The dust has cleared on the new TV season, and none of the new programs is exactly a hit. But a good number have survived.
Among the survivors, NBC's "Outsourced" is growing on me. No, it's not the funniest show in NBC's Thursday lineup. But it's one of the few shows on TV that recognize there's a world of comedy outside the U.S.
But there are plenty of bad shows among the survivors, since survival isn't so much about quality. It's about ratings. CBS' two new sitcoms are duds. "Mike & Molly" is still a collection of fat jokes and unrealistic situations, and William Shatner's "$#*! My Dad Says" is unpleasant.
The biggest disappointment so far has been Fox's "Running Wilde," with funny Will Arnett and lovely Keri Russell. It just hasn't clicked, and hasn't caught an audience, making its future bleak.
Here's the rundown on how things have shaken out so far:
Already canceled: ABC's "The Whole Truth," and "My Generation," NBC's "Outlaw," and Fox's "Lone Star."
"My Generation" and "Lone Star" died after just two episodes. "The Whole Truth" will likely have all 13 episodes air.
Likely to be canceled: NBC's "Undercovers" and "School Pride," and Fox's "Running Wilde."
The winner thus far: CBS has given full-season orders to all five of its new shows: "Mike & Molly," "Hawaii Five-0," "The Defenders," "$#*! My Dad Says" and "Blue Bloods."
CBS has won the ratings weekly since the beginning of the season.
NBC has given full-season orders to four of its new shows, "The Event," "Chase," "Law & Order: Los Angeles" and "Outsourced."
ABC has picked up three for the full season: "No Ordinary Family," "Detroit 1-8-7" and "Better with You."
CW has ordered full seasons of its two new shows, "Hellcats" and "Nikita."
Fox has picked up just one of its new shows, "Raising Hope," for the new season.
The October Nielsen numbers: There's an October ratings period in Milwaukee TV, although it's not as important as the November sweeps we're now in.
The October numbers from Nielsen Media Research show Channel 4 holding the lead in the 10 p.m. news time slot, with an average 8.3. Channel 12 had 7.8, Channel 6 had 4.6 and Channel 58 had 4.5.
Other than the 10 p.m. news, Channel 12 ruled in local news from morning through evening. It was also the top-rated station from sign-on to sign-off.
In prime-time, NBC's lineup on Channel 4 ruled Monday through Sunday, followed by ABC programming on Channel 12, CBS programs on Channel 58 and Fox shows on Channel 6.
If you didn't see it on Saturday: Here's the close of Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity," which aired for three hours on Comedy Central. He ended the collection of satire and music with what he called some "sincerity," and tried to put the event into perspective:
| Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear | |
| Jon Stewart - Moment of Sincerity | |
|
|
|
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
