CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

04/05/04

Good morning.  It’s Monday, April 5, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

Several upcoming programming notes for NBC:  Beginning Thursday, June 3 at 830p, a new sitcom Come to Papa starring Tom Papa.  Kicking off the following Monday, June 7 is the return of For Love or Money from Nash Entertainment and on June 8 the premiere of Last Comic Standing.  The following week, June 14 marks the debut of Who Wants to Marry My Dad at 10p and Next Action Star reality series begins on June 15 at 8pm (winner stars in an action movie set to debut on NBC August 11 called Hit Me).  And finally, the Summer Olympics runs for two and a half weeks in August, beginning on the 13 and running though the 29th.

In response to controversy raised by the November 2003 airing of “The Guilty Men,” an episode of the “Men Who Killed Kennedy” series, The History Channel has produced a new program called The Guilty Men: An Historical Review.  In this one-hour program, three distinguished historians examine America’s fascination with the John F. Kennedy assassination, the credibility of the theory that Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was involved in the assassination, and the way the theory was presented in “The Guilty Men” program. It will air on Wednesday, April 7th at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.  The History Channel had received critical feedback from its viewers, as well as protests from family members and associates of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

That 70’s Show is cleared for a double run next season in 70% of the country says distributor Carsey-Werner-Mandabach, with stations signing up for a two year deal. Terms for the show are cash plus 1-1/2 minutes barter.  As for weekends, CWM cleared thus far 65% of the country with a straight barter deal.

New in Casting/Development/Production:

• NBC‘s drama pilot Revelations (Pariah) has added John Rhys-Davis to the cast, starring Bill Pullman and Natascha McElhone based on the Bible’s Book of Revelations.
• ABC‘s untitled comedy project starring Lewis Black (Paramount) about a cranky history teacher who becomes the school principal, has signed Michael Boatman to play the vice principal.  And Joey Lawrence has joined the cast of I Married Sofia (DDJ Prods/Touchstone) starring Sofia Vergara as a Latina single mom who marries an American businessman (Lawrence) in order to remain inthe US.  And in the net’s comedy project Thank God It’s Monday (Touchstone), Matthew Morrison has been added to the ensemble that include Ever Carradine, Tamara Taylor, Ed Kerr and Louis Lombardi.
• UPN‘s comedy pilot Me Me Me (20th) has signed Innis Casey to the lineup which stars Julie Gonzalo and Ayda Field.

The working title is Extreme Reunions, and according to Variety this show plans to bring back together families split apart by any number of reason. LMNO Prods and MyFamily.com which is a search engine for lost family members, are planning on teaming up to create this reunion show.  No network has signed up as yet.

Also in the planning stages in a new reality show for ABC, with rich kids put into survival type circumstances. The working title uses last year’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here as a jumping off place — I’m a Rich Kid! Get Me Out of Here! and surely the network is hoping more will tune in to see Paris Hilton type shenanigans than they did from Robin Leach and Melissa Rivers last season. The ABC deal with Granada USA is contingent on the cast, which has not been determined as yet. Assuming ABC goes forward, they are looking at a potential debut in early September, as a lead-in to the new fall season.

Foxwoods Resort Casino has named Kaplan Thaler Group as their agency of record, switching from Trahan, Burden & Charles, according to The New York Times.  Also, Mohegan Sun is also switching agencies, naming Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners a their new shop of record.  Mohegan had been with Cliff Freeman & Partners for the pat three years.

Weekend Box Office Estimates – April 2-4, 2004
Hellboy (Sony)                                            $23.5 million – opening weekend
Walking Tall (MGM)                                    $15.3 million – opening weekend
Scooby Doo 2 (Warner Bros.)                    $15.1 million – 2 wk total $50.0m
Home on the Range (Disney)                     $14.0 million – opening weekend
The Prince & Me (Paramount)                    $10.0 million – opening weekend
Passion of the Christ (Newmarket)            $9.9 million – 6 wk total $330.1m
Ladykillers (Buena Vista)                             $7.0 million – 2 wk total $23.4m
Jersey Girl (Miramax)                                 $5.2 million – 2 wk total $15.8m
Dawn of the Dead (Universal)                    $4.4 million – 3 wk total $51.5m
Taking Lives (Warner Bros.)                      $3.5 million – 3 wk total $27.5m
Source: Box Office Mojo

Former VeePee Al Gore was well on the path to owning a digital cable network, Newsworld International, in an acquisition from Vivendi Universal.  As it turns out, according to the New York Observer, the deal may have fallen apart at the last moment when Gore’s investors got a little nervous and a final sale price could not be agreed upon. The reported price tag for Newsworld was in the $70 million range.  In the event the deal does not go through, Newsworld will get rolled into the Universal Entertainment assets NBC is purchasing from Vivendi, though NBC’s level of interest in this digi-net remains to be seen.  Newsworld is available in approx 20 million homes.

Cynopsis is launching a new edition — Cynopsis Multi-Cultural Edition (aka M-CE).  The edition will launch on a daily basis starting next Monday, April 12.  If you’re interested in subscribing – it is a separate opt-in – just hit reply, put C-ME in the subject line, and Ariana and I will take care of it for you.  If you’re not interested, no worries.

Casting:  Fantasy Island it ain’t. Australian producers of the new reality series entitled The Colony are looking for one British family, preferably one with five kids between the ages of 5-18, who are willing to move to Australia and back 200 years into the past.  But in order to make the reality complete, producers are also searching for all of the other players that one might expect to run into in the area at the top of the 19th century: an Irish family, a retired military officer, 10 people to take on the part of convicts, and a group that will portray the indigenous Australians.  Prior to being sent off on their own, the entire group will be given a course in survival training to help them get into their roles.  If you are British and interested or have some neighbors you would like to get rid of for a few months check out the details at www.thecolony.com.au.

The game is back on Thursday nights, and for this round, NBC was in the lead by a share point:  8.2/22 vs.7.8/21 A18-49 over CBS according to Nielsen Media Research.  ABC followed in the distance with a 2.3/6, as was UPN 1.7/4, FOX 1.6/4, WB 1.1/3.  At 8pm, CBS had a decided with a 8.2/23 for Survivor All Stars, vs. 5.5/16 for NBC’s Friends and a 5.9/16 for Will & Grace.  But NBC took the lead at 9p with The Apprentice 9.8/24 over CSI 9.4/23.  And at 10p NBC had a decision win with a 9.3/25 over CBS’ Without a Trace 6.0/16.

Friday night, a slow night all the way around, was led by NBC’s 3.1/10 among A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research.  CBS and ABC tied for #2 with a 2.0/7, followed by Fox 1.5/5, WB 1.2/4, UPN 0.6/2.  At 8pm NBC’s first hour of Dateline was in front with a 2.4/9, a share point ahead of both ABC 2.1/8 and CBS 2.2/8.  ABC’s premiere of The Big House at 830p drew a 2.1/7, dropping just one share point from its George Lopez lead-in, and posting its largest demo numbers in the W35-49 category with a 3.2/9.  At 9p NBC was in front again with a 3.2/10 for the second hour of Dateline with ABC’s sitcoms Hope & Faith and Life with Bonnie ranking second (2.3/7), a share ahead of JAG on CBS. At 10p NBC’s L&O: SVU held the lead position for the third consecutive hour with a 3.6/11, while CBS’ The District earned a 1.8/6, and The DA on ABC a 1.7/5.

Thanks to NCAA Basketball, CBS won the night on Saturday with a solid 5.5/18 A18-49 in fast affiliate ratings from Nielsen Media Research.  Fox was #2 for the night, a night it usually owns, with a 2.5/8, followed by NBC and ABC tied with a 1.9/6.  At 8pm CBS began the night with a 5.0/17, followed by back to back Cops eps on Fox earning a 2.5/9.   At 9pm CBS held on with a 5.7/18 for its basketball coverage, and a second hour of back to back Cops eps was #2 again with a 2.5/8. NBC’s 8-10p movie The Thomas Crown Affair delivered a 1.4/5 while ABC’s Disney movie The Emperor’s New Grove found a 1.8/6.  At 10p CBS continued its winning streak with a 5.7/18, distantly followed by a repeat of L&O on NBC 2.7/9, and ABC’s AFV 2.3/7.

Thursday, April 1, 2004. Fast Affiliate Household Ratings for all Networks. Fast affiliate numbers which reflect time period data, not program data, and can change slightly once the finals come in, particularly for LIVE programming (i.e. Football). Source Nielsen Media Research. Time Period Averages Only. [p] = Premiere; [o] = Original; [r] = Repeat

CBS     13.5/21 Survivor: All Stars 12.7/20, CSI 16.2/24, Without a Trace 11.7/19

NBC     11.5/18 Friends 9.1/15, Will & Grace 9.2/14, The Apprentice 12.9/20, ER 12.6/21

ABC     4.6/7   Extreme Makeover: Home Edition [r] 4.1/6, Extreme Makeover [r] 4.6/7, ABC News Special 5.1/8

UPN     3.2/5   WWE Smackdown 3.2/5

FOX     2.7/4   Tru Calling 3.4/5, Wonderfalls 2.1/3

WB      1.7/3   Steve Harvey’s Big Time [r] 2.1/3, Like Family 1.6/2, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment 1.7/3, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment [r] 1.5/2

A18-49  NBC 8.2/22, CBS 7.8/21, ABC 2.3/6, UPN 1.7/4, FOX 1.6/4, WB 1.1/3

Friday, April 2, 2004. Fast Affiliate Household Ratings for all Networks. Fast affiliate numbers which reflect time period data, not program data, and can change slightly once the finals come in, particularly for LIVE programming (i.e. Football). Source Nielsen Media Research. Time Period Averages Only. [p] = Premiere; [o] = Original; [r] = Repeat

NBC     7.1/13  Dateline NBC 6.9/12, Law & Order: Criminal Intent [r] 7.5/14

CBS     6.3/11  Joan of Arcadia 6.2/11, JAG 7.0/12, The District 5.9/11

ABC     3.9/7   George Lopez 4.3/8, The Big House [p] 3.8/7, Hope & Faith [r] 4.4/8, Life with Bonnie 4.1/7, The DA 3.5/6

FOX     2.4/4   Totally Outrageous Behavior 2.4/5, The World’s Craziest Videos 2.7/5, Forever Eden 2.2/4

WB      2.2/4   Reba [r]n2.4/4, Reba [r] 2.7/5, Grounded for Life [r]  1.9/3, The Help 1.8/3

UPN     1.0/2   Game Over 0.9/2, Game Over 0.9/2, One on One [r] 1.0/2, Rock Me Baby [r] 1.0/2

A18-49  NBC 3.1/10, CBS and ABC 2.0/7, Fox 1.5/5, WB 1.2/4, UPN 0.6/2

Saturday, April 3, 2004. Fast Affiliate Household Ratings for all Networks. Fast affiliate numbers which reflect time period data, not program data, and can change slightly once the finals come in, particularly for LIVE programming (i.e. Football). Source Nielsen Media Research. Time Period Averages Only. [p] = Premiere; [o] = Original; [r] = Repeat

CBS     9.4/17  NCAA Basketball 9.4/17

NBC     4.5/8   Movie: The Thomas Crown Affair 3.8/7; Law & Order [r] 5.9/11

FOX     4.2/8   Cops 3.6/7, Cops 4.4/8, Cops 4.6/8, Cops  4.3/8

ABC     3.5/6   The Wonderful World of Disney: The Emperor’s New Groove 3.3/6, America’s Funniest Home Videos 3.8/7

A18-49  CBS 5.5/18, Fox 2.5/8, NBC and ABC 1.9/6

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source: NTI Explorer, 3/24/04 or as noted. TP: Wed 9-10pm.  New drama rank based on 18-34 demos.  US Rating.

The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
1994 – Kurt Cobain, one of rock music’s most reluctant superstars, takes his life in Seattle, Washington.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question: What is the full name of the guy who founded Nielsen Media Research? ARTHUR CHARLES NIELSEN.  Kudos to:  Carol Teichman-WFSB/Hartford, Jeff Rosenberg-Superstation WGN/NY; Robin Kenwood-ITN Networks/NY; Bob Sieber-Media Consulting and Research/Atlanta; Marge Pistulka-Empower MediaMarketing/Naperville; Michael Grueter-Empower MediaMarketing/Chicago; Dan Whitford-RPA/Chicago; Brian Nugent-KPIF/Pocatello; Dave Harding-Termite Art Prods/LA; Howard Miller-Fulcrum Coaching/San Francisco; Muhammad Eldereiny-RPA/LA; Mitzi Moskovitz-TechTV/San Francisco.

A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST SPOTLIGHT

Comcast Spotlight now has the ability to segment markets both geographically and demographically. Adtag and Adcopy enable advertisers to be more targeted than they could ever be with broadcast. Comcast Spotlight – Spot cable finally delivers. For more information click here.

Today’s Trivia Question:   Often referred by his nickname Handi-Man, this guy worked inthe mailroom at the Daily Glove newspaper.  What was this character’s real name?(click here to respond to the trivia question and please be sure to include with your answer your name, company, city and time zone. Only the second four correct responses from each time zone will be listed in tomorrow’s kudo list.)

Later — Cyn

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis
04/05/04  5:29am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  MONDAY, APRIL 5,  2004

COURT TV:       The I-Zone, Forensic Files, The Investigators
ABC             Peter Jennings Reporting: Jesus and Paul – The Word and the Witness
CBS             Everybody Loves Raymond [r], Two and a Half Men [r], NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
FOX             Bernie Mac Show, Cracking Up, That 70s Show [r], That 70s Show [r]
NBC             Fear Factor, Average Joe: Adam Returns [finale]
PAX             AFV, AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             The Parkers [r], Eve [r], Girlfriends [r], Half & Half [r]
WB              7th Heaven [r], Everwood
TELE            Prisonera, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Cristina