Trevor Noah surprised his audience at “The Daily Show” tonight. He’s leaving as host of Comedy Central’s most popular show after 7 years. There’s no timetable yet for his exit, but now the question is whether the channel will continue the show and find a new host, or if this is the series finale. Since Samantha Bee’s show has been cancelled by TBS, she’d be a great replacement. A lot of people will vie for that job.
Wednesday Ratings: “The Goldbergs,” “Big Sky” Numbers Collapse But “The Conners” Bounces Back!
Last night was a bad one for ABC. Most of their schedule was a failure. The alphabet network finished in fourth place behind Fox. Ouch.
I don;t know which is worse, “Big Sky” or “The Goldbergs.”
“Big Sky” returned with a bunch of names thrown in like Reba McEntire and Jensen Ackles. ABC owns the show and refuses to give up on it even though not a single human being watches it.
When the series came back last week it fell 30% from the end of last season in the key demo. Episode number 2 dropped another 23%. They’re down to 2.1 million viewers. It’s time to pull the plug.
Over on “The Goldbergs,” this tired 10th season of a hash of a comedy with no laughs fell for its second week in a row to an all time low. They’re down to 2.4 million viewers, many of whom may be institutionalized if they think this thing is funny. Killing Jeff Garlin didn’t help, but shooing him off the show last January got the ball rolling. It’s unlikely there will be an 11th season of “The Goldbergs.”
Now here’s the actual funny part of the story. Two years ago ABC moved “The Conners” from 8pm to 9pm and lost about a million viewers. They didn’t seem to care. This year, they moved it back to 8pm and picked up the extra people. “The Conners” last two weeks have each been substantially higher than any week from last season! They’re in the 3.7 million range, a total comeback from the disastrous numbers forced on them by ABC. Their numbers were so bad they cut the budget and let go of original cast member Michael Fishman. Now they can afford to bring him back!
Watch the Very Cool Trailer to Timothee Chalamet Cannibal Movie with Gnashing, Thrashing
You want it darker? Best trailer of the year goes to Luca Guadagnini’s “Bones and All.” It’s set to Leonard Cohen’s “You Want it Darker.”
Timothee Chalamet plays a cannibal. There’s a lot of thrashing and gnashing. Just as in that Sebastian Stan movie from earlier this year, people are eating chunks of each other. Just like in “Call Me By Your Name,” Michael Stuhlbarg apparently makes a speech about people being themselves.
Get the Pepcid ready. People will be dining out on this one all year.
Box Office: “Don’t Worry Darling” Isn’t Drawing Harry Styles Fans, Mid Week Sales Failure
I said yesterday that Harry Styles fans may not be going to see “Don’t Worry Darling” because they have homework.
But it’s worse than that. Wednesday ticket sales were down 34% from Tuesday. The first three days of the week have been a disaster. “Don’t Worry Darling” is not even being shown in Harry’s House (the name of his album).
The movie is basically dead. It made its money last Thursday and Friday. It’s coming into Thursday just $5 million higher than it finished the weekend. Ouch!
Yes, the cost is put at $35 million, which means it was $40 million. And they will clear that number. But Warner’s has to make twice that for this thing to have worked, and I don’t think we will get to $70 million under any circumstances.
So many questions here. One for sure I’d like to know the answer: why isn’t there an original Harry Styles song on the credits, one that could have been a radio hit? And used for Best Song in the Oscars? How hard would it have been for Harry’s team to write a song called Don’t Worry Darling?
Watch LIVE Bruce Springsteen Announces New Album “Challenging His Voice” And First Single
Watch Bruce introduce his album, “Only the Strong Survive.” and the first single, “Do I Love You.” I told you all about this yesterday morning.
Album drops November 11th.
The whole tracklist appears below.
1. Only the Strong Survive
2. Soul Days feat. Sam Moore
3. Nightshift
4. Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
5. The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore
6. Turn Back the Hands of Time
7. When She Was My Girl
8. Hey, Western Union Man
9. I Wish It Would Rain
10. Don’t Play That Song
11. Any Other Way
12. I Forgot to Be Your Lover feat. Sam Moore
13. 7 Rooms of Gloom
14. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
15. Someday We’ll Be Together
Bruce Springsteen Readies Soul Album Announcement: Return to the Apollo After 10 Years?
Bruce Springsteen is readying the 10am announcement of his soul covers album, “Only the Strong Survive.” The news will come on his social media sites and on on Sirius XM Radio channel.
So what’s next? I’m hearing that Bruce and the band may be heading back to Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater. It’s been a little more than a decade since Bruce and the E Street Band put on a revival at the Apollo in March 2012. It seems like the right time and place to showcase “Only the Strong Survive” since many of the songs got their start in the legendary venue.
And the Apollo? They’re booked most of the week of November 11th, when the album is supposed to drop. But they’re free on the Sunday and Monday preceding….Just sayin’…
George Clooney-Julia Roberts Romcom Already Has $35 Mil in the Bank a Month Before it Opens
George Clooney and Julia Roberts aren’t the only ones to find their tickets to paradise this month. Universal Pictures may have, too.
The two shining Movie Stars are in a romcom that doesn’t open in the US until October 21st. There’s not much press on it here, either, yet.
But “Ticket to Paradise” has already made an impressive $35.8 million in foreign countries. The audiences there don’t care that reviews are middling with a 66 on Rotten Tomatoes among mostly non-US writers. They just want to see two Big Stars on screen in a beautiful setting.
It was very smart to open “Ticket to Paradise” in every country but the US with a long lead. At this rate, the Ol Parker directed love fest could be close to breaking even if not in profit by the time it hits our shores. (You know reviewers here are gunning for it. No one dies, or commits treason, or has a perverse thought in this movie!)
So get ready for October 21st. Let’s hope there are big premieres on both coasts, and a lot of hoopla. This is the kind of movie we need right now: something fun!
NCIS: Will Season 20 Be the End? Show Returns Way Down With Mark Harmon Finally Completely Gone
A lot was made of it two weeks ago when “NCIS” returned for Season 20 and Mark Harmon was no longer in the credits.
After all the teasing that Harmon would make appearances this year, the former star of the show seems to be gone for good.
The audience is not stupid. “NCIS” returned two weeks ago down 42% in the key age demo and down 31% in total audience.
This past Monday, with the Harmon news sunk in, the show dropped 4.76% more in the key demo although it did regain 5% of audience.
But the downward trend is there. “NCIS” now pulls half the audience it had in its heyday. Even with nice cast members, with Harmon the point of this thing is concluded. I suppose CBS could let it drift down to 5 million a week, but after that it’s probably going to be too expensive to produce.
Let’s hope producers have their eye on a series finale this year. “NCIS” is ready to nod out. Is it me? Or is David McCallum (third from right) shrinking in a worrying way?
Here’s the new opening.
RIP Coolio, 59, Dies on 46th Anniversary of Release of Stevie Wonder Song That Made Him Famous
So sad to hear about Coolio, the 90s rapper, dying at age 59. He was a really nice guy who often performed at charity events and had an affable way about him.
Reports are that Coolio, whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., died at a friend’s Los Angeles home from cardiac arrest.
In 1995, Coolio and producer singer L.V. (Larry Sanders) took Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise” and reworked it into “Gangster’s Paradise.” The song was included in the soundtrack to the Michelle Pfeiffer movie “Dangerous Minds,” and took off as a hit.
“Pastime Paradise” was released exactly 46 years ago on the album “Songs in the Key of Life.” I am not making this up.
What they did we now call an “interpolation.” It worked because the writers made it their own, and it fit in the movie. The new track hit a nerve, and Coolio lived on it for the last almost 30 years. He had a couple of other hits but Coolio- with his trademark helicopter style wings style hair cut — made a place for himself in pop history. He leaves behind six children according to Wikipedia.
More About Bruce Springsteen’s “Only the Strong Survive” Including Rumored Tracklist
Here’s the tracklist for Bruce Springsteen’s album of R&B cover songs. The album is called “Only the Strong Survive,” named for Jerry Butler’s great song. Release date is November 11th. I am more than excited. Some of these songs were big hits in their day, some are a little more obscure. Big winners here are Butler (two songs), William Bell (two songs), and Motown. Nice use of catalogs. You know these tracks will be tasty. They’ll also send fans back to the originals, which is always cool.
1. Only The Strong Survive – Jerry Butler
2. Soul Days – Dobie Gray
3. Night Shift – The Commodores
4. Do I Love You – Frank Wilson
5. The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore – The Walker Brothers
6. Turn Back The Hands of Time – Tyrone Davis
7. When She Was My Girl – The Four Tops
8. Western Union Man – Jerry Butler
9. I Wish It Would Rain – The Temptations
10. Don’t Play That Song – Aretha Franklin
11. Any Other Way – Jackie Shane
12. I Forgot To Be Your Lover – William Bell
13. Rooms of Gloom – The Four Tops
14. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted – Jimmy Ruffin
15. Someday We’ll Be Together – Diana Ross and The Supremes