News and notes from Planet TV:
Who says the broadcast networks can’t corral huge audiences anymore?
The new television season is less than two weeks old, and initial ratings don’t always hold up over the long haul, but some impressive numbers have been posted so far.
Among the freshman shows, “NCIS: New Orleans” made the biggest splash. The CBS spinoff drew a stunning 17 million viewers to its premiere episode — an audience that was projected to shoot past 20 million once seven-day, time-shifted DVR stats were factored in.
The success of “NCIS: New Orleans” isn’t totally surprising, given that “NCIS” is TV’s most durable franchise, but that’s still an eye-popping number, especially in an era of audience fragmentation.
The downside? Big ratings like that will only encourage networks to favor more remakes and derivative programming over fresh, original concepts.
OTHER EARLY LEADERS: “NCIS: New Orleans” wasn’t the only new show with something to celebrate.
“Scorpion,” another drama from CBS, capitalized on a hefty lead-audience from “The Big Bang Theory” to draw 14.01 million to its premiere episode — a number that was essentially matched by ABC’s Thursday-night newbie “How to Get Away With Murder.”
If “Murder” proves to have staying power, it would validate ABC’s decision to hand over its entire Thursday lineup to super-producer Shonda Rhimes.
Not quite at that lofty level but still producing solid premiere numbers were ABC’s “Black-ish” (10.8 million) and Fox’s “Gotham” (8 million).
Again, all these initial ratings were projected to rise when supplemented by seven-day DVR usage.
IN FINE ‘VOICE’: Last week, “The Voice” kicked off its seventh season with two new engaging coaches: Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams, both of whom made great first impressions.
Stefani is the feisty one. She’s doesn’t shy away from playing the “girl card,” or emphasizing her track record (“I’ve had the longest career”) while recruiting contestants and handing out “Team Gwen” T-shirts.
Williams, meanwhile, is more laid-back but can be sly and conniving when he needs to be. And already he has scored what look to be some of the show’s top singers.
Both newbies have delivered thoughtful, engaging critiques. And both have shown that they can go toe-to-toe with veterans Adam Levine and Blake Shelton in their playful sparring sessions.
TV COMEBACKS: A lot of “Blacklist” fans might have been surprised to see former “Weeds” star Mary-Louise Parker show up on the series last week as the former wife of Red (James Spader). Consider it part of a mini trend this season that has several former prime-time leading ladies morphing into new roles.
Kyra Sedgwick, for example, is returning to TV this weekend with a guest-starring gig on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” The actress, who was known as “The Closer” for seven years, will play a different type of law enforcement official — a deputy who happens to be the archrival of Capt. Holt (Andre Braugher).
Other former leading ladies taking on new roles include Geena Davis (“Commander in Chief”) on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Jennifer Love Hewitt (“Ghost Whisperer”) on “Criminal Minds,” and Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess”) on “Marvel’s Agents of “S.H.I.E.L.D.”
THE HOUSE PARTY CONTINUES: It’s official: “Big Brother” is the cockroach of summer TV. You just can’t exterminate it. You can only hope to contain it.
CBS recently announced that it has renewed the reality show for two more seasons, ensuring that it will be around to plague, er, entertain, mankind through at least the summer of 2016. That will be 18 seasons in all, and the show that turns humans into lab rats probably won’t end there.
Oh, brother.
RIDING THE BENCH: I’ve received lots of emails from readers wondering why some of their favorite shows are missing in action this fall. Are they AWOL? Have they been canceled?
Not necessarily. As always, the networks keep some shows on the bench to serve as midseason replacements. This year, the midseason roster of returning shows includes “Glee,” “The Mentalist,” “Mike & Molly,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Hannibal,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Hart of Dixie.”
A TRIP TO ‘FARGO’: I don’t often make DVD recommendations in this column, but I feel compelled to point out that FX’s “Fargo” will debut on DVD and Blu-ray on Oct. 14.
In a year of fantastic TV, “Fargo” stood out as one of the best, most entertaining productions, with great performances by Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, newcomer Allison Tolman and many others. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and check out the show that earned the Emmy for best miniseries.
Contact Chuck Barney at cbarney@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/chuckbarney and Facebook.com/bayareanewsgroup.chuckbarney.
