Friday Cable Ratings, 7/28/17: ’Raven’s Home’ Slips, ’Live PD’ Leads



 Top 25

Show
Network
18-49 Rating
Viewers (mil.)
1. Live PD: 55 Live PDA&E Network
0.59
1.76
2. African Shark Safari Discovery
0.46
1.16
3. Lair of the SawfishDiscovery
0.46
1.15
4. Raven's HomeDisney Channel
0.40
1.66
5. Williams Stream (4:00 am)Adult Swim
0.36
0.72
6. Williams Stream (4:15 am)Adult Swim
0.32
0.63
7. Loud HouseNickelodeon 
0.31
1.54
8. K.C. UndercoverDisney Channel
0.31
1.48
9. Diners, Drive-ins & DivesFood Network
0.29
1.00
10. Last Word W/L. O'Donnell MSNBC
0.28
2.29
11. Erin Burnett Outfront CNN
0.28
1.35
12. BizaardvarkDisney Channel
0.27
1.47
13. Situation Room (6:00pm)CNN
0.26
1.29
14. Mickey and the RoadsterDisney Channel
0.26
1.13
15. Pardon the Interruption ESPN
0.26
0.70
16. Situation Room (5:00 pm)CNN
0.25
1.45
17. Anderson Cooper 360 (9pm) CNN
0.25
1.22
18. Puppy Dog PalsDisney Channel
0.25
1.20
19. Ancient Aliens History
0.25
1.08
20. Richard Engel on Assignment MSNBC 
0.24
1.90
21. Fox and FriendsFox News 
0.24
1.83
22. Anderson Cooper 360 (8 pm)CNN
0.24
1.22
23. Welcome to the WayneNickelodeon 
0.24
1.11
24.  All in W/Chris HayesMSNBC
0.22
1.77
25. Killjoys SYFY
0.22
0.72
Source: ShowBuzzDaily 

NBC Announces Fall Premiere Dates For the 2017-18 Season (UPDATED)



NBC has released the premiere dates for their shows that will be premiering in the fall. Dates and times are listed below. Notably missing from this list is Taken which is set to air Fridays at 9.

July 30, 2017 Update: NBC has moved up the second season premiere of 'The Good Place' from Thursday, September 28 to Wednesday, September 20. It will now air after the season finale of 'America's Got Talent' and will be a 1-hr premiere from 10pm to 11pm. The Blacklist premiere has moved from October 4 to September 27, eliminating the Wednesday airing of The Voice.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Returning
America’s Got Talent (8:00pm-10:00pm)
Returning
The Good Place (10:00pm-11:00pm)  

Monday, September 25, 2017

Returning
The Voice (8:00pm-10:00pm)
NEW
The Brave (10:00pm-11:00pm)

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Returning
The Voice (8:00pm-9:00pm)
Returning
This Is Us (9:00pm-10:00pm)
NEW
Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders (10:00pm-11:00pm)

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Returning
The Blacklist (8:00pm-9:00pm)
Returning
Law & Order: SVU (9:00pm-10:00pm)
Returning
Chicago P.D. (10:00pm-11:00pm)

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Returning
Superstore (8:00pm-8:30pm)
Returning
The Good Place (8:30pm-9:00pm) (Timeslot Premiere)
Returning
Will & Grace (9:00pm-9:30pm)
Returning
Great News (9:30pm-10:00pm)
Returning
Chicago Fire (10:00pm-11:00pm)

Friday, September 29, 2017

Returning
Dateline NBC (9:00pm-11:00pm)

Friday October 27, 2017

Returning
Blindspot (8:00pm-9:00pm)

As always, leave your thoughts in the comment section below.


Beyond The TV Grave: The Muppets

This is the 'Beyond The TV Grave' series where we shell out our thoughts on shows that were canceled after airing no less than 5 episodes and no more than 50. I will go through the good and bad and give a final verdict on whether or not I would have liked to see more. 

photo: muppet wikia 
It goes without saying that the Muppets are an iconic cast of characters. Their origins date back to 1955 when Jim Henson created a five-minute puppet show, 'Sam and Friends', for a local television station. Henson and his characters soon rose through the ranks with 'Sesame Street' in 1969, 'The Muppet Show' in 1976, and countless other television specials and feature films. The Muppets continue to make shows, movies, and viral videos to this day and have cemented their place in the pop culture universe. But, that doesn't mean that everything these furry creatures have made has resulted in critical and commercial success. 1999's 'Muppets From Space' bombed at the box office while two muppet television shows, 'Muppets Tonight' & 'The Jim Henson Hour', only lasted two seasons and a season respectively. This leads us to 2015's 'The Muppets'. The ABC series came just under 20 years after the premiere of 'Muppets Tonight'. While it had initial commercial success, ratings collapsed and the series was canceled after one short season of 16 episodes. So, without further ado, let's take a look at how this series holds up over a year after its demise.

'The Muppets' focused on the mayhem that unfolded behind-the-scenes of a late-night talk show, Up Late With Miss Piggy. This is strikingly similar to past muppet programs like 'Muppets Tonight' and the original 1970s series. But, unlike those shows, this series did not use a laugh track and used a mockumentary style similar to 'The Office' and 'Parks & Recreation'. Just like how the 1970's Muppet show was a satire of variety shows, the 2015 series acted as a satire of the mockumentary/office sitcom. It's tough to explain if the series did justice to the Henson creations, but it did manage to add some new character dynamics and explore some fresh new ideas.

Sure, there was some uncomfortable stuff. Scooter pushing Elizabeth Banks off a go-cart in the pilot was out-of-character and bizarre. The same goes for Sam the Eagle's ongoing crush on Janice. But, despite absurd moments like the ones mentioned, the heart was still there. "Bear Left Then Bear Write" focused on Kermit & Fozzie's friendship and it definitely showcased the true spirit of the Muppets. "Going, Going, Gonzo" was all about Gonzo trying to go back to his roots as an extreme daredevil and building up the courage to shoot himself out of a cannon like the good old days. Episodes like these showed that the writers knew what they were doing with these characters.

Speaking of the characters, the show reintroduced and reinvented many of the Muppets and it mostly worked in its favor. The second episode had a subplot where the Muppet Newsman and Bobo the Bear were competing to see who could see the most girl scout cookies. The Muppet Newsman is a character that is known for his one-off joke, so it was incredible to see him doing something outside of reporting the news and getting injured in the process. The show expanded on other background characters like Yolanda, Chip, and Uncle Deadly. While the general public might not see any significance, I really loved how much the writers tried to incorporate everyone in the cast and add something new to them.

Despite including more Muppets, the series struggled to capture who the Muppets really are. There were no dancing penguins, crazy explosions, or any other sort of madcap comedy. At times, the series felt stiff and tedious, especially in the back half of the season. Also, the clever jokes about the mockumentary filming method drifted away and the series became what it was attempting to make fun of. And while many praised the final six "rebooted" episodes of the season, I felt that they took a wrong turn.

The last couple episodes before the reboot were really starting to get things together. The seventh episode, "Pig's in a Blackout", felt like something straight-out-of the original series. The Christmas episode was also exceptional. Unfortunately, the episodes following it lacked the greatness that was beginning to form. The writers decided to add some recurring human characters as well as make the show feature more segments of 'Up Late with Miss Piggy'. Both of these ideas did not work well. The segments were forced, unfunny, and felt like a weak attempt to mimic the ones on the original Muppet Show. The human characters also added nothing. The following episodes toned down on the comedy of the past episodes and decided to focus a lot more on Miss Piggy as well as her relationship with Kermit. And while the finale was a decent closer, it seemed like the show had broken what had already begun to be fixed.

The Verdict

Ultimately, 'The Muppets' was a good show for the first half and then a mediocre one for the second half. The show got a lot of things right that were undone with the soft reboot, but the series was far from perfect. Nevertheless, I would still be open for a second season. Sure, the back-half didn't really work for me, but shows need time to find their groove. The original Muppet show was a mess until the second season. So, while it had its problems, I'd still love to see more. 

Grade: B


What did you think of the 'The Muppets'? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. 

Sporcle Off-Topic Quizzes of the Week- Movies Edition/Sporcle Contest Part 3 (UPDATED)

It's the third edition of the Off-Topic Sporcle Quizzes of the Week, and we're back after a little hiatus. This week is all about the Movies, so grab your popcorn and Coke and get to your seats. This movie (quiz) marathon is about to start!

1- Meryl Streep's Oscar Noms
Our first quiz focuses on one specific actress, Meryl Streep, and all of her many Oscar nominations. It's definitely a challenge, and was even a bit difficult for a huge Meryl Streep fan like myself, but some are pretty easy. Plus, it gave me a few Meryl Streep movies to add to my watchlist.
My Score: 20/20

2- 5 by 5 Pixar Characters
I'm a huge Pixar fan, so I really loved this quiz. It had a nice variety of quizzes, incorporating characters from many different Pixar "fliks", as well as using a variety of characters, instead of the traditional "Name the Main Character"-type quizzes. Plus, it reminded me of some great Pixar characters that I'd forgotten about. All in all, this was a very fun quiz for me.
My Score: 24/25

3- Oscar Best Pictures All Time
We'll end this week's edition with a quiz about the most iconic award in the most iconic award show for American cinema: the Oscar for Best Picture! It's not a very easy quiz for the casual movie fan, as there's some very obscure and not-very-iconic movies that have won Best Picture, but there's also iconic and famous films like The Godfather, so most will be able to get at least a few of these correct.
My Score: 69/89

RESULTS
1- JB, 134 points
2- Good Behavior in Animal Kingdom, 129 points
3- Barb, 122 points
4- Lisa, 91 points
5- Miguens, 54 points
6- Full Boyle, 35 points


TOURNAMENT
This is the first week of the Off-Topic TVRG-Sporcle Tournament. For each week, the number of questions you got correct on each quiz will be added up. The first place finisher receives 3 points for placing first, as well. This is the same scoring system used for the TV edition, which is posted once weekly on Sundays. Also, to make things fair, please use the score for your first attempt on each quiz as your official score.

Please enter your submission using this Google Form:

Tournament Standings:
1- JB, 319 points
2- Good Behavior in Animal Kingdom, 184 points
3- Barb, 181 points
4t- Miguens, 142 points
4t- Lisa, 142 points
6- Game of Thrones PT, 114 points
7- Full Boyle, 87 points

Thanks for playing the Sporcle Quizzes of the Week! Make sure to participate in the original TV edition, only on TVRG. Next week on Off-Topic, we'll be playing four quizzes instead of the traditional three, when we play each of Sporcle's "Daily Dose" quizzes. 


TV Ratings 7/29/17: 'Still Star-Crossed' Ends Steady, 'Dateline' Wins the Night (UPDATED)


Here are the final broadcast ratings for July 29, 2017. 

photo: ABC/Jeronimo Alvarez



Time
Show
18-49 Rating
    Total Viewers        (In Millions)
8:00pm
0.5
3.12

America’s Funniest Home Videos (R) (ABC)
0.3
2.37

Doubt (CBS)
0.2
1.71

The F Word (R) (FOX)
0.2
0.52




9:00pm
48 Hours (R) (CBS)
0.4
2.69

20/20: In an Instant (R) (ABC)
0.3
1.85

Love Connection (R) (FOX)
0.2
0.80




10:00pm
Law & Order: SVU (R) (NBC)
0.4
2.07

0.2
0.88


(R) = repeat
(F) = finale

Finals Update: All shows held their preliminary results. 


ABC said a not-so-heartfelt goodbye to drama 'Still Star-Crossed' (0.2). The series was steady with its last result and tied its low. As always, it lost to repeats of 'AFV' (0.3) and '20/20: In an Instant' (0.3).

CBS continued burning off 'Doubt' (0.2). It was up a tenth from last week's dreadful 0.1. It led into two hours of '48 Hours' (0.4), the other 46 hours were left unaired.

NBC had an original Dateline (0.5), with 0.4/0.6 half-hours, leading into a repeat of 'Law & Order: SVU' (0.4).

FOX had repeats of their Wednesday and Thursday weak links, 'The F Word' (0.2) and 'Love Connection' (0.2).

TV Ratings 7/28/17: 'Shark Tank' Encore & 'Dateline' Slip, 'What Would You Do?' Steady (UPDATED)


Here are the final broadcast ratings for Friday, July 28, 2017. 


Time
Show
18-49 Rating
Total Viewers     (In Millions)
8:00pm
America’s Got Talent (R) (NBC)
0.7
3.98

Shark Tank (R) (ABC)
0.6
3.31

MacGyver (R) (CBS)
0.5
3.89

MasterChef (R) (FOX)
0.4
1.43

Masters of Illusion (CW)
0.2
1.00




8:30pm
Masters of Illusion (R) (CW)
0.2
0.86




9:00pm
What Would You Do? (ABC)
0.6
3.12

Hawaii Five-0 (R) (CBS)
0.5
4.72

Beat Shazam (R) (FOX)
0.4
1.23

Penn & Teller: Fool Us (R) (CW)
0.2
0.87




10:00pm
0.8
4.21

20/20 (ABC)
0.7
3.52

Blue Bloods (R) (CBS)
0.4
4.90

(R) = repeat

Finals Update: A repeat of 'America's Got Talent' (0.7) adjusted down. 


On ABC 'What Would You Do?' (0.6) was steady after taking a week off. It led out of a repeat of Shark Tank (0.6), the latter was a tenth below its normal delivery. At 10, 20/20 (0.7) rose a tenth from its last outing.

NBC's 'Dateline' (0.8) inched down leading out of a strong 'America's Got Talent' repeat (0.8).

CBS had its usual drama repeat trio (0.5/0.5/0.4). 'Blue Bloods' was a tenth below normal at 10.

FOX also had its normal lineup (0.4/0.4).

The CW had 0.2s across the board for an hour of 'Masters of Illusion' and a repeat of 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us".