Cynopsis

08/11/08

Good morning. It’s Monday, August 11, 2008, and this is your first early morning briefing.  

On par with the Super Bowl, NBC’s opening night ceremony event from the summer Olympics in Beijing averaged 34.2 million viewers. Friday’s telecast was to-date the largest audience for a non-U.S. Olympic opening ceremony, topping the most recent Academy Awards and the finale of FOX’s American Idol. According to Nielsen, four years ago the summer Olympics in Athens averaged 25.4 million viewers during its opening night and Sydney posted 27.3 million viewers in 2000.

Tonight’s Premiere:
Military Channel: Backyard to Battlefield at 10p

Tonight’s Finale:
ABC: The Mole at 10p

ABC announced its live primetime coverage of both the Democratic and Republican Conventions will be broadcast in hi-def and headed by anchors Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos. ABC’s coverage of the Democratic Convention in Denver will air August 25-28 from 10-11p each night; and based in St. Paul, ABC will air the Republican Convention from September 1-4 at 10-11p each night.

TBS’ second season finale of My Boys last Thursday at 10p averaged 673,000 A18-34 viewers, 1.1 A18-49 viewers and 1.5 million total viewers. The network is expected to announce a third season renewal for the series.

Top 10 Weekend Box Office Estimates: August 8-10, 2008
The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.)          $26.0 million – 4 wk total $441.5m
Pineapple Express (Sony)                  $22.4 million – 1 wk total $40.5m
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Universal) $16.1 million – 2 wk total $70.7m
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (Warner Bros.) $10.8 million – 1 wk total $19.7m
Step Brothers (Sony)                       $8.9 million – 3 wk total $80.9m
Mamma Mia! (Universal)                    $8.1 million – 4 wk total $104.0m
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D (New Line) $4.9 million – 5 wk total $81.8m
Hancock (Sony)                              $3.3 million – 6 wk total $221.7m
Swing Vote (Buena Vista)                 $3.1 million – 2 wk total 12.0m
Wall-E (Buena Vista)                        $3.0 million – 7 wk total $210.1m
Source: Box Office Mojo

And inexplicably, the industry lost three notables over the last few days …

Actor/comedian Bernie Mac died Saturday at age 50 from complications associated with pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital. Born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on October 5, 1957, Bernie grew up poor in Chicago’s South Side living with his mother and grandparents. Despite doing stand-up comedy since he was a child, Bernie got his first big break landing a small role in the 1992 comedy Mo’ Money with Damon Wayans. Thereafter, Bernie appeared in numerous hit films including Spike Lee’s 1996 Get on the Bus, the Ocean’s Eleven franchise and the 2005 Guess Who with Ashton Kutcher among others. He was one of The Original Kings of Comedy in the 2000 documentary of the same name that brought Bernie and other African-American stand-up comedians to national attention. Concurrent to his film career, Bernie appeared in a recurring role on UPN’s Moesha in the late 1990’s. Soon after he moved to FOX for a starring role in the sitcom The Bernie Mac Show from 2001-2006, which earned him a Peabody Award and Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. FOX and 20th Century Fox Television released a statement following the news of Bernie’s death: “Bernie Mac was a gifted talent whose comedy came from an authentic and highly personal place. He was a tremendous live performer and a wonderful actor. FOX was proud to be the home of “The Bernie Mac Show,” and all of us at FOX and 20th Century Fox Television extend our deepest sympathies to his wife Rhonda and daughter JeNiece.”

Manager/producer Bernie Brillstein, considered an icon of the television industry died last Thursday of chronic pulmonary disease. He was 77. As head of his own talent management agency, Brillstein Co., Bernie’s roster of stars and shows that he discovered and developed was unparalleled, including Jim Henson, Gilda Radner, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd; as well as many film stars as Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Geena Davis, Nicolas Cage, and Martin Short. Bernie’s company was one of the first in the 1980s to delve into television production with shows developed around his clients including ALF, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. Later in the 1990s in partnership with Brad Grey, Brillstein-Grey Television developed The Sopranos, Just Shoot Me, NewsRadio, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and The Larry Sanders Show. Bernie is survived by his wife, Carrie; five children and one grandson. Rather than sending flowers, the family requests donations sent to the Barlow Respiratory Research Center in Los Angeles.

Songwriter/musician Isaac Hayes, 65, died Sunday at his Memphis home. Isaac won Academy and Grammy awards for his “Theme From Shaft” and was a pioneer in the early 1970’s for disco and rap music. Since 1997, he was also the voice of Chef, the ever-wise school cook on the Comedy Central series South Park. 

Sara Gilbert will join CBS’ The Big Bang Theory as a series regular after appearing three times on the Warner Bros. Television sitcom during the show’s inaugural season. Sara will continue the role of ultra-smart Leslie Winkle, a love interest to Leonard played by Johnny Galecki. The two actors also played opposite each other as girlfriend-boyfriend in the latter seasons of ABC’s Roseanne. The Big Bang Theory opens its sophomore season on September 22.

Sundance Channel approved production for the eight-episode series Eco-Trip: The Real Cost of Living hosted by environmentalist David de Rothschild. Produced by NBC’s Peacock Productions and sponsored by Subaru, the 30m series will debut next year and will track the eco-life of such ordinary items as a cotton t-shirt, salmon to a bottle of water detailing the environmental, social and health impact from production to disposal. 

CYNOPSIS DIGITAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  NBCOlympics.com got off to a promising start garnering 70 million page views on Friday – 10 times the usage achieved on opening day of the Athens Games in 2004. Some 4.8 million people watched 3.1 million video streams on Saturday, more than four times the peak number of daily streams during the 2006 winter Games in Torino, Italy. Features such as a 4-screen video display, the ability to schedule alerts and the capability to jump back and forth to specific periods within an event make the Olympics online a whole new ballgame. Better yet, NBC’s exhaustive online coverage of the Games (designed to complement and protect the broadcast schedule) is only helping to boost linear ratings. More viewers tuned in to watch the first two days of Olympic telecasts than any summer games in 10 years. Full edition: CYN DIGITAL.

CYNOPSIS KIDS – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  As Warner Bros.‘ The Dark Knight rides high on its fourth weekend topping the box office take (domestically $441.5 million), making number three in biggest domestic grosses behind Star Wars (1977/$460.9 million) and Titanic (1997/$600.8 million), there is concern by some in the UK, including politicians, about the rating the movie received there from the British Board of Film Classification, per just about every news outlet there.  In the UK, where The Dark Knight opened on July 25, the BBFC gave the movie a rating of 12A, which means that the movie is “suitable for [people] 12 years and older,” and an adult must accompany those under 12, rather than a 15 rating that indicates the movie is suitable for those 15+ years old.  In its first week in UK release the BBFC has received some 80+ complaints about the movie’s rating, according to BBC News. The BBC also looked at ratings the movie has received around the world, which include: Australia, M  Mature, unrestricted but recommended for audiences 16 years and up; Denmark, 15  for people 15 and older years; Finland, K-13, for people 13 years and up; France, Tous publics (u- universal) for all audiences; Hong Kong, IIB  not suitable for young people of children; Malaysia, U  all audiences; Netherlands, 16; here in the US the movie is rated PG-13, which cautions parents that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.  Even with these ratings, many of which are considered guidelines, some countries allow kids 7 and up to see any movie as long as accompanied by an adult, while other countries strictly enforce ratings.  Full edition: CYN KIDS.

CYNOPSIS INTERNATIONAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  In a few months time, African audiences will experience an MTV Networks Africa music awards ceremony just for them.  The 120-minute MTV Africa Music Awards event will air live from Nigeria on November 22 as part of the channel’s 3-year sponsorship agreement with Yemen’s Zain telecom company.  In previous MTV events, African artists were acknowledged in categories within global award events.  This first time around, the ceremony will air internationally on MTV as well as on its radio, mobile and internet platforms, including MTV Base, MTV2, STV, AIT, TBC and TV3.   Full edition: CYN INTERNATIONAL.

Thursday – A18-49 Analysis: FOX’s fancy moves won Thursday night with 3.3/11 A18-49, according to final national ratings from Nielsen Media Research. FOX swept away the competition as the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance won at 8p with 3.0/10 and stayed in the lead through 9p with 3.6/11. NBC’s talent competition show America’s Got Talent did best at 10p with a 2.4/7.

Live + Same Day Household Ratings: Thursday, August 7, 2008 time period averages. Source: NTI Galaxy, as dated. Live+SD.

FOX: 5.9/10        So You Think You Can Dance [f] 5.9/10

CBS: 4.1/7             Big Brother 3.7/7, CSI [r] 4.2/7, Flashpoint 4.3/8

NBC: 3.9/7            Last Comic Standing [f] 3.0/5, America’s Got Talent 4.8/8

ABC: 2.8/5           Ugly Betty [r] 2.4/4, Grey’s Anatomy [r] 2.5/4, Hopkins [f] 3.6/6

UNIV: 2.0/3          Al Diablo con los Guapos 2.3/4, Fuego en la Sangre 2.2/4, Rosa de Guadalupe 1.5/3

CW: 1.1/2             Smallville [r] 1.1/2, Supernatural [r] 1.2/2

MNT: 0.8/1            My Thursday Night Movie: After Alice 0.8/1

TELE: 0.7/1           El Juramento 0.5/1, Dona Barbara 0.8/1, Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso 0.7/1

A18-49: FOX 3.3/11, NBC 1.9/6, CBS 1.7/5, UNIV 1.6/5, ABC 1.3/4, CW 0.6/2, TELE 0.5/1, MNT 0.3/1

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) added Jeff Frost as EVP/Business Affairs to manage the studio’s business affairs division as well as daily operations and to be a strategic advisor for network, cable and syndicated television productions. Jeff’s duties will also include negotiating on behalf of the studio with networks, production companies, talent and other companies. He will report to Steve Mosko, President, SPT. ,

Stepping down from his post as EVP/Alternative Programming and Entertainment Content at CBS is Ghen Maynard.  He will move into a production development deal, giving both CBS and The CW first look deals.  Among his many deals as EVP at CBS, he brought numerous reality shows to CBS including Survivor and The Amazing Race and most recently to CBS The Greatest American Dog.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CABLE U

This day in History:   1984 – Carl Lewis won his fourth gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:  On this game show a panel of celebrities met with another celebrity who was disguised with heavy makeup and/or costume which provided clues to the person’s actual identity. What was the name of this show?   MASQUERADE PARTY (1952-1960) Kudos to: Janet Patterson-CMI Research/Atlanta; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing/NY; Jim Bono-Hallmark Channel/NY; Joel Gibbs-Joel Gibbs Productions/Philadelphia; Rob Maron-I’m Serious Productions/LA; Alan Perris-The Television Academy/North Hollywood/CA; Ron Paul-Disney Channel/Hollywood; Bob Boden-Fox Reality Channel/LA

Today’s Trivia Question: Happy McMann’s tobacco shop was the hangout for what TV Private Eye during most of the series’ run?   (Email
with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)

Later — Cyn
08.11.08

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT –  Monday, August 11, 2008

ABC: High School Musical: Get In the Picture, Samantha Who? [r], Samantha Who? [r], The Mole [f ]
AZTECA: Camino a la Justica, Historias Engarzadas, Pasiones Prohibidas
CBS: The Big Bang Theory [r], How I Met Your Mother [r], Two and a Half Men [r], The New Adventures of Old Christine [r], CSI: Miami [r]
CW: Gossip Girl [r], One Tree Hill [r]
FOX: Prison Break [r], Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles [r]
ION: Quantum Leap, The Dead Zone, ER
MNT: Celebrity Expose [r], Decision House [r]
NBC: Olympic Summer Games 2008
PBS: Antiques Roadshow [r] , History Detectives , Mohammed Ali: Made in Miami
TELE: El Juramento, Dona Barbara, Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso
UNIV: Al Diablo con los Guapos, Fuego on la Sangre, Cristina

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