REALITY
American Idol’s Ratings Plunge: What Went Wrong?
Jan 20th
By now you’ve probably heard the news… for the first time ever American Idol is starting to look vulnerable.
Yep, Wednesday’s opening night ratings for the first show of the 2011 season plunged a painful 17% in total viewers (to 21.93 million) and an even more disturbing 24% in the 18-49 demo (from a 9.8 to a 7.4). And the trend continued last night – with Idol even BEATEN by CBS’s Big Bang Theory and not even reaching 18 million. Ouch!
Now first up let’s just say these are still great ratings. American Idol is now in its 11th year – and for a show that old to be scoring over 20 million viewers for its opening night is pretty darn incredible. Most shows would be thrilled to come even close to those numbers.
However, those ratings do represent a significant chink in the veteran talent show’s armor. For years American Idol grew season after season, becoming such a ratings monster that it virtually crushed its competition. Sure this week’s premiere did hurt competing shows (most notably the NBC ‘comedy’ line-up of Whitney and Are You There, Chelsea – but that’s no big feat!) – but ABC’s line up remained generally unscathed. Heck More >
101 Ways To Make TV Better: Enough With The Docu-Series!
Jan 19th
 Today’s installment of 101 Ways To Make TV Better definitely hits home with me as it’s a subject I feel VERY passionately about.
Yep, I’m talking about the virus like spread of docu-series on our TV screens, a modern day pestilence that has become the easy cop out for network executives wary of untested formats and ideas.
Docu-series encompass everything from celebrity reality (the darn Kardashians) to adventure series (Deadliest Catch) to local businesses (Cupcake Sisters) – but all ask us to invest in the lives of a group of strangers, soap opera style. In fact you could even argue that the modern day decline of the soap opera genre is a result of the spread of the docu-series. After all who needs One Life To Live with the Real Housewives airing virtually around the clock?
In Production: Can You Survive A Horror Movie?
Jan 7th
Time for a bit of shameless self promotion here at Remote Patrolled.
As you may have noticed my postings have become a tad less frequent over the last couple of months due to the fact that I’ve become extremely busy on the TV production front (as well as managing Angry Trainer Fitness which has soared recently!)
I’m currently Executive Producing a brand new series for A&E set to launch in the Spring – but I’m also thrilled to announce a new show that my production company, Savannah Media, is currently working on (and which was announced in Variety magazine yesterday)
The show’s called Can You Survive A Horror Movie and takes a look at the science behind horror movies – of which I’m a HUGE fan (yes, I have indeed seen every single Friday 13th, Elm Street and Halloween!)
We’re producing the show for Chiller, the horror network who are really ramping up their original production at the moment. Last year the network premiered the zombie movie Remains, with more original films to follow in the new year. And on the unscripted front the network is also very busy – shooting a show about haunted house enthusiasts (American Scream) and a behind the scenes look at the More >
Is Ryan Seacrest REALLY Worth $45 Million To American Idol?
Jan 6th
Â
We’re just a few days away from the 11th season premiere of American Idol – and there’s a new rumor doing the rounds at the moment. Is long time Idol host Ryan Seacrest on the way out – set to be replaced by a cheaper alternative?
As everyone knows, Ryan has been with the Idol franchise since day one and along with Randy Jackson is the only remaining member of the original on camera team. Co-host Brian Dunkleman famously departed after season 1, judge Paula Abdul left at the end of Season 8 and Idol’s main mean man Simon Cowell split in 2010 after 9 seasons with the show.
Through it all the Idol juggernaut has remained as strong as ever – still regularly pulling in audiences in excess of 20 million on a weekly basis. So now apparently Fox are starting to wonder if Seacrest is really essential to the franchise. With a salary of $15 million a year and a deal that expires at the end of the new season, the network are reportedly wondering if they could opt for a cheaper host going forwards. But is Fox risking its smash hit franchise in order to save (quite a few) bucks? More >
Is The Sun About To Set On Jersey Shore?
Jan 3rd
Thursday night sees the return of Jersey Shore to MTV – as Season 5 of the guido and guidettes docu-series kicks off. But am I the only person detecting a distinct lack of buzz for the former smash series this time around?
My instinct is that this season will be the year that Jersey Shore finally comes back down to earth after notching up some stellar ratings over the last couple of years.
Let’s be honest – the whole premise of Jersey Shore is kind of a yawn now. The cast look bored and are all more concerned with their outside ventures and future ‘careers’ than ‘performing’ circus style for the MTV cameras. And MTV has rattled out so many series so quickly that there’s not been time for viewers to catch their breath and miss the show. Season 4 only just finished in October and now, just two months later, season 5 arrives. Talk about overkill.
The X Factor: Did The Right Singer Win?
Dec 23rd
And the X Factor winner is… Melanie Amaro. Wow, what a shocker! I mean seriously, did anyone out there really have any doubt that the hands down strongest singer in this year’s competition was going to scoop that $5 million record deal? You think Simon Cowell was going to let The Stereo Hogzz or Leroy walk away with that prize?
Looking back, it’s been pretty obvious from day one that Simon had his sights set on crowning Melanie his first X Factor USA champ. I lost count of how many times Amaro ended a show in the prized ‘pimp’ slot. And then there was that patently ridiculous last minute switcheroo, in which Cowell pretended to eliminate Melanie at the Judges’ Homes stage of the contest, only to bring her back at the last minute as an extra contestant. Are we seriously meant to believe that Simon let Melanie go for the likes of Simone Battle? Come on!
The X Factor Season 2: Five Key Changes The Show Has To Make
Dec 16th
The end is almost here…
After countless weeks, an avalanche of hype and the biggest promo campaign in recent memory, The X Factor will finally unveil its $5 million winner next week. But will it be Melanie, Josh or Chris?
While far from the smash hit Fox expected, The X Factor has been a solid Fall performer for the network and has given us some great drama along the way. Remember Astro’s bottom 2 brat attack? Simon flipping out at Paula and Nicole after Drew was sent packing? And most famously, Rachel Crow’s elimination breakdown which had many of us questioning if the X Factor age limit was too low.
But while The X Factor has done plenty right this season it’s also made some crucial missteps. So now Simon Cowell, Fox Exec Mike Darnell and the rest of the team have 9 months to right the ship ahead of Season 2.
Tallafornia: Check Out The Irish Jersey Shore
Dec 14th
Jersey Shore truly is the STD of the TV world!
Hot on the heels of Geordie Shore and Desperate Scousewives check out Tallafornia, the Irish version of the guidos and guidettes smash!
Yes, it seems that big muscles, fake tan, excessive drinking and hot tub makeouts aren’t just particular to the New Jersey coastline, as the Tallafornia trailer makes clear.
I have to say the dark haired guy is very hot but the blonde guy with the mohawk screams gay to me! And let’s not even get into the cross eyed blonde girl. OMG!
The Tallafornia crowd hail from West Dublin, an area I’ve visited a few times over the years – but I can’t say I’ve ever come across guys that look as good as this.
Tallafornia premiered last weekend in Ireland and proved a big hit, delivering over 1/2 million viewers (in a country whose population is just over 6 million) – so expect the hook ups and bust ups to keep on coming. Funnily enough, over here Jersey Shore has likely peaked and I think is heading for some seriously declining ratings when season 5 debuts in the New Year…
In the meantime check out Tallafornia… in all its tanned and pumped up glory! (more…)
More >
Are The X Factor Contestants Too Young?
Dec 9th
Okay so who watched the X Factor elimination last night? Dramatic stuff, right?
In case you missed it, the shock result saw 13-year-old former favorite Rachel Crow sent packing after Nicole Scherzinger refused to vote, pushing the result to deadlock with the viewer vote going Marcus’s way.
But it’s what happened next that provided the X Factor USA’s most stunning moment to date. I’ve seen a lot of contestant eliminations over the years – but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a singer react quite like that!
In case you missed it – Rachel had a complete meltdown upon hearing of the result. She literally collapsed to the stage, bawling her eyes out, while Simon and her mom came onstage to comfort her. Meanwhile Nicole also collapsed into tears – and was later booed by the crowd. All great drama for the show. But I can’t have been the only person left wondering – was Rachel too young to be put in this position in the first place?
The X Factor Top 7: Michael Jackson Night – It’s Bad!
Dec 1st
If you were feeling that Michael Jackson hadn’t been in the news enough recently never fear – The X Factor is here – to put the King Of Pop firmly back in the headlines.
Yep, how wonderful – to commemorate the sentencing of Dr Conrad Murray – the Fox talent series dragged out several of the Jackson family to witness the wholesale massacre of Michael’s back catalogue. We had the leeches (aka Marlon, Jackie and the other one), who continue to live off Michael’s legacy, mom Katherine who host Steve Jones desperately wanted to speak (he succeeded later in a horribly ‘awkward’ interview) and Michael’s kids – including the permanently unhappy looking Blanket.
Mind you, who can blame Blanket given the wholesale mess the contestants made of his father’s songs. Talk about Blood On The Dancefloor. Here’s my take…
