CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

03/22/04

Good morning.  It’s Monday, March 22, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

The Contender, the latest project from Mark Burnett Prods/DreamWorks TV, is set to debut on NBC in January 2005.  If you’ve been living in a cave and aren’t aware, this unscripted series seeks to find the next great amateur boxer, through a series of elimination rounds.  Involved in this show are Sugar Ray Leonard and Sylvester Stallone, and the latest news is the George Foreman will also jump into the ring.

Coming to more than 1100 college campuses in time for the fall semester is a new cable network called The Destiny Channel.  Targeting college age kids and up to age 34, the channel will begin with a 10p-12m block, eventually ramping up to a full 24/7 network, according to the AP. The network will feature original series, films, docs and off-nets.  Two original series planned include Extreme Destiny Challenge wherein two groups of college kids go to the former Soviet republic of Moldova and have 30 days to develop and contribute something positive to the community. The other original series planned is called Pet Projects with celebrities showcasing their pet causes. The Destiny Channel is also planning a strong internet component and companion to the network, providing viewers a place to respond to what they’ve seen on television. Check out http://www.destinychannel.com/

The cast of Columbia Pictures’ film Bewitched, based on the television series, is filling out.  As you know, Nicole Kidman will be the girl with the magic nose, and her mortal husband will be played by Will Ferrell.  Entering the scene as Endora is Shirley MacLaine, and as Maurice (Sam’s father) is Michael Caine. Uncle Arthur …. how about Steve Martin?

Joining the cast of FX’s Nip/Tuck for twelve episodes in season #2 is Famke Janssen (you’ll remember her as the Bond girl from the movie Goldeneye).  Season #2 kicks off in June, and Janssen’s first episode will air June 22.  She plays a counselor to Julie McNamara, played by Joely Richardson.

A handful of program changes for UPN – say goodbye to The Mullets … again.  Game Over on Wednesday nights at 8pm will move to Fridays, airing in combination with repeat episodes from 8-9pm, according to Daily Variety.  Filling the Game Over/Mullets hole on Wednesdays at 8pm for the time being will be a second airing of Star Trek Enterprise.  Then on Fridays, as the UPN movie steps to the side, repeat eps of One on One and Rock Me Baby will air 9-10pm, competing directly with TGIF on ABC and the WB’s lineup of Friday night sitcoms.

Independent Film Channel (IFC) will launch a new Friday night block designed to showcase new programming as well as provide a home for some of the network’s most popular fare, called IFC Fridays, starting April 9 at 10pm.  Dinner for Five will move from Mondays at 10p to Fridays where it will serve as the night’s anchor and lead-in to the rest of the evening at 10pm.  Airing at 1030p will be the network’s newest show, Rocked wtih Gina Gershon at 1030p chronicling the actress’s foray into rock and roll.  The net’s late night film franchise, Pulp Indies, moves to 11pm on Friday nights (from midnight).  Kicking off each Friday night at 8pm will be IFC’s best of the best from its library of independent films.

New in Development/Casting/Production:

• Fox‘s drama pilot Oahu, newly titled The North Shore (still a working title) (20th Television) has been given a 13 episode order by the network.  The pilot is set in a Hawaiian Beach resort hotel where the mucky mucks stay, and focuses on the young employees of the hotel.  Exec Producers Peter Elkoff, Kevin Falls, Peyton Reed.
• NBC‘s comedy project The Mens Room (NBC Studios) has added Suzanne Cryer and Maitland Ward to the cast.  The network’s comedy pilot Weekends (Spyglass/NBC Studios) has cast Rachel Harris , and D.O.T.S. (Pariah/NBC Studios) has added Chester Gregory and Davenia McFadden to the lineup.
• ABC‘s drama pilot Gramercy Park (Tannenbaum/Warner Bros. TV) has cast Max Martini and Megan Dodds
• WB‘s drama pilot The Mountain (Wonderland Sound & Vision/Warner Bros. TV) has taken on Shaun Cassidy as showrunner/exec prod.  Elsewhere at the WB, David Newsom has been cast in the drama pilot Prodigy (Silver Pictures/Warner Bros. TV).  Also for WB’s pilot remake Dark Shadows (John Wells/Warner Bros. TV), Ivana Milicevic has joined the cats.
• UPN‘s comedy spinoff pilot of One on One (Greenblatt Janollari/Paramount) has cast Rashaan Nall as one of the guys in the barbershop.  Boogie has joined the cast of Nikki and Nora (Warner Bros. TV).

Weekend Box Office Estimates – March 19-21, 2004
Dawn of the Dead (Universal)                    $27.3 million – opening weekend
Passion of the Christ (Newmarket)            $19.2 million – 4 wk total $295.3m
Taking Lives (Warner Bros.)                      $11.4 million – opening weekend
Starsky & Hutch (Warner Bros.)                $10.7 million – 3 wk total $67.7m
Secret Window (Sony)                               $9.6 million – 2 wk total $33.1m
Eternal Sunshine (Focus)                          $8.6 million – opening weekend
Hidalgo (Disney)                                         $8.5 million – 3 wk total $48.5m
Agent Cody Banks 2 (MGM)                       $6.0 million – 2 wk total $17.3m
50 First Dates (Sony)                                 $4.3 million – 6 wk total $113.2m
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (Disney) $1.5 million – 5 wk total $27.6m
Source: Box Office Mojo

Donald Trump has filed to trademark the phrase “You’re Fired” for clothing, games, playthings and casino services.   A quick check of government records indicates that “You’re Outsourced” is still available.

Today is National Goof-Off Day.  A national survey found that playing video games ranks highest among the ways young men like to goof off and spend their time. Here’s the men ages18-34 “goof off” breakdown: 39% like to play video games, 36% surf the internet, 31% watch TV and 23% go to the movies.

NBC walked away with the win on Thursday, March 18, airing regularly programming versus CBS’ first night of March Madness NCAA Basketball.  NBC averaged a 6.7/19 A18-49 for the night according to Nielsen Media Research, well ahead of CBS’ 4.0/11, and ABC 3.3/9, FOX 2.0/5, UPN 2.1/6, WB 1.1/3.  At 8pm with Friends/Will & Grace, NBC earned a 6.7/20, ahead of CBS by 9 share points.  At 9pm, similar story: NBC earned an 8.2/21, ten share points ahead of CBS, its nearest competitor. At 10pm the gap closed a bit with NBC in front with a 5.4/15, and ABC and CBS tied at 3.9/11 for the hour.

A close game between CBS and NBC on Friday night, each posting an 11 share in fast affiliate ratings among A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research.  CBS was ahead by a tenth of a rating point 3.6/11 vs. NBC 3.5/11, followed by ABC 2.4/8, Fox 1.6/5, WB 1.3/4, UPN 0.8/2.  At 8pm CBS led with a 3.5/12 over NBC 2.9/10.  ABC sitcoms came in third with a 2.4/8 for the hour.  At 9pm the tide shifts slightly with NBC getting a leg up over CBS: 3.9/12 vs. 3.7/11, again with ABC in third place with  a 2.6/8.  At 10p CB and NBC again were in a virtual tie: 3.6/11 vs. 3.7/11, and ABC’s premiere of The D.A. delivered a 2.0/6 demo rating.

CBS and March Madness marched again on Saturday night for a win in the A18-49 demo according to fast affiliate ratings from Nielsen Media Research.  For the evening CBS averaged a 3.5/12, ahead of Fox 2.8/9, NBC and ABC 1.9/6. At 8pm CBS led with a 3.4/12, while Fox’s standard Saturday night fare (Cops, Cops [r]) delivered a 2.6/9.  At 9pm the competition between CBS and Fox for the win was markedly close though CBS pulled out the win:  3.5/11 vs. Fox’s 3.0/10.  ABC’s Tarzan movie from 8-10p averaged a 1.9/6.  At 10p CBS again wins the hour with a 3.6/11 over NBC’s 3.0/9 for a repeat of L&O: SVU.

Atlas Media upped Craig Coffman to VP/Documentary Programming and Emi Macuaga to Director/Development. Both Craig and Emi will report to Bruce David Klein, President and Executive Producer of Atlas Media.

Thursday, March 18, 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     10.2/17 Friends [r] 10.3/17, Will & Grace 10.2.16, The Apprentice: A Look Back 11.4/18, ER [r] 9.0/16

CBS     6.8/11  NCAA Basketball (OTO) 6.8/11

ABC     6.5/11  Extreme Makeover: Home Edition [r] 5.4/9, Extreme Makeover 6.3/10, Primetime Thursday 7.9/14

FOX     3.5/6   Tru Calling 3.6/6, Wonderfalls [r] 3.4/5

UPN     3.4/5   WWE Smackdown 3.4/5

WB      2.0/3   Steve Harvey’s Big Time 3.5/6, Like Family 3.7/6, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment 3.5/6, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment [r] 3.3/5

A18-49  NBC 6.7/19, CBS 4.0/11, ABC 3.3/9, FOX 2.0/5, UPN 2.1/6, WB 1.1/3

Friday, March 19, 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     8.1/14  Dateline NBC 8.3/14, Crossing Jordan 7.9/14

CBS     5.9/10  NCAA Basketball 5.9/10

ABC     4.7/8   George Lopez 4.9/9, Married to the Kellys 4.3/8, Hope & Faith 4.7/8, Life with Bonnie 4.7/8, The DA [p]  4.9/9

FOX     2.5/4   Playing It Straight 2.5/4, Wonderfalls 2.6/4

WB      2.5/4   Reba 2.8/5, Reba 2.9/5, Grounded for Life [r] 2.1/4, The Help 2.0/3

UPN     1.4/3   Top Model [r] 1.4/2, Top Model [r] 1.5/3

A18-49  CBS 3.6/11, NBC 3.5/11, ABC 2.4/8, Fox 1.6/5, WB 1.3/4, UPN 0.8/2

Saturday, March 20, 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     6.2/12  NCAA Basketball   6.2/12

FOX     5.1/9   Cops 4.2/8, Cops [r] 5.0/9, AMW 5.6/10

NBC     3.9/7   Tracy Morgan 2.6/6, Tracy Morgan 2.6/5, Average Joe [r] 2.6/5, Law & Order SVU 6.5/12

ABC     3.6/7   Wonderful World of Disney: Tarzan 3.5/7, AFV 3.8/7

A18-49  CBS 3.5/12, Fox 2.8/9, NBC and ABC 1.9/6

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The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
1974 – The Equal Rights Amendment is passed in the U.S. Senate and sent to the states for ratification. First proposed by the National Women’s Party in 1923, the amendment prohibiting any discrimination based on sex went on be ratified by thirty-one states within the year but failed to achieve the necessary thirty-eight needed to make it the 27th Amendment.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:  Whose Pappy was often quoted with words of advice such as:  “No use crying over spilled milk, it could have been whiskey.” and “You can tell more about a town by looking at its gambling emporium than any other building.”  The MAVERICK brothers..  Kudos to:  Jeff Grimshaw-American Ingenuity/DC; RT Harris-WFTX/Ft. Myers; Cara Holland-Carat USA/NY; Sue Funke-About.com/NY; Priscilla Morgan-Media Independence/Dallas; Chuck Lomis-Starz/Englewood; Larry Cazavan-KWBM/Springfield MO; Luke Hoene-Datamark/LA; David Pearlman-Fox Movie Channel/LA; James Keenley-Doc, FBEye Prods/LA; Tom Moore-Kalt Prods/LA.

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Comcast Spotlight now covers 72 DMAs, including 22 of the top 25, reaching over 30 million subscribers. And now, with a nationwide footprint of 55 interconnects, buying individual markets or multiple markets is a breeze. Comcast Spotlight – Spot cable finally delivers.
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Today’s Trivia Question: You’ve seen Patrick Swayze on television from time to time – miniseries North and South, and the upcoming made-for TV movie King Solomon’s Mines for Hallmark, but did he ever appear as a regular character on a television series, and if so, which one(s)? (
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
03/22/04  5:13AM
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JOB OPENING:  RESEARCH ANALYST, Tribune Ent./NY: Support distribution/programming/ad sales. Presentations, competitive analyses. Strong MS Office & writing skills. Familiarity w/Nielsen software a plus!. Email:
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2004

COURT TV:       The I-Zone, Forensic Files, The Investigators
ABC             ABC Premiere Event: NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323, 20/20 (oto)
CBS             Yes, Dear, Still Standing, Everybody Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, CSI: Miami
FOX             Bernie Mac Show (UFN), Cracking Up, That 70s Show [r], That 70s Show [r]
NBC             Fear Factor, Las Vegas, Average Joe: Adam Returns
PAX             AFV, AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             The Parkers [r], Eve [r], Girlfriends [r], Half & Half [r]
WB              7th Heaven [r], Everwood [r]
TELE            Prisonera, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Cristina

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