Tag Archives: CBS

Scandal vs. Madam Secretary

Madam Secretary continues to pull in a good size audience (well over 10 million viewers) each Sunday night on CBS, despite the fact that Sunday means audience members have to pay attention to sporting events and make sure they know what time the episode will actually start.  Thankfully we live in a modern age where the crawler at the bottom of the screen is often used to announce exactly what time both Madam Secretary and The Good Wife will begin if it is different than what was announced in television guides.

So how does Madam Secretary measure up to Scandal?  Both shows are set in the Nation’s Capitol.  Both shows theoretically center around solving problems of great import and keeping our nation running.

The primary difference is that Madam Secretary has thus far focused primarily on big problems.  Treaties between nations, treason, an operatives cover being blown while he is over seas and the decision having to be made does the government send in a Seal team ala going after Bin Laden or are diplomatic channels used to recover him.  Complex issues are faced every week, and in the end someone, somehow, comes up with a remarkably simple solution.  The twists and turns of the episode keep you wondering how these characters will pull it out, and how the real folks in Washington, D.C., get things done.   There are subtle reminders not only about how much goes on that we will never see, but about how nations care who extends their hand first to shake on a deal, and that words matter in public statements that may well end up in the history books.

Madam Secretary can give someone unfamiliar with the workings of political machines a lot to think about.   Scandal on the other hand delves into the behind the scenes in an entirely different way.

Scandal explores exactly what the title implies.  The Scandals Washington, D.C. wants to make go away, where Madam Secretary is focusing on the events of their world and trying to cope with them.  It might be fair to say where one is looking purely inside the beltway, the other has a much broader view, looking outward, where Scandal is exploring the hidden secrets of the lives of those who govern a world in which I’m grateful is fantasy, Madam Secretary rips multiple headlines at a time, turns them into an engrossing episode, and by the end of the episode I feel as though I have some understanding of just how complicated a world we live in… and why I am grateful I never chose to make a life for myself in our Nation’s Capitol.

For some, Washington, D.C., is the land of dreams, hope and potential, for others it is a place of back room deals, seedy plots, sequestrations, a land where two political parties take pride in being loyal opposition.  Madam Secretary and Scandal are both imaginary works, taking very different perspectives on the same basic location.   Where the President in Madam Secretary relies on his Secretary of State to solve the problem of the episode, in Scandal the problem of the episode needs to be solved by Oliva Pope, a keen problem solver, but someone who, in most episodes, is not a part of the political machine.

If you are watching one show, give the other a try.  Both Madam Secretary and Scandal have a lot to offer in terms of making you stop and think about how Washington, D.C. functions, how you might wish it functions.  Where Madam Secretary highlights the complexities and details of politics and makes me marvel that anyone survives treading in those waters Scandal makes me particularly glad that is not the world we live in.

Madam Secretary airs Sunday nights on CBS.
Scandal airs Thursday nights on ABC

Current Nielsen Ratings

For those tuning in to the new television season, wondering whether the shows they love will survive, if shows they are mystified will stay on the air for reasons that baffle them, and simply trying to figure out what shows they will be watching for the next several months, the Nielsen Ratings are something they are, on some level, aware of.  After all, for decades, we have all been aware that the Nielsen’s are how the networks heard whether or not people were tuning in.  If the people do not come, the show can not stay on the air… commercials need to be seen so money can be made, it is part of the age old rhythm of the television and entertainment industry.

In the past few years things have been changing slightly — overnight ratings have been giving way to same day +1, same day +3, and same day +7 as networks recognized the saturation of DVRs in households, and tried to account for the number of people who were recording shows for later viewing.  The simple truth however, is if you record a show, and do not watch it within 1 week, you count, as a viewer, for less than those who watch it within that first week.

The issue of how the +1, +3, and +7 numbers are gathered is murky territory I will leave others to debate and discuss.  Undoubtedly some are unhappy with the two way communication going on between DVRs and providers and this real time contribution to statistics and ratings — but for others, the chance to be able to effectively vote for favorite shows is an empowering feeling.  Especially if they are viewers who have had a number of favorite shows cancelled out from under them.

So why write this article now?  The Hollywood Reporter published an article this past week, as did a few other industry publications, stating that Nielsen has acknowledge a software glitch that led to inaccurate numbers being reported — since MARCH of this year.  The glitch has been corrected, and for the past several days numbers have been accurate, and Nielsen is working to recalculate numbers for the period affected.

It is hoped that October 17th new numbers will be released, including revised numbers for the shows that have already premiered during the Fall 2014 television season.  It is hoped that the numbers will not alter dramatically, and thus far very few shows have been picked up for the entire season.

It is interesting to note that the show Unforgettable was cancelled after the glitch was announced, and before the revised numbers came out.  All of their summer season’s episodes would have aired during the glitch period, and thus be effected.  Then again, Unforgettable has been cancelled, and un-cancelled before, so perhaps CBS is unconcerned about a possibly premature decision on the show which had already been moved to the summer season because of lackluster viewership during the traditional television season.  (An unfortunate fact given the show had a fun sense of humor, and lots of entertaining moments.)

It will be interesting to see next week how the newly calculated numbers come out, and how the networks particularly feel about them.  With more and more viewers streaming shows through network websites, as well as Hulu, Amazon video-on-demand, cable video-on-demand options, and a variety of other ways of seeing shows after they have aired at their appointed times, traditional same-day and overnight ratings numbers have decreased in significance, and the new numbers may be forced to reflect the +7 facts as well.

Dallas – 40 Episodes 2012-2014, And No More

TNT has opted not to renew Dallas.   Many thought the show would not find an audience in this new century, and were probably shocked it aired for three seasons.  For others they were three fantastic seasons… and to some, they were two great seasons, and a third that just went a bit beyond where it started, and perhaps that last statement is why the show has not been renewed.

The show, which brought back Larry Hagman‘s J.R. Ewing for 17 memorable episodes did something few shows have successfully done.  It picked up characters from years gone by, and carried their stories forward.  Bobby (Patrick Duffy) Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) and J.R., along with Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval) and other familiar faces, were familiar to one generation, and struck that old familiar chord, while new faces captured the hearts of another generation, notably Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe), John Ross (Josh Henderson), Elena (Jordana Brewster), Pamela Rebecca Barnes (Julie Gonzalo), Harris Ryland (Mitch Pileggi), Judith Ryland (Judith Light), and Emma Brown (Emma Bell).

Suddenly two generations, who thought when it came to television shows they might very well have nothing in common, found themselves meeting on the common ground of South Fork Ranch, in Dallas, Texas.  People who once had entirely different answers when asked the question “What show do you know Patrick Duffy from?” (Or Larry Hagman?) were suddenly giving the same answer, though they may still have meant entirely different shows if fans of the original show which aired  from 1978 to 1991 on CBS did not realize TNT had given the show a new life.

And there were some loyal fans of J.R. who tuned in until he was shot, tuned out for a while… then tuned in again when it was time to find out WHO SHOT J.R.!, and tuned in once more in 2012 when Dallas returned to television, only to leave the show once more with the passing of Larry Hagman in the second season of this new incarnation.

The new incarnation of Dallas offered all the soapy intrigue I had ever heard the original contained, though I never watched the first incarnation so I can not speak directly to it.  But I recall hearing for what seemed like MONTHS people asking the question of the season, “WHO shot J.R.?” and when they finally found out, it was the most shocking revelation in television history, or so it seemed to all of the Dallas viewers in my life.  And somehow, when Larry Hagman died, it seemed appropriate that J.R. had once again been shot.

To me, Larry Hagman may always be the star of I Dream of Jeanie, Judith Light will always be the Boss, so do not bother to ask me “Who’s The Boss?“, Jordana Brewster is without a doubt Fast and Furious, and Jesse Metcalfe leaves Desperate Housewives (like Brenda Strong) in his wake, and Passions inflamed wherever he goes.  I can go Step By Step through the cast, if I try, see, I got to Patrick Duffy, just that quickly.  There was even a Veronica Mars cast member — Julie Gonzalo.  And I stayed Earth-centric for those shows, for Mitch Pileggi I concede, my first choice is a trek to Stargate: Atlantis where his performance was second to none.

In it’s originally incarnation, according to IMDB Dallas ran for 14 years, and 356 episodes.  A remarkable feat.  With a return of several members of the original cast, South Fork Ranch, and a new twist on the oil industry and modern life in Texas, another 40 episodes and 3 seasons were added to the mythology and legacy of the Dallas tale.

Who knows, another 20 years down the line Jesse Metcalfe and Josh Henderson might return to Dallas once more, and add another generation to the story of a ranch that seems to have an endless supply of tales to tell.


Larry Hagman.  When it comes to Dallas, the man was a Legend.

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One of the particularly nice things the show Dallas did was a special “memorial” opening credits segment for the episode when J.R. died as a tribute to Larry Hagman, with a slower rendition of the them song.  This was a particularly beautiful tribute to the actor, the character, and the man at the beginning of the episode “J.R.’s Masterpiece” a title which describes the opening credits as well as what follows.

Hawaii Five-O – Season 5 Has Begun

Hawaii Five-OLast week’s season Premiere episode of Hawaii Five-0 had a scene early on in which Steve (Alex O’Loughlin) and Danny “Danno” (Scott Caan)were in therapy — for some it may have felt contrived or awkward, but for others, those who had missed some episodes, or were first time viewers, it was actually a nicely done episode.  In the course of one scene the writers established the hilarious manner in which those two characters relate to one another through bickering, and gave a very basic run down of who all is on the team.

Modern television is full of shows where the audience feels as though you have to watch the show from the very first episode to understand who people are, to know the various plot points that matter, and be able to follow along.  While Hawaii Five-O did not reset by any means, they came very close to announcing for those who have not been watching all along, “this is an easy entry point, be welcome new viewers, we want you to join in the fun of watching our show.”

For those who like purely episodic shows, the episode made it clear this season is going to have some very definite arcs.  Clearly there will be some serial aspects, and there are going to be some plot lines they hope you will follow from start to finish.  That said, several of them look interesting.  Jorge Garcia, who joined the cast as Jerry Ortega this season, was in several episodes last season, and is a fun conspiracy theorist with a potentially interesting arc for the season.   While I admit to having high hopes for his character, I hope that Kamekona’s role (Taylor Wily) does not suffer, as he has been one of my favorites since the series began, and there have been a few times already when I have felt the writers were torn between those two characters when trying to decide who to give a line or scene to, making me wonder if their function on the show is a little too similar.  I hope as Jerry appears more he and Kamekona will diverge more, and their separate functions as part of the Five-O family will become clearer.

The season premiere was, overall, a very strong episode, but faithful viewers seemed to be called upon to remember several details, for instance, why someone was keeping an eye on Chin-Ho (Daniel Dae Kim), a fact that finally explained, somewhat, at the very end of the episode, leading me to wonder if the season will be self-contained enough for new viewers.  (Again, I hope that is the case.)  Given how much effort the show went to to give new viewers a primer on the characters I believe they will continue to offer memory jogs to long-time viewers, and subtle information drops to new viewers so no one is left feeling like they missed an episode or need to go back to last season and re-watch an episode or they will be lost.

From the moment this incarnation of Hawaii Five-O hit the air it has been a strong show, with action filled scenes and intricate enough plots to keep the audience waiting through the commercial breaks to find out just where the show is going, and how the case will turn out.  (There is nothing worse than a show you are so sure you’ve already solved the who-done-it of that you can flip away from it during the commercial break and feel like you will not miss a thing.  This is NOT one of those shows.)

Grace Park is back with the team full time, where she belongs, and while her time abroad was acceptable and understandable for those who heard Grace Park had a baby in Vancouver and simply could not get back to Hawaii in time for shooting to begin last season, it is great to see her back on the island with the rest of the team, taking down the bad guys, helping solve the cases and fight for what is right.

Masi Oka was an excellent addition to the show, it is hard to believe he merely recurred first season, since his being a regular part of the show feels like he is where he belongs.  His character, Max Bergman, is quirky and unique in a way that a lot of actors could not pull of with the charm and style that Masi brings to the character.  

Lou Grover (Chi McBride) did not have a lot to do in the season premiere, and I fear many first time viewers may have been left wondering exactly why he is on the team.  For them I would say ‘fear not, he will show his true value, he just needs one of those SWAT moments.’  That said, I was disappointed, and found myself wondering if with the cast increasing in size each season, and becoming more and more of an ensemble show, the writers are finding it harder and harder to keep everyone in play.  It will be interesting to see how things balance out for the characters over the course of the season.Hawaii Five-0

Danno and Steve are great fun to watch together, especially when they get to bickering in the car.  That said, when Lou and Steve have a difference of opinions about tactics one starts to wonder just how many seconds it will be before they want to pull a gun on one another instead of the bad guy — and somehow that is just hilarious and charming.  It is this dynamic that makes the show so entertaining, the fact that these people are not in perfect harmony, but work so well together because they bring vastly different perspectives to the table to get the job done, and listen to one another, work together, and will go to any length, and do anything to protect and serve.

Season Five of Hawaii Five-O airs Fridays on CBS at 9 PM / 8 C.

Official CBS Website: http://www.cbs.com/shows/hawaii_five_0/

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CBS Tweet: https://twitter.com/CBSTweet
IMDB: Hawaii Five-O

Cast on Twitter:

Daniel Dae Kim @DanielDaeKim
Jorge Garcia @JorgeGarcia
Masi Oka @MasiOka