Sunday, December 21, 2025
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“SVU” Wipes the Floor with Ellen Pompeo’s “Greys” Exit by More than A Million Viewers, NBC Wins Night

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The long, long, long drawn out exit of Ellen Pompeo from ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” did ok but not great in fast overnight ratings from last night.

“Law & Order SVU” beat it handily, by about a million viewers. NBC and Dick Wolf won the night, too.

What’s really weird is that “Station 19,” the “Greys” spin off at 8pm, beat “Greys” slightly in total viewers.

I think fans have had enough of Pompeo and the revolving door at “Greys.” It’s had a negative effect.

Meantime, beloved Mariska Hargitay directed last night’s “SVU” in which she referenced her late mom, 60s star Jayne Mansfield. “SVU” has a devoted audience, and they wouldn’t have missed Hargitay in charge.

“SVU” did 4.89 million, “Greys”: only 3.46 million. CBS was in a rerun night because, I don’t know, we’re still in sweeps?

And get this: also beating “Greys” in total viewers last night was NBC’s finally-growing “Organized Crime.” Thanks to “SVU” and crossovers, “OG” is at last hitting its stride.

Film Critics Throw in the Towel, Wendell Pierce Stock Keeps Rising, Oscars Hire Crisis Team that Resigned from Golden Globes

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It’s been a busy week in the movie world.

Two highly regarded film critics announced that they’re stepping down or moving on to other things. A.O. “Tony” Scott, my favorite New York Times film reviewer, is joining the New York Times Book Review as their lead guy. No more daily movie reviews in the Times. This is very sad. Tony was the absolutely clearest Times reviewer who more often than not “got it.” I will miss, and I’ll bet filmmakers who counted on his intelligence will, too…Meantime, Alfonso Duralde of The Wrap is ankling his post to finish a book. He promises something “big” after that. Who knows? Maybe he’ll take Tony’s place at the Times next fall…

Wendell Pierce is just coming off an acclaimed run on Broadway as Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman.” He should win a Tony for his work. Tomorrow at the NAACP Image Awards, Pierce is up for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Limited-Series, and Dramatic Special in the No Equal Entertainment production of “Don’t Hang Up.” In “Don’t Hang Up,” Pierce plays Chris Daniels, a man who receives a call that his daughter has been kidnapped. The kidnappers demand that he completes a series of different missions to get her back, including one crucial direction to not hang up the phone….

Last year, pr maven Ken Sunshine, whose firm is Sunshine Sachs et al, gave up representing the Hollywood Foreign Press Association when the Golden Globes became mired in scandal. Last week the Motion Picture Academy announced it had hired a “crisis” team for the Oscars in case anything like last year’s Will Smith slap might happen. It’s unlikely, but just in case it seems like Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis is on the game. They’re the right people to have in line. The Oscars are ready! But probably putting the nominees back in theater seats, and not at tables (as they were last year) will minimize the possibilities of people wandering about…

Say It Ain’t So! “Succession” Will End With This Season Creator Jesse Armstrong Says in Interview

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The story of the Roy family will end this spring with Season 4.

So says “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong to Rebecca Mead in the New York, online tonight.

HBO’s premier drama will run just 10 more episodes as the adult Roy children try finally to succeed their father in business.

It’s interesting that Armstrong made the announcement and not HBO, which understandably probably wanted a couple more seasons. “Succession” is their biggest hit drama since “The Sopranos.”

Armstrong is very British about why it’s time to wind things up, but there is undoubtedly a money story lurking in the background. The new people at Warner Bros, aka Warner Discovery, are cancelling shows, laying off employees, and living with constant trouble at CNN. If the “Succession” cast needed to renegotiate pay, David Zaslav likely said “nah.” Just a feeling.

So what will happen to Shiv, Tom, Kendall, Roman, Connor, Cousin Greg et al? Will they beat the old man (Logan Roy played by Brian Cox)? Will Logan die? Will Brian Cox keep doing McDonald’s commercials? We’ll have to wait and see.

“Succession” in three seasons earned its stripes as as a psychological thriller, a mental chess game of the highest order, and the most- talkingest show of all time, beating “Moonlighting” and “Gilmore Girls.” You actually need captions and a Xanax at the end of each episode.

Ten episodes begin on March 26th. The finale will come in June. HBO will weep when this is over. But they always have something new up their sleeves!

Mariska Hargitay Directed “SVU” Paid Tribute to Richard Belzer and to Mariska’s Late Mother, Jayne Mansfield

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Tonight’s episode of “Law & Order SVU” was directed by star Mariska Hargitay.

At the end of the show there was a card dedicating the episode to Richard Belzer, who died this week and played Det. John Munch for 15 seasons.

There was another tribute, too. Guest star Bradley Whitford said to Hargitay’s Olivia Benson as she left his hospital room: You have an ass like the devil and a face like Jayne Mansfield.”

 

Screen siren Jayne Mansfield was Hargitay’s mother in real life. She died in a terrible car accident in June 1967 in New Orleans. She was just 33. She would be so proud of Mariska, now in her 23rd season of “SVU” and NBC’s biggest star.

Rihanna, Even More Pregnant, Will Sing “Black Panther” Song “Lift Me Up” on Oscars

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No surprise: Rihanna will sing on the Oscars.

Even more pregnant than on the Super Bowl, the billionaire pop singer will perform “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther Wakanda Forever.”

In all likelihood, we also be getting announcements about Lady Gaga, David Byrne, Sofia Carson, and the folks from “RRR.” They’re all nominated for Best Song and they should all turn up for the occasion on March 12th.

Every little bit helps the ratings!

Actor John Cusack Can’t Just “Say Anything” on Twitter: Account Disappears, “No Warning Notice, No reason given”

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John Cusack’s Twitter account has gone missing. The star of Cameron Crowe’s 1989 hit, “Say Anything,” has learned you can’t just do that on the social media platform. Someone at Twitter has objected to the content of his Tweets, whether they’re about supporting the war in Ukraine, prodding Merrick Garland, or repeating info about Tesla’s recalls.

Cusack’s account isn’t the only one from a popular 80s actor that’s disappeared. Also gone is the one belonging to Rat Pack actor Andrew McCarthy. He posted to Instagram that “someone has hacked my Twitter account…Twitter is totally unresponsive…Thank God I don’t own a Tesla…” Seriously, McCarthy had no political posts, so no one knows what’s going on there.

Cusack’s post is below as well. Maybe it’s time to call a meeting of the Breakfast Club to figure all this out!

Hey there
Looks like Mr free speech absolutist
banned my twitter account –
Totally frozen out – no warning no notice – was it the Ukrainian children action fund i work with ? Which he has now blocked me from publicizing?
The Shitty battery comments ?
Or my pointing out his spreading disinformation propaganda
And fascist sympathies?
No access to my account no warning notice – or reason given –
If you care to ask him why – I’ll try to make it an issue he has to deal with.
Best
J c

For The Bachelor, The Bloom is Off the Rose: Down 50% from 2021 in Total Viewers Since Chris Harrison Left

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I know, you’re thinking, who cares about The Bachelor on ABC?

But the show and its counterpart, The Bachelorette, have become an industry, and staples on the network since 2002. Yes, two thousand two.

I wrote yesterday about how totally insipid the already fairly low IQ show has become. On Monday night’s episode, the guy who is the Bachelor came down with COVID in London. The 20 or so young women who were all “in love” with him didn’t care if he was sick. They wanted to win. They wanted the final rose, the engagement ring, and publicity. It was a hilarious disaster.

More importantly, Monday’s show also had the lowest number of total viewers in 22 years: 2.8 million. Two years this week, “The Bachelor” scored 5.3 million viewers. That’s nearly 50% less.

That season, the season average was 5.5 million. This season so far the average is 2.3 million — and it’s not going to improve.

The rose is wilting, and almost dead. The bloom is off the rose. As this season sinks into ignominy, it may be time to wrap this enterprise up. “The Bachelor” has outlived whatever usefulness it had. The novelty of seeing stupid, shiny, inarticulate, somewhat illiterate people trying to fall in love instantly has lost its juice. In syndication, it would be a hit. But taking up precious prime time real estate? Enough.

Another issue besides boredom is that “The Bachelor” lost its mojo after host Chris Harrison was pushed out. He got tongue tied into a mess when a recent winner, who was Black, asked him “Extra” about a female contestant who’d attended parties on a Southern plantation. Harrison, ill-equipped to deal with this, defended the young woman and plantations. And he was gone after just under two decades. (Note: the plantation girl ultimately got engaged to her Black suitor, who forgave her. You can’t make this stuff up.)

ABC already moved “Dancing with the Stars” off to streaming. “The Bachelor” is next.

Golden Globes Choose 2024 Date But Have No TV Contract and Hotel “That Killed Whitney Houston” May Be an Issue

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The Golden Globes say they will return next January 7, 2024.

But there are two problems. One is, they have no TV partner. NBC only made a one year deal with them, and the ratings were miserable. With just 6.3 million viewers, the Globes did half the numbers of the Grammys this year.

The other problem is their venue. Host Jarrod Carmichael joked on the air that he wanted to thank the Beverly Hilton, “the hotel that killed Whitney Houston.” Ouch! As much as the hotel shares an owner with the Hollywood Foreign Press, and Dick Clark Productions, they can’t have enjoyed that announcement.

Meanwhile, this year the Critics Choice Association aired on January 9th. They have a broadcast partner in the CW Network. Their show was also several degrees better in quality and execution. Can they pick January 6th and go first? Or does it matter if they just do a better show a week later?

Stay tuned…

Reality Check: Rolling Stones Album Does Have Paul, No Ringo, And Is In the Finishing Stages (Exclusive)

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Yesterday’s bombshell that the surviving Beatles and Rolling Stones would all be on the same album caused a near riot in classic rock circles.

But the real story, from what I’m told, is a little less feverish. My source, who is right in the middle of this, says the following: “Paul came in and played bass on one track. I have no idea if Ringo is doing anything. His name hasn’t come up at all.”

This makes sense. It’s unlikely Ringo will come in play drums on a Stones track. It would be a little disrespectful to the memory of Charlie Watts. And Ringo is all about peace and love.

McCartney doesn’t sing on the track. And the final tracks haven’t been finalized, says my source. But the good news is, the album is in the finishing stages. The band is out of the studio, recording is done. So we could see a new Stones album mid summer. And that would be exciting.

As for a tour: “not now,” says a source. “At this point it may be too late for summer, given what’s available.” But they added: “The band is always up for a tour. They could decide at the last minute.”

HBO’s Water Cooler Show, “The Last of Us,” Having Trouble Holding a Consistent Audience

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The people who watch HBO’s “The Last of Us,” love it. It’s a water cooler show even though no one’s in an office and there are no water coolers. But you get my drift!

Still. “The Last of Us” is having trouble getting a consistent audience. On the HBO linear channel at 9pm this week, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey somehow got from Boston to Texas to find Joel’s brother and his wife (Gabriel Luna and Rutina Wesley). Total viewers was 841,000.

The prior week, the numbers dropped to just 382,000. But that was because of the Super Bowl, which had 110 million fans tuned in. Whether fans found “Last of Us” on delayed viewing we don’t know. The prior week, before the Super Bowl, was way up to 991,000. So the Super Bowl did manage to dent the show’s ratings.

One reason for all this may be the lack of regular supporting players. From week to week, Joel and Ellie travel around and meet various new people. Often those people wind up dead at the end of the episode. There’s no secondary story line, so there’s no one else for the audience to attach themselves to. When awards time comes, no one will be eligible for supporting actor nominations. Just lots of guest actors.

In a strange way, “Last of Us” has turned into an anthology show, much like the other beloved new show, “Poker Face.” Difference is the latter is streaming only, so there are no ratings. But I’m sure there are millions coming from HBO Max for “Last of Us.”

Meantime, some of us are hooked.