Fresh Off the Boat S3E15 Review

This week, an infomercial is filmed at Cattleman's, and Jessica's papaya is stolen.


S3E15 "Living While Eddie"

At the start of the episode, Louis announces that an infomercial will be filmed at Cattleman's Ranch. Emery is a fan of infomercials, which is an interesting trait, and he asks to go to the filming. Louis gets a role when someone calls in sick, but he messes up the line over and over again. His messing up was funny, but it went on for a long time. Emery ends up replacing Louis, and it is funny when he admits to sabotaging Louis, and when Louis gets a consolation bobble-head. Emery ends up having a blinking problem while on camera. At the end of the episode, the family watches the infomercial, and they ended up making fun of both Louis and Emery, which is pretty funny.

Jessica discovers that someone ate her papaya, and it is hilarious when she asks about Bible justice, and takes Eddie's cereal.  Evan discovers the dishwasher, and it is hilarious how excited he is about this. Jessica, however, is opposed to the use of the dishwasher. When it is used, she immediately assumes that Eddie did it. Later, Jessica gets a call that Eddie was shoplifting, and it is funny when she gets mad at the person for not being clear on the phone as to which location it was at. Jessica discovers that Evan actually ate her papaya, not Eddie, and she becomes proud of him standing up for Evan.


I loved Jessica and Eddie's story, but I didn't love Louis and Emery's. It was fine, and had some good jokes, but was nothing great.

Score: 8/10

What did you think of "Living While Eddie"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Week 24 Sitcom Scorecard -- Can Our Sitcom Ratings Claw Their Way Back After This Icy Sweeps Period?

The Ratings Junkie Tuesday, February 28, 2017
As predicted, the ratings are trending downward for the sitcom pack's majority, with 18 of the 28 active shows seeing drops in ratings averages.  The preliminary rating for this Tuesday's The Mick went fractional, though the show received welcome news as FOX altruistically announced renewals this week with the The Mick returning next season.  This brings the total renewed sitcoms to six -- three for FOX, two for NBC and one to ABC. Changes to status were due this week.  However, Superior Donuts made a troubling two-tenth drop this week and will be called next week.  Powerless plunged into frigid waters, downgrading its classification to Likely Cancellation. This icy February Sweeps period left ratings road accidents in its wake, so lets take a moment of silence and mourn the loss of demos, NOT!  Instead, let's take a laugh at how low is acceptable to keep our comedy machines on the air.

This week's compilation added ratings from 2/15-2/24, leaving WednesdayThursday and Friday showings with the most impact.  However, the sitcoms are showing their ratings weight minus inflation and promotion.  Aside from The Great Indoors, which has yet to display its performance outside of The Big Bang Theory, every show is in true form.  The Mick took a beating in recent scorecards as it experienced massive hemorrhages and continues on its downward freefall now tied in 17th Place among the 30 sitcoms.  It delivered a fractional showing on 2/21, and FOX rewarded it with a renewal.  This may have appeared presumptuous, but the Mick has matched and/or improved the performance of veterans Brooklyn 99 and New Girl.  The Mick deserved its renewal, as well as an additional five episode order it received this season as it has outperformed several in Fox's freshman class.  Even if the Mick drops to a 0.7 in some odd showings, it will fit right in with the rest of the pack and appears to be self-performing vs. lead-in dependent.

The same praises may not be belted for Powerless, which dropped to a 0.7 on Thursdays, earning a downgrade to Likely Cancellation.  So why would The Mick charm their way out of a 0.7 rating on FOX and Powerless is on trial for misuse of a Timeslot?  NBC has an embarrassment of riches in successful shows, with their bare minimal poor performance bar set at 0.9.  Non-comedy offenders here are The Blacklist and Blindspot, which shall hold longer track records and take on difficult spaces in the schedule.  Powerless faces competition from powerful Grey's Anatomy on ABC, not-so-powerful sitcom competition from The Great Indoors, reality TV on FOX and the usual CW fares.  This timeslot is ideal for growth and is being underutilized, much like CBS in this timeslot with the Great Indoors.  And falling into last place behind perennial tail end Dr. Ken sealed this show's fate.

The only growth our sitcoms will experience for the remainder of the season is to remain stable and watch the competition fall.  4th Place Goldbergs stands on promising ground to overtake the Simpsons, which is now .20 above and showing massive hemorrhages.  American Housewife was briefly knocked out of the top 10 after Superior Donuts' inflated premiere, yet returned to its deserved position after Superior Donuts fell below the Winners' Classification by failing to meet the minimum 1.50 demo requirement.  CBS' Mom also stands to gain ground as Family Guy and 2 Broke Girls trail, and Superior Donuts may sink lower in upcoming weeks.  As mentioned above, even Dr. Ken enjoyed a mild victory and is next to last place.  Though Superior Donuts is slipping into middling territory, it is performing just as well as a 6-year old sitcom next door.  If it ticks up to the 1.3-1.5 range for the season's remainder, it is a surefire renewal.

Unless the few remaining mid-season entries are movers and shakers, the ratings have spoken for who will be back and who will not on ABC and NBC.  Dr. Ken is perennially anemic, yet it has a stable (albeit low) performance on Fridays.  It has shown more growth potential than The Real O'Neals, who languishes its Tuesday timeslot.  This has increased the odds for Dr. Ken's survival.  ABC's remaining slate is solid and is likely to return.  NBC renewed its critically acclaimed two darlings, and will likely dispense of the last joke.  CBS' schedule is a hard read, yet has likely renewals in order for most of its Monday lineup, as well as the majority of its Thursday roster.  FOX is a tougher read, as most of its shows have delivered at 1.1 or lower as of late.  Given the permanent number of rerun timeslots on Sundays, low-rated fares like Son of Zorn and Last Man on Earth may experience a reprieve.  The upcoming weeks will feature more repeats, so less movement may be in order for weekly Scorecards.

TV Ratings 2/27/17: When We Rise Fails, Taken Does Okay, The Voice Returns Down from Fall Debut (UPDATED)

Monday night was premiere night for a few shows, and it was a really mixed bag, ratings-wise. ABC's When We Rise, well, that one didn't go over so well (though at least it was a slight improvement on Quantico). Before it, The Bachelor dipped to its average 2.4. CBS had another night of losses, with Man With a Plan and Scorpion each down a tenth and a Big Bang Theory repeat a tenth lower than Kevin Can Wait. The CW's Jane the Virgin ticked back down this week after a few 0.4s. Fox's duo actually managed to hold steady this week (though they are steady at pretty low numbers). NBC easily won last night after two solid months of getting crushed by ABC. The Voice returned to a 3.1, with Taken starting at a 1.6. This is below the premiere of Timeless, and with a slightly larger Voice.

Finals Update: Scorpion (+0.1) adjusted up.

Time
Show
18-49 Rating/Share
Viewers
Channel
8 PM
The Voice (P)
3.1/1112.99
NBC

The Bachelor
2.4/87.70
ABC

The Big Bang Theory (R)
1.3/57.37
CBS

24: Legacy
1.0/43.97
Fox

Supergirl
0.7/32.15
The CW
8:30 PM
Man With a Plan
1.2/46.61
CBS
9 PM
Superior Donuts
1.2/46.40
CBS

APB
0.8/33.38
Fox

When We Rise (Series Premiere)
0.7/22.94
ABC

Jane the Virgin
0.3/10.94
The CW
9:30 PM
2 Broke Girls
1.2/45.73
CBS
10 PM
Taken (Series Premiere)
1.6/67.44
NBC

Scorpion
1.2/56.81
CBS

TV Ratings 2/26/17: Oscars Dominate the Night (UPDATED)


Last night was easily dominated by ABC's telecast of the Oscars, which pulled about a 8.7* preliminarily, down from last year's preliminary ratings. The Oscar Opening Ceremony immediately preceding it pulled roughly a 5.6, dominating the 7 PM slot. For the remaining networks, Fox grabbed top prize with their comedy repeats, with their 8-10 lineup pulling a flat 0.9 up until the final half hour, which pulled a 0.8. NBC's Dateline received a 0.8, tied with the latest Friday airing. 60 Minutes aired two episodes, pulling in low-end 0.8s and 0.7s.

Time
Show
18-49 Rating/Share
Viewers (mil)
Channel
7 PM
Oscars Red Carpet, Part 1
2.2/911.46
ABC

60 Minutes
0.8/36.42
CBS

Dateline NBC (R)
0.8/34.79
NBC

Son of Zorn (R)
0.6/32.12
Fox
7:30 PM
Oscars Red Carpet, Part 2
Bob’s Burgers (R)
3.5/12
0.6/2
15.27
1.53
ABC
Fox
8 PM
Oscars Red Carpet, Part 3
The Simpsons (R)
5.2/17
0.9/3
20.89
2.06
ABC
Fox

60 Minutes
0.7/25.06
CBS
8:30 PM
89th Academy Awards
9.1/2932.93
ABC

The Simpsons (R)
0.9/31.91
Fox
9 PM
Family Guy (R)
0.9/31.94
Fox

NCIS: Los Angeles (R)
0.5/24.1
CBS

Neighbors
0.5/11.42
NBC
9:30 PM
Family Guy (R)
0.8/31.84
Fox

Jane the Virgin S3E13 Review

This week Jane meets with her new editor, and Mateo has a new aide.


S3E13 "Chapter Fifty-Seven"

The episode starts with a flashback two years earlier, eighteen months after Michael's death. Rafael tells Jane that he is dating someone (so he's been dating Abbey for two years!) and he encourages Jane to start writing again. This encouragement is perfect. In the present, Rafael lets Jane know that she prefers female authority figures over male authority figures, as she prepares to meet her new, male editor. It's funny when she meets him, and he is overly excited about her novel. Jane works on adding more obstacles to her novel, and the obstacle she adds of the Rafael-based character trying to win the Jane-based character back results in some funny moments for Justin Baldoni.

Jane later decides to add a part where a character based on Xo seduces Rafael's character, and it is very funny when Xo opposes this. Jane tries again with an obstacle by adding Petra in the story, and it's very funny. Jane goes to her editor, and when they talk she discovers that they actually work together well. Jane continues to work on her story, and it's funny when Alba asks when she gets to show up in her story. Jane talks to Alba, and she has wonderful insight about how Jane's former love for Rafael deepened what Jane and Michael had.

Jane and Rafael get Mateo an aide. Jane thinks that a mom is being mean to her, and when she overhears something she snaps at her and the person she's talking to, which turns out to the the president of the school. Petra helps Jane try to fix this, which goes poorly. Jane volunteers for a fundraising event, but ends up selling way less raffle tickets than last year. When talking to the aide, Jane realizes that she doesn't like the aide because she gossips about the parents and kids. So, Jane and Rafael decide to go with the male aide instead.

In the other stories this week, Petra can't get her mind off of how she moved the bones, Rafael deals with Abbey wanting to move in with him, and Rogelio tries to settle his breach of contract. These stories weren't as strong as Jane's. The Petra story had some good moments, but the Rafael story and the story with Rogelio and Xo weren't all that interesting. Bruce proposes to Xo, and it's a great scene. At the end, Abbey tips the police that the investigation into Scott's death should be re-opened, a nice cliffhanger for the next episode.


Jane's stories this week were strong, especially the writing one. I love Jane's writing-themed stories, as long as they don't copy previous plots, as has happened. The scene between Jane and Rafael at the end of the episode seemed to indicate that the Jane and Rafael romance may be coming back soon, which I hope doesn't happen because it just feels wrong now.

Score: 8/10

What did you think of "Chapter Fifty-Seven"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Superior Donuts S1E5 Review

This week's episode of Superior Donuts has to do with protesting.


S1E5 "Takin' It to the Streets"

Franco and Sweatpants are getting pushed out of their apartment, and it turns out that it is Fawz who wants to turn it into a condo. Franco gets angry at Fawz about this, and there are some hilarious moments when Sweatpants tries to back Franco up, such as when he talks about how Franco likes to take it. Franco starts a protest, and he tries to get Arthur involved, but he insists he will remain neutral. It is hilarious when the protest chases one of Fawz's best customers away, and he chases after them. Fawz has some more great moments when he turns everything into a promotion for his business while being interviewed. However, things take a wrong turn when someone spray paints "Arab go home" on the dry cleaner.

Arthur tells Franco about his history with protesting, trying to encourage Franco to not give it up. Arthur decides to take action, and spray paints "Arabs welcome" on his window. Franco and Fawz talk, and it is a great discussion. I especially loved Fawz's line about people hating him for the content of his character. At the end of the episode, Fawz announces that he will continue to let the poor people stay in their apartments, and it's funny when he tries to get everyone excited after they discover his real motives.

Randy has to be nice to James so that he will write her a recommendation, and it's funny when she struggles through situations where he makes a total ass of himself. James gets totally overdressed for the protest in preparation in case it turns into a riot, and it is very funny when Randy goes back and forth between complimenting him, and making fun of him to another officer. Randy reveals to James why she was being so nice, and it's very funny when he discovers how much longer she has to be nice to him for.


This was the show's best episode yet. It's been obvious that this show wants to be relevant and tackle the issues, and this week it did that very well, with just the right amounts of seriousness and humor. Fawz had many great moments this week, making him really stand out. But Randy was just as funny as usual in her story.

Score: 10/10

What did you think of "Takin' It to the Streets"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

New Show Hit/Miss Spring 2017 - Taken

New Show Hit/Miss Spring 2017 - Taken
The Oscars were last night, and The Voice returns tonight, which means spring is here, at least in the TV season. First off, tonight new series Taken premieres following The Voice.


What May Cause Taken to be a Hit?

The Voice lead-in
NBC gave this show the second-best lead-in it could get: the Monday editions of The Voice. Revolution, The Blacklist, and Blindspot all had strong first seasons here. NBC is definitely giving this show a real chance.

Success of film
A successful film doesn't necessarily mean a successful TV series, but Taken's success in the theaters lead to sequels, similar to how Lethal Weapon got multiple sequels, and Lethal Weapon turned out to be a successful TV series.

Weak competition
Scorpion isn't really a show to worry about going up against, but that competition from CBS is certainly stronger than the competition Taken will face from ABC with Quantico. And anyway, only about half of Taken's episodes will compete with Scorpion episodes anyway.


What May Cause Taken to be a Miss for NBC?

General lack of success for film-based TV series
TV has tried movies before. Training Day, About a Boy, Bad Teacher, Limitless, Minority Report, Rush Hour, and Taxi Brooklyn were all based on films, and all were canceled after one season except Training Day, which is currently still airing but certain to be canceled, and About a Boy, which failed in season two. Lethal Weapon is a rare occurrence. So, it is more likely that Taken fails than succeeds.

NBC doesn't need it
If Taken were to perform just decently, would NBC even renew it? Things are going well at the network currently, and they have limited room for scripted series, and with how Smash, Revolution, and Blindspot fell when moved away from Mondays, NBC would see little reason to renew Taken.

Not a procedural
It seems that what works best on NBC is procedurals. All of their successful dramas aside from This is Us are procedurals. The only dramas that NBC renewed for this season that don't have a case-of-the-week format are Grimm, for a final season, and decent performer Shades of Blue, which has a police theme. So, Taken may not be on-brand enough to succeed on NBC.


What to Expect for Taken?

I think that the biggest factor here is the lack of success for film-based TV series, though airing after The Voice will inflate Taken's ratings.


Which factors do you think will cause Taken to be a hit or a miss? Leave your thoughts in the comments! And, if you haven't already, vote on the rating it gets for its premiere!

The TV Ratings Guide's Week in Review: Week of February 20th

TV Ratings 2/23/17: Redemption Starts Low, HTGAWM Ends On the Rise, Riverdale Keeps Falling (UPDATED)


Thursday night saw a few irregular airings, with Chicago Med and Scandal taking the week off and The Blacklist: Redemption beginning its short run. On NBC, they had a pretty rough night. Superstore stayed steady, but Powerless slipped a tenth and The Blacklist was down a few tenths from Chicago Med in its special slot. Redemption started very poorly, only mustering a 0.8, down from the Blacklist's performance in the slot last week. ABC had a decent night, with HTGAWM rising for its finale, but Grey's Anatomy falling a tenth. The Big Bang Theory on CBS stayed even with last week's season low, while the remaining comedies all dropped. Fox's reality lineup stayed pretty steady, with Masterchef Jr ticking up. On the CW, both shows fell a tenth, with Riverdale slipping to a new low.


Finals Update: How to Get Away With Murder (-0.1) and Training Day (-0.1) adjusted down.

Time
Show
18-49 Rating/Share
Viewers (mil)
Channel
8 PM
The Big Bang Theory
2.8/1113.22
CBS

Grey’s Anatomy
2.0/87.60
ABC

Masterchef Junior
1.2/53.82
Fox

Superstore
1.1/43.53
NBC

Supernatural
0.6/21.62
The CW
8:30 PM
The Great Indoors
1.5/67.45
CBS

Powerless
0.7/32.29
NBC
9 PM
How to Get Away With Murder (F)
1.4/54.95
CBS

Mom
1.4/57.51
ABC

The Blacklist
0.9/44.92
NBC

My Kitchen Rules
0.7/32.19
Fox

Riverdale
0.3/10.96
The CW
9:30 PM
Life in Pieces
1.2/55.97
CBS
10 PM
The Blacklist: Redemption (Ser. P)
0.8/34.20
NBC

Training Day
0.6/23.66
CBS