CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

09/27/04

Good morning. It’s Monday, September 27, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.

Thursday night was a duel between CBS and NBC, with CBS out in front with an 8.6/23 A18-49, ahead of NBC’s 8.2/21, according to Nielsen Media Research. Survivor at 8pm on CBS averaged a 7.2/21, holding share from the first half hour to the second.  Joey on NBC at 8pm delivered a 6.2/19, down from last week by 10%; Will & Grace held its lead-in with a 6.8/19. CSI on CBS at 9p had a huge premiere delivery with 10.8/27, well ahead of NBC’s The Apprentice 7.7/20.  ABC’s 2-hour premiere of Extreme Makeover earned a 2.1/6 A18-49.  The 10p race however, was taken over by NBC with the season premiere of ER outpacing the premiere of Without a Trace among A18-49: 9.9/25 vs. 7.4/19.  In the total viewer race, CBS led with 21.4 million viewers vs. ER’s 19.7 million. ABC’s Primetime Live earned a 2.0/5 with 6.5 million viewers.

By a single share point, NBC won Friday night (2.9/10) over ABC (2.8/9), who subsequently beat CBS (2.3/8), also by a single share point among A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research.  At 8pm CBS’s premiere of Joan of Arcadia and NBC’s Dateline tied, each posting a 2.5/9.  The sitcom premieres on ABC earned a 1.7/7 for 8 Simple Rules, and for the newest Friday night sitcom, Complete Savages, a 2.1/7. At 9pm NBC’s Third Watch led with a 3.1/10, followed by ABC’s sitcom hour – Hope & Faith (2.7/9) and Less than Perfect (2.7/8). JAG on CBS was third in the time period, earning a 2.1/7. At 10p Barbara Walter’s final interview for ABC’s 20/20 won the hour solidly with a 3.8/12, followed by Medical Investigation on NBC with a 3.2/10.  Dr. Vegas made its series debut on CBS, posting a modest 2.4/7.

ABC and Fox tied among A18-49 on Saturday night, each earning a 2.3/8 according to Nielsen Media Research.  ABC aired the  three hour film Castaway, and Fox had its standard Saturday night far. NBC was all reruns, while CBS aired repeats until its 10p season premiere of 48 Hours Mystery (2.6/8, second behind time period winner ABC). The hour of Cops on Fox  led the 8p hour with a 2.3/8, while AMW’s 2.3/7, tied with ABC and as second to CBS’ repeat of CSI (2.5/8).

Casting / Development / Production:

• ABC has given a script commitment to a family sitcom starring Bob Saget, from Damon Wayons and Don Reo, produced by Touchstone. The premise is a divorced dad who gets custody of his kids.
• Elsewhere for ABC, the network is reportedly close to doing a deal for a crime drama called The Evidence, which will take a slightly different viewpoint of the genre – this time the evidence comes first, and the crime is determined afterward. Written by Dustin Thomason and Sam Baum, it will be produced by John Wells Prods and Warner Bros. TV.
• Dick Wolf’s new series Law & Order: Trial By Jury, has added a new castmember – Bebe Neuwirth as a DA, with frequent appearances from Fred Thompson in the crossover role of DA Arthur Branch. Also making frequent apperances will be Jerry Orbach in his L&O role of Lenny Briscoe. The show is expected to launch in first qtr 2005.
• Two new shows are in the works for Spike TV – Boom where demolition experts blow stuff up, and Carcopolypse is a meeting of the minds between demolition derby and car racing, with a dash of Monster Garage. Both looking at 1st qtr 2005.
• A new sitcom project starring Chris Elliott will be introduced to networks in the next few weeks, from Regency TV and 20th. The as yet untitled comedy has also been written by Elliott. Accrording to Variety, it’s about a father and his teen daughters, one of whom is a budding actress making him a Stage Dad, and humor ensues.
• FX has ordered a pilot called It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a comedy about four friends who collectively own a bar, and one of them reveals he has cancer. The story revolves on the idea of what to do when time is running out. Written by Rob McElhenney, who will also star, direct and exec prod. Other cast members, according to Variety,  include Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day and Jordan Berkow, completing the foursome friendship.

After just one episode on the air, MTV has already signed a repurposing deal for UPN‘s new drama series, Veronica Mars (Warner Bros. TV). Veronica Mars airs on Tuesdays at 9p, and the MTV airing will be one week later at 7pm, starting this week.  It perhaps should also be noted that UPN and MTV are distant siblings, both being owned by Viacom.

Lifetime is planning some reality for the upcoming season with four shows in the hopper, according to Broadcasting & Cable: You’re Not the Man I Married gives husbands a makeover; Doggie Style gives high end dogs a high end makeover; The Bridal Dynasty readies future marines’ finances for their big day; and Popping the Question has Star Jones (ABC’s The View) on had for out of the ordinary knee bends.  The last one debuts November 14; the others later on in the season.

Weekend Box Office Estimates: September 22-24, 2004
The Forgotten (Sony)                    $22 million – opening weekend
Sky Captain … (Paramount)             $6.7 million – 2 wk total $25.6m
Mr. 3000 (Buena Vista)                  $5.0 million – 2 wk total $15.4m
First Daughter (Fox)                    $4.0 million – opening weekend
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (ScreenGems) $4.0 million – 3 wk total $43.4m
Cellular (New Line)                     $3.7 million – 3 wk total $25.1m
Wimbledon (Universal)                   $3.4 million – 2 wk total $12.2m
Shaun of the Dead (Focus)               $3.3 million – opening weekend
Without a Paddle (Paramount)            $2.4 million – 6 wk total $53.5m
Hero (Miramax)                  $2.3 million – 5 wk total $49.2m
Source: Box Office Mojo

What do you think? Who do you think would be not only interesting to watch, but would also be a talented and compelling talk show host? Several names were proposed, including one who took exception to my characterization of Whoopi as a less than successful host. Among those new names were: Adam Brody, Vince Vaughn, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephen Collins, Drew Barrymore, Ray Romano, Josh Duhamel, Steve Martin, Larry David, Lewis Black, Darrell Hammond, Katie Couric, Denis Leary, Chris Rock, Michael Horowitz, Albert Brooks, John Cleese, Tim Robbins, David Duchovny (tho only in late night), Meryl Streep, Will Ferrell, the team of Barry Williams and Maureen McCormack (aka Greg and Marcia), and the return of Bob Costas. 

Clarification:  Equity Broadcastings’ Top Media Sales will only be handling the long form paid programming component of RepPlus’ media sales. Additionally Rep Plus is the national rep for Equity Broadcasting (not the local ad sales rep).

Antoinette Zel‘s appointment has been confirmed to the position of EVP of Telemundo‘s cable networks and strategic planning.  She is currently the president of MTV Networks Latin America.  Antoinette will report to Telemundo COO Don Browne.
 
MTV Networks Latin America named Jacqueline Cantore as VP/Programming for MTV Latin America.  She will oversee the channel’s programming schedule and program acquisitions.  Jacqueline will be based in Miami and report to Charlie Singer, EVP/Programming, Creative and Strategic Marketing for MTV Networks Latin America.

Laura Glassman was named as Director of Programming for Discovery Lifestyle Networks.  She will be responsible for program development and sourcing for Discovery Network Asia’s three lifestyle networks in the Asia Pacific region. Laura was recently the producer of National Geographic Channel’s Snake Wranglers’ second season.

Thursday, September 23, 2004. Fast National 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     14.4/23 Survivor 11.5/19, CSI [p] 18.3/23, Without a Trace [p] 13.5/22

NBC     10.9/17 Joey 9.4/16, Will & Grace 9.7/16, The Apprentice 10.1/16, ER  [p]  12.9/21

ABC     4.6/7   Extreme Makeover [p] 4.5/7, Primetime Live 4.9/8

UPN     3.2/5   WWE Smackdown 3.2/5

FOX     2.1/3   The O.C. 2.1/3, Totally Outrageous Behavior 2.2/3, World’s Craziest Video 2.2/3

WB      1.5/2   Blue Collar 1.9/3, Blue Collar [r] 2.1/3, The Mountain [r] 1.0/2

A18-49  CBS 8.6/23, NBC 8.2/21, ABC 2.0/5, UPN 1.7/5, Fox 1.2/3, WB  0.9/2

Friday, September 24, 2004. Fast National 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     6.3/11  Joan of Arcadia [p] 5.9/11, Jag [p] 6.7/12, Dr. Vegas [p] 6.3/11

NBC     5.9/11  Dateline 6.312, Third Watch 6.0/11, Medical Investigation 6.1/11

ABC     5.4/10  8 Simple Rules [p] 4.0/8, Complete Savages [p] 4.0/7, Hope  Faith [p] 4.6/8, Less than Perfect [p] 4.4/8, 20/20 7.7/14

UPN     2.2/4   Top Model [r]  2.3/4, Veronica Mars [r] 2.2/4

WB      2.0/4   What I Like About You 1.6/3, Grounded for Life 1.8/3, Reba  2.5/4, Blue Collar TV [r] 2.0/4

FOX     2.0/4   Simpsons 2.3/5, That 70’s Show 2.1/4, The Complex: Malibu 1.7/3

A18-49  NBC 2.9/10, ABC 2.8/9, CBS 2.3/8, WB and Fox 1.3/4, UPN 1.2/4

Saturday, September 25, 2004. Fast National 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

ABC     4.7/9   Movie: Castaway 4.7/9

CBS     4.5/8   Survivor [r] 3.2/6, CSI [r] 5.0/9, 48 Hours Mystery  [p] 5.2/10

FOX     3.9/7   Cops  3.6/7, Cops [r] 4.2/8, AMW 4.0/7

NBC     3.6/7   The Apprentice [r] 2.9/6, Law & Order [r] 3.0/5, Law & Order: SVU [r] 4.9/9

A18-49  Fox and ABC 2.3/8, CBS 2.2/7, NBC 1.7/6

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source:  NTI, Galaxy Explorer, 9/23/04.  Based on HH Rtg.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1540:  The Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuit order, receives its charter from Pope Paul III.  The Jesuits were the Church’s shock troops during the Counter-Reformation and were active missionaries in all parts of the globe.  As part of these efforts, the Jesuits founded and ran numerous schools and colleges.  Their founder, Ignatius Loyola, was canonized a saint in 1622.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: On Monty Python’s Flying Circus, what was the name of the clever sheep who attempted to fly? Remember, “they don’t fly so much, as they plummet.” HAROLD! Kudos to:  Bill Graff-EssanJay Solutions; Nicole Naimo-mtvU Ad Sales/NY; Jeffrey Starr-Court TV/NY; Meredith Gold-BBC America-Bethesda; David Ferber-KTTC, KWBR/Rochester MN; Lynette Rahm-KBCI/Boise; Tim Rank-Adamson Adv/St. Louis; Phil Kane-KSTW/Seattle.

A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST SPOTLIGHT

Comcast Spotlight works with our cable network partners to develop unique promotions for advertisers that leverage cable’s powerful brands. Through network associations or tune-in sponsorships, advertisers get customized, branded promotions that build upon viewer affinity for their favorite cable networks. Comcast Spotlight – Spot cable finally delivers. For more information click here.

Today’s Trivia Question:   This handy kitchen item with a picture of a cat was held by a magnet to the side of Jerry Seinfeld’s refrigerator throughout the run of the show.  What was it? (click
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.)

A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Later — Cyn

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis
09/27/04 5:23am

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  SEPTEMBER 27, 2004:

ABC             The Benefactor, Monday Night Football: Dallas v. Washington
CBS             Still Standing, Listen Up, Raymond, 2-1/2 Men, CSI: Miami
FOX             North Shore, Trading Spouses [r]
NBC             Fear Factor, Las Vegas, LAX
PAX             On the Cover, Balderdash, Mrs. America (OTO)
UPN             One on One, Half & Half, Girlfriends, Second Time Around
WB              7th Heaven, Everwood
TELE            Prisonera, Gitanas, Te Voy a Ensenar a Querer
UNIV            Rubi, Amarte es mi Pecado, Cristina