10/21/21. Items of note include What We Do In The Shadows on FX, Tacoma FD on TruTV, and Thursday Night Football on NFL Network.

(Note: Click the names of the shows written in purple or blue to be taken to their pages in the TV Ratings Guide Cable Database.)

Sunday TV Ratings 10/24/21: Family Guy Steady as Bob’s Burgers Slips, NFL Lower, The Equalizer and The Simpsons Tick Up

Ratings Analysis: Fox's 'The Simpsons' (0.59) rose by six-hundredths when stacked up against last week's outing, clearly benefiting from the NFL-boosted repeats of itself (0.51) and 'Bob's' (0.54) that occupied the 7pm hour. 'The Great North' (0.42, +0.02) and 'Family Guy' (0.52, +0.05) each picked up a couple hundredths at 8:30 and 9:30 respectively, but 'Bob's Burgers' (0.46) was frozen at its week-ago number at 9. Over on NBC, the 'Colts v. 49ers' NFL game (4.36, -0.23) was roughly two-tenths below the October 17th 'Seahawks v. Steelers' game (4.59). 'Football Night in America' (2.0/3.2) topped both the 7pm and 8pm hours. CBS's 'NFL Overrun' (4.56) dropped by nearly 25%, but '60 Minutes' (1.44) only lost two-tenths from its previous installment. 'The Equalizer' (0.84) bucked that trend by rising by a tenth while 'NCIS: Los Angeles' (0.56, -0.01) and streaming-bound 'SEAL Team' (0.40, -0.04) experienced some minor declines. ABC was entirely in rerun mode but the encores of 'America's Funniest Home Videos' (0.46), 'Celebrity Wheel' (0.47) and 'Supermarket Sweep' (0.37) were almost indistinguishable from what they post for original episodes. A 10pm encore of the 'Queens' pilot (0.17) completely tanked in the demo and couldn't even clear the one-million mark in total viewers. 'Legends of the Hidden Temple' (0.08) picked up three-hundredths on the CW and led into a pair of 'Masters of Illusion' repeats (0.08/0.05). 

Finals Update: CBS's 'NFL Overrun' (+1.8), NBC's 'Colts v. 49ers' NFL game (+1.1), Fox's 'Bob's Burgers' (+0.1), and ABC's reruns of 'America's Funniest Home Videos' (+0.1), 'Celebrity Wheel of Fortune' (+0.1), and 'Supermarket Sweep' (+0.1) all adjusted up. The 7pm rerun of 'The Simpsons' (-0.2) adjusted down on Fox.

The Princess Royal Season 1 Episode 5 - Waterloo

The Princess Royal Season 1, Episode 5

Waterloo

The Ratings Don’t Lie: CNN and MSNBC Would Benefit From a Second Trump Presidency

 

Former President Trump endorsing Senator Chuck Grassley for re-election at a ‘Save America’ rally. [Source: Newsmax]

NCIS: Los Angeles S13E02 Review

 

NCIS: Los Angeles is first and foremost an entertainment show. It uses the established formula of crime procedurals so the viewer essentially knows what to expect from each episode. But at least several times a season, the show breaks from this convention to deliver very dark episodes or episodes with a lot less action and more reflection, frequently both will touch on a subject matter which may either be considered taboo, or a subject not usually tackled in depth by the show. Fukushu tackles the serious subject of racism and does so in a manner which involves numerous conversations, frequently with characters reflecting on their own experiences, making the episode stand out from the usual fare.

The episode opens with a gentle and tranquil scene. An older man is fishing on an empty beach, his catch escaping him. He slowly walks back to his truck, the peaceful scene nosily and suddenly interrupted by a passing vehicle, the young lady on her cell. The equilibrium is re-established but as he places his rod in the back of his truck, he is brutally attacked from behind by two masked men dressed in black, and is repeatedly punched and kicked, then left for dead.

The feel of this episode is very similar to that of S11E11 'Answers', also written by Kyle Harimoto, (which followed the extremely intense episode 'Mother'). The volume of serious conversations naturally slows down the pacing, and instead of high speed chases, fight scenes and explosions, there is reflection, shared experiences and a disappointment and disbelieve this could happen in America. Unfortunately this serves to alienate the viewers who tune in to watch for pure entertainment, and the repetitiveness of some of the conversations has a tendency to lay on the message a little too thickly at times. That is not to say that the show should avoid tricky topics. In the past they have covered or touched on cults (S07E07 An Unlocked Mind), white supremacists in Rage (S06E20), child suicide bombers (S07E19) The 7th Child and burying children alive (S02E04) Little Angels. By coincidence those episodes were all written by Frank Military, and include fairly high intensity drama however they do not scrutinise the subject matter. Harimoto tackles racism head on, and arguably bashes the viewer over the head with the message. Can more be less? Is subtly a better method? The reality is that sometimes subtly just doesn't work and whichever method was chosen, someone somewhere would be disappointed. Racism is rife and the bottom line is that it is right to tackle what should not even be a topic, let alone a contentious one.

The initial message of the episode is to rise above the racists. Jack Tanaka, the LAPD officer son of the victim, Craig Tanaka, a Vietnam veteran and highly respected member of the community who is seriously injured in hospital, readily agrees not to have any part in the case or to hunt for the men responsible, for fear of jeopardising any prosecution. This magnanimous and noble action. he attributes to his father who is an extremely disciplined man, thus leading to a sub theme about fathers, quite typical for the show. Sam comments his father was also disciplined as does Kilbride when he reveals to Rountree why the team have this case. Rountree reveals he would not do anything for his father (his sister is his family - clearly a story there to delve into another time). There is a great moment of mentoring between Sam and Fatima, particularly when the latter talks about her own experiences with racism, mostly because she wears a hijab. He warns her about assuming the attack on Tanaka was racially motivated but encourages her to trust her instincts, which are formed by her frames of personal reference. Kensi and Deeks do not reflect on their parentage and instead reflect on what they could offer an adopted child of another race.

Unfortunately, the message that violence is not the answer to violent racism is dropped like a stone when Jack Tanaka uses his connections to locate the suspects - a father and son - kidnaps and beats them, whilst filming a clip of them admitting the attack. The message becomes a warning of violence, that Asian-Americans will not take this hatred lying down, they are not a passive race. The flip side again reverts to the role of the father. A racist father who has spent years instilling inherent hatred into his son, the unwritten statement that this has been repeated throughout the generations.

There is an awful lot packed into the episode which is identified early with the abbreviated opening credits sequence. The team are together in their familiar shared spaces; the gym (albeit without Callen), the bullpen (minus Fatima and Rountree which leads into an amusing scene later where the pair comment about their lack of allocated desk space to Kilbride. A number of conversations take place in cars although the initial car scene when Kilbride video calls the team, is almost deliberately fake, reminiscent of 60s/70s TV / films. It is important to try different things, whether they be filmic styles or subjects, particularly when they are important and as relevant as race-hate. In this instance the delivery of the topic was a touch too heavy handed, but the cast and crew should be fully commended for such a great effort.

TVRG Productions October News Day: Coach Garry Return Date, Bullpen/Put Me In Hybrid Spinoff Announced

 Welcome to TVRG Productions October News Day! Every month, TVRG Productions keeps you updated with some of the feature’s happenings. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment and reaction!

Coach Garry Return Date
Coach Garry will return with the remainder of Season 1 on Friday, November 5, and run through Friday, December 17. An additional script will be posted on Saturday, November 6. 

Bullpen/Put Me In Hybrid Spinoff

Saturday TV Ratings 10/23/21: Saturday Night Live Ties Season High with Jason Sudeikis Return, College Football on NBC and ABC Tie for the Win

Preliminary Analysis: With host Jason Sudeikis and musical guest Brandi Carlile, NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' shot up to a 1.6 Adults 18-49 rating in the Top 25 markets, up three-tenths from last week's Rami Malek-hosted telecast. Earlier in the night, the peacock network's 'USC v. Notre Dame' college football broadcast (0.5) was neck-and-neck with ABC's 'OH St. v. IN' game (0.5). Nothing else made much of an impression in the demo but CBS's '48 Hours' (0.3) did rise by a tenth in the 10pm hour. Reruns of 'CSI: Vegas' (0.2) and 'NCIS: Los Angeles' (0.2) aired right before the newsmagazine staple. Fox's encore of 'WWE Smackdown' (0.2) made little noise but still outdid the CW's lineup of 'Whose Line Is It Anyway? (0.1) and 'World's Funniest Animals' (0.1). 

Final numbers to come. 

Put Me In Season 3 Episode 15/The Bullpen Season 4 Episode 21: Chance for Redemption (Crossover)

The final game of the Championship Series is being played by the Indianapolis Primitives and the Charleston Capitols. The Capitols are playing at home. It is the 21st inning, and the game is still tied at zero. LEWIS approaches CARTER.

Friday TV Ratings 10/22/21: SWAT and Shark Tank Drop, WWE SmackDown Leads (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: As it often does, Fox's 'WWE Smackdown' (0.5) outdid all other broadcasts after taking last Friday off. ABC's 'Shark Tank' (0.4) and CBS's 'SWAT' (0.4) were slightly behind 'WWE', with both 8pm anchors losing a tenth. '20/20' (0.3) held even behind a sinking 'Tank', as did 'Magnum PI' (0.4) and 'Blue Bloods' (0.4) on CBS. NBC's 'Home Sweet Home' (0.2) tied last week's meager start while its 'Dateline' lead-out (0.4) gained a tenth despite having such an abysmal lead-in. 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us' (0.1) and 'Nancy Drew' (0.1) made no movement on the CW. 

Finals Update: WWE SmackDown (+0.1), Shark Tank (+0.1), SWAT (+0.1), Blue Bloods (+0.1) and 20/20 (+0.1) adjusted up.

United States of Al Season 2 Episode 3 Review

The third episode of the season stumbles as Al (Adhir Kalyan) hunts for a husband to marry his sister who is stuck in a refugee camp in Turkey.

Our House Season 4 Premiere - Our Fall Run, Once More

Our House Season 4, Episode 1

Our Fall Run, Once More

Thursday TV Ratings 10/21/21: Law & Order: SVU Slips for 500th Episode, NFL, Ghosts and B Positive Also Dip, Grey’s Anatomy and Young Sheldon Stable (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: NBC's 'The Blacklist' (0.39) returned for its ninth season in fairly unremarkable fashion. This was just a single hundredth below last year's premiere (0.40) and higher than a good majority of its spring 2021 episodes but much of that can be attributed to the move from the Friday night graveyard to a more high-priority, Thursday timeslot. The arrival of 'The Blacklist' seemed to negatively impact the 500th episode of 'Law & Order: SVU' (0.64, -0.08) and 'Law & Order: Organized Crime' (0.50, -0.05) but the pair ultimately lost just a few hundredths in the process. CBS's lineup was down across the board, with new entry 'Ghosts' (0.53, -0.08) taking the biggest hit after last week's stunning uptick. Struggling sophomores 'United States of Al' (0.44) and 'B Positive' (0.40) forfeited six-hundredths apiece. 'Young Sheldon' (0.63) fell by two hundredths at the start of the lineup while 'Bull' (0.31) closed out the evening by losing one-hundredth. Over on ABC, 'Station 19' (0.62, +0.06), 'Grey's Anatomy' (0.63, +0.02), and 'Big Sky' (0.35, +0.01) all picked up a couple ticks. Fox's 'Broncos v. Browns' NFL game (3.72) was four tenths behind the week-ago football telecast. On the CW, the finale of 'Coroner' (0.05) dropped two-hundredths but 'Legacies' (0.09) actually rose by three-hundredths from last week's unsatisfactory return. 

Finals Update: 'NFL' (+1.6) and 'Big Sky' (+0.1) adjusted up.

Wednesday Cable Ratings 10/20/21: American Horror Story Drops for Finale, The Sinner Sinks, MLB NLCS Jumps as ALCS Slips

 Below are the top 25 programs on cable on Wednesday, 10/20/21. Items of note include the season finale of American Horror Story on FX, The Sinner on USA, and MLB on TBS and FS1.

(Click the names of the shows written in teal or blue to be taken to their pages in the TV Ratings Guide Cable Database.)

CBS Orders a Full Season of Ghosts

In the quickest full season order of the season, CBS has handed out a full season order to freshman comedy Ghosts. The sitcom, which debuted two weeks ago on the Tiffany Network, has been a strong ratings performer for CBS, currently rating as the #2 new series this season with a 0.58 average in the 18-49 demo. That also ties it for the #4 comedy on TV, trailing only fellow CBS sitcoms Young Sheldon and The Neighborhood and the massively NFL-inflated cartoon The Simpsons. The show accomplished a rare feat in its second week, growing from its one-hour premiere, from a 0.56 to a 0.61 in week two. It also heartily out-rates its United States of Al lead-in. That show, along with fellow Thursday sophomore B Positive, has yet to receive any news regarding episode order extensions. Ghosts is the third new show to receive a pickup this year, only after NCIS: Hawai'i and FBI: International, both extended ten days ago. Ghosts stars Rose McIver, Rebecca Wisocky, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Brandon Scott Jones, Richie Moriarty, and Asher Grodman. An exact episode count for the series first season is still to be announced.

Wednesday TV Ratings 10/20/21: Survivor Rises and Leads the Night, Chicago Fire Steady for 200th Episode, The Goldbergs and The Wonder Years Slip (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: After rebounding a bit last week, ABC's 'The Wonder Years' (0.39, -0.15) suffered its steepest decline yet, falling by nearly 30% in the Adults 18-49 demographic. Its 'Goldbergs' lead-in (0.54) was only down by five-hundredths in comparison, meaning that it cannot be blamed for this sudden 'Wonder Years' collapse. With 'Conners' (0.30) in repeat-mode at 9pm, 'Home Economics' (0.29, -0.09) also crashed to a new low. A Robin Williams-based 'Superstar' (0.28) was even with its last installment from early September. CBS's 'Survivor' (1.01) rose by a tenth and eclipsed 'Masked Singer' by a healthy margin, making it the night's top performer. The news was not so bright from there as 'Tough As Nails' (0.41) dropped by two-hundredths and 'CSI: Vegas' (0.35) gave back seven-hundredths. 'Chicago Med' (0.73, -0.06), 'Chicago Fire' (0.81, -0.02), and 'Chicago PD' (0.69, -0.04) all experienced some minor declines on NBC. 'The Masked Singer' (0.95) lost four-hundredths on Fox while 'Alter Ego' (0.37, -0.08) plunged to a new series low. Over on the CW, 'Legends of Tomorrow' (0.08) fell by a single hundredth as 'Batwoman' (0.08) held steady 

Finals Update: 'Chicago PD' (+0.1), 'The Masked Singer' (+0.1), and 'CSI: Vegas' (+0.1) adjusted up.

College Season 4 Episode 3: Principles of Financing

Edison and Brittaney sit on the couch. Edison’s hand is on her belly.

Tuesday Cable Ratings 10/19/21: MLB ALCS Rises as NLCS Slips, NBA Leads, Chucky Lower in Week Two

Below are the top 25 programs on cable on Tuesday, 10/19/21. Items of note include Chucky on USA and Syfy, The Oval on BET, and American Crime Story: Impeachment on FX.

(Note: Click any show with its name in green or blue to be taken to its page in the TV Ratings Guide Cable Ratings Database.)

Monday Cable Ratings 10/18/21: Halloween Baking Championship and WWE Raw Drop, NFL Monday Night Football Jumps, MLB ALCS in Fifth Place

Below are the top 25 programs on cable on Monday, 10/18/21. Items of note include Halloween Baking Championship on Food, NFL on ESPN, and WWE Raw on USA.

(Note: Click any show with its name in yellow or blue to be taken to its page in the TV Ratings Guide Cable Ratings Database.)

2021-22 Season-To-Date Report (9/1-10/18) -- Seasonal Drops Have Pushed The Voice Out of the Top 10

Scripted programming entering the top 10 was a rarity the prior season, only occasionally punctuated by a NFL-inflated Sunday evening program entering the arena.  That season was shared by sports and reality TV programming in the top 10 reaches of the chart.  That however, has changed early in this season as most sturdy reality TV franchises hang out in the top 20, and on occasion claw their way into the top 10 like Masked Singer does when a Football Inflated Simpsons or 60 Minutes entry isn't pushing it down.  The Voice, Masked Singer and even Bachelor(ette) programming enjoyed top-10 for over 15 years.

Tuesday TV Ratings 10/19/21: Queens Premieres Weak, The Bachelorette Hits Series Low in Premiere, The Voice Also Below Average (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: Although the season premiere of 'The Bachelorette' (0.79) topped all other competitors, it came in five-tenths below its August finale. ABC's rotten luck continued in the 10pm timeslot as new drama 'Queens' (0.36) couldn't even retain half of the 'Bachelorette' audience for its series debut. NBC's 'The Voice' (0.66) replicated Monday's trajectory by losing two-tenths from the week-ago broadcast. 'La Brea' (0.55) held up far better in comparison, down just eight-hundredths overall. At 10, 'New Amsterdam' (0.34) dropped by three-hundredths. Over on Fox, 'The Resident' (0.44, -0.01) and 'Our Kind of People' (0.28, -0.05) experienced some minor slippage, with the latter sinking to a new low. 'Stargirl' (0.10) and 'Supergirl' (0.08) lost two-hundredths and one-hundredth respectively on the CW. CBS's reruns of 'FBI' (0.38), 'FBI: International' (0.43), and 'FBI: Most Wanted' (0.35) rivaled the ratings of many of the evening's original telecasts. 

Finals Update: 'The Bachelorette' (+0.1), 'The Voice' (+0.1), 'La Brea' (+0.1), and the repeat of 'FBI: International' (+0.1) adjusted up.

CBS Renew Cancel (9/21-10/17): Bull is Likely To Be Shoveled Off the CBS Schedule

 CBS has unveiled its fall schedule in full, and most of the scripted shows have made their debuts to surprisingly sturdy results.  So sturdy indeed predicting where CBS will cancel or end shows to make room for fresh helpings is difficult to predict.  The comedies have too many strong mentions, and dramas seem to have moderate success with franchising old shows.