Media Blackout OVER- All is Right With the World

THE ANSWER TO THURSDAY'S TRIVIA QUESTION: Sandy and Kirsten COHEN (not Cooper) took in Ryan Atwood

FIRST FIVES:  Karen Feldman, Vincent Mondano, Leslie Keidan, Crystal Kyler & Priscilla Paez

HONORABLE MENTION: Dani Jackel

THE NUMBERS 

Wednesday's Broadcast Top 5

Modern Family-ABC 3.7/10.4
American Idol-FOX 2.6/10.5
Survivor-CBS 2.6/9.5
The Middle-ABC 2.1/7.8
Survivor Reunion-CBS 1.9/7.1

Wednesday's Cable Top 5

NBA Playoffs-TNT 2.2/5.7
Big Bang Theory-TBS 1.2/2.7
American Dad-Adult Swim 1.0/2.1
Catfish-MTV 1.0/1.7
American Pickers-History .6/2.9

Wednesday's Top 5 Nielsen Twitter Ratings
American Idol-FOX 212,000 Tweets
Catfish-MTV 127,000 Tweets
Survivor-CBS 91,000 Tweets
Law & Order SVU-NBC 45,000 Tweets
Modern Family-ABC 16,000 Tweets

Late Night Ratings for the week of5/12/14-5/16/14

Fallon 1.1/3.6

Kimmel .5/2.4

Letterman .5/2.7

Meyers .5/1.6

Nightline .3/1.5
The Daily Show .5/1.4
Colbert .4/1.1

Ferguson .3/1.4

Carson .3/.9

Conan  .3/.7

Early Morning Ratings for the week of 5/12/14-5/16/14

GMA 1.8/2.1

Today Show 1.7/2.0

CBS This AM .8/.9

THE SHOWS

Survivor

Thanks to all of you guys, my Survivor Media Blackout was a complete success. After a long day with no Facebook, no Twitter, and none of my fave other TV sites, I came home, put on my comfy clothes, got my Half Naked Popcorn and settled in for the Survivor Finale & Reunion. There are 2 reasons that we keep coming back to Survivor season after season. 1) Jeff Probst is SO good at what he does and 2) Jeff and Mark Burnett's ability to keep the show fresh. Even this years finale format evolved. I LOVED the "live" bits during the finale portion of the show. Jeff checked in on the cast in the green room, family members, and audience members. We got to see what goes on when someone gets voted out. Where do they go? How much do they weigh? Great addition. The finale episode was one of the best ever. Kass's comeback, Woo's big win and the decision that cost him 1 milllllllion dollars and of course Tony's fake special idol. The best player did win. You may not like Tony, I didn't, but he played a GREAT game. He really did. So…I congratulate him on Outplaying, Outwitting and Outlasting. During the reunion we saw a very bald Tony and Jeff's apology to Spencer for thinking he'd be a poor player. We learned that not only is Tyler Perry a huge Survivor fan but it was his idea for the special power idol. Like most of us, he was bummed that Tony found that one too. Next season…Blood vs. Water 2. Can't wait. 

Modern Family Finale 

The finale of Modern Family was pretty ridiculous. The entire premise that the wedding had to move to 2 more locations, that Sal went into labor and couldn't perform the ceremony and Phil JUST so happened to have gotten ordained, the Luke and Manny thing, Claire's dress, Cam's parents, Jay's stupidity, the moving of the gazebo, the entire thing was so stupid. If it wasn't for the few poignant moments it would have been a total loss for me. I think I said this before: Modern Family writers…go relax, chill, lay on the beach. Refresh, renew, regenerate and come back with some great new ideas.

THE OTHER STUFF

-One of my FAVORITE Jimmy Kimmel bits is when celebrities read mean Tweets about themselves. Here's the newest installment. Personally I think the mean Tweeter got the one about David Blaine right. SPOT ON! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imW392e6XR0

-I haven't been loving much my FBFF has been doing lately. They may think it's good enough to go viral, but I have very high standards. This live commercial is the first thing in a while I wanted you guys to see, but it could be that I'm just obsessed with dogs.
http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/segments/6376

-Chasing Maria Menounos may be over, but my girl crush is doing just fine. She just signed a pretty cool multi-year deal with E! She'll get her own 1 hour news show, be on Live From E! and produce programs as well. Not sure what's going on with her Access Hollywood gig, but I'm sure Maria can do it all and position herself to be the female Ryan Seacrest.

Friday's Trivia Question: What was this weeks theme?

Have a great long weekend! See ya on Tuesday! 

WWTM-Kristy

Like me on Facebook at Watching Way Too Much

Follow me on Twitter at watchingwaytoomuch@tvnme

http://watchingwaytoomuch.com

kristy@watchingwaytoomuch.com

I had to pick one...I chose Survivor last night.

The answer to Friday's Trivia Question: Wilma and Fred's daughter was Pebbles and Barney and Betty's son was Bam Bam

FIRST FIVES: Heather Doyle, Mike O'Dea, John Romeo, Mitch Klein & Lance Beitler

Honorable Mention:Cyndi Greeley

Thursday's Broadcast Top 5
Big Bang Theory-CBS 5.1/17.6
Scandal-ABC 3.2/9.2
Grey's Anatomy-ABC 2.7/8.3
The Millers-CBS 2.6/10.9
The Crazy Ones-CBS 1.9/7.8

Thursday's Broadcast Trendrr Top 5

Scandal-ABC 306,922
X Factor-FOX 272,275
Vampire Diaries-CW 93,619
Grey's Anatomy-ABC 70,717
Futbol Mexicano-Telemundo 32,144

Thursday's Cable Top 5
Thursday Night Football-NFL Network 3.3/8.9
Pawn Stars-History 1.2/3.2
The Big Bang Theory-CBS 1.2/2.5
Duck Dynasty-A&E .8/2.2
American Dad-Adult Swim .7/1.7

Thursday's Cable Trendrr Top 5
NBA Clippers/Nets-TNT 46,333
NBA Rockets/Trail Blazers-TNT 32,529
Impact Wrestling-Spike 18,026
Mob Wives-VH1 17,231
The Kelly File-Fox News 13,295

Thursday's Top 5 Primetime Twitter Ratings

Scandal-ABC  420,700 Tweets
X Factor-FOX 167,400 Tweets
Grey's Anatomy-ABC 70,000 Tweets
The Vampire Diaries-CW 66,400 Tweets
The Kelly File-Fox News 9,400 Tweets

Friday's Broadcast Top 5

Shark Tank-ABC 2.0/7.1
Undercover Boss-CBS 1.4/7.2
20/20-ABC 1.4/5.9
Hawaii FIve-0- CBS 1.2/8.9
Last Man Standing -ABC 1.2/6.2

Friday's Broadcast Trendrr Top 5
Teleton USA- Univision 94,825
Grimm-NBC 15,595
The Carrie Diaries-CW 11,081
Shark Tank-AB 9,801
Hawaii Five-0 4,566

Friday's Cable Top 5

NA

Friday's Cable Trendrr Top 5
NBA Lakers/Thunders-ESPN 93,886
WWE Smackdown-Syfy 43,401
NBA Rockets/Warriors-ESPN 42,773
Piers Morgan-CNN 17,665
The Kely File-Fox News 13,102

Friday's Top 5 Primetime Twitter Ratings

WWE Friday Night SmackDown-Syfy 31,000 Tweets

The Kelly File-FOX News 10,500 Tweets
Shark Tank-ABC 8,200 Tweets
The Carrie Diaries-CW 7,600 Tweets
Ancient Aliens-History 2 2,400 Tweets

I had to make a judgement call on what to watch last night and I went with Survivor. I had to. So I'm in a media blackout for Homeland. My apologies that I couldn't get it in, but again I blame Pilates. It just knocks me out big time. I can barely move this AM.

Survivor Season Finale
There really wasn't any big moves in the final episode of Survivor. Monica kept threatening us, saying she's had enough, she's sick of being bullied blah, blah, blah and guess what? She lost. She lost because she made no big moves at all really. Sure those arms helped her win quite a few challenges, but when push came to shove she had to OUTWIT and she (and her arms) didn't do that at all. So that's why she lost. Gervase was a coat tail rider the entire time. He too needed to flip on his alliance or make a big move and he never did. Ya gotta shake things up once in a while and Monica and Gervase had no shot in my opinion. How gorgeous did Hayden look at the reunion show? He needs to dump Kat big time and hook up with Ciera. OMG he cleaned up nice. Maybe with the million dollars he won, Tyson can now by a real dress shirt and get rid of that tuxedo t-shirt. Hated seeing Colton again and hated that Jeff actually let him even speak. I didn't believe a word he said and I don't think the audience did either. Rupert on the other hand, I was happy to see him again, but didn't it seem like he was on something? His eyes looked so crazy to me. Cochran writing for the show The Millers, I think I knew that didn't I? Aras and Vytas still don't seem like they've made much progress on their relationship at all. I was surprised to see Tina on the show. Her son died in a car accident 2 weeks ago. Wow. Crazy. And so...another season ends. I wouldn't say it was my favorite or the best ever, but it never disappoints and of course I can't wait for next season.

NEWS & INFORMATION

-On Friday night, I watched a really good Netflix documentary called The Short Game. Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel produced this really interesting movie about some of the best golfers in the world. The thing is, they are all 7 & 8 years old. Ya gotta check it out. Pretty interesting and really enjoyable to watch.

-Goodbye and good riddance to Jessica and Dana Brody who won't be coming back to Homeland next season. Maybe that's a sign of a much better 4th season to come. 75% of season 3 stunk and that was all the Dana eps. So, buh bye Dana.

-For all of you guys here in the NY/Tri-State area, set your DVR's for Christmas Day and Channel 11 if you're old enough to remember who Paula and Carol are and if Sherlock and the Chuckle patch mean anything to you. A special 1 hour Magic Garden holiday spectacular will be heading our way. Not sure of the time yet, but I'll keep you posted. Maybe someone from channel 11 will email me and let me know the scoop.

-1500 adults who stream TV shows at least once a week were surveyed online as part of a Netflix study. Turns out the people binge view programs 61% of the time. Very interesting new behavior. They didn't say WHAT they're bingeing on, which would have been a better question to answer, but still interesting to know that this is how people are consuming content.

Monday's Trivia Question: (This is a theme week)Jane Curtin and Susan St. James lived together with their kids this 80's sitcom. 5 points for each kid you can name too. 

WWTM-Kristy

Like me on Facebook at Watching Way Too Much

Follow me on Twitter at watchingwaytoomuch@tvnme

http://watchingwaytoomuch.com

kristy@watchingwaytoomuch.com

LOTS OF BIG NEWS & SUPER SPOILER ALERT...COCHRAN WON SURVIVOR with a unanimous VOTE!!!

The answer to Friday's Trivia Question: Cersei Lannister is King Joffrey's Mom on Game of Thrones

FIRST FIVES: Megan Quirk, Phyllis DiCesare, Katie McCartney, He Who Shall Not Be Named & Sean Reardon

Honorable Mention: Caryn Vitolo

Thursday's Broadcast Top 5

The Big Bang Theory-CBS 4.6/15.7
Two and a Half Men-CBS 3.4/12.6
Scandal-ABC 3.2/8.8
Grey's Anatomy-CW 2.9/8.6
American Idol-FOX 2.8/11.2 (My how the mighty have fallen!)

Thursday's Broadcast Trendrr Top 5

American Idol-FOX 320,124
Scandal-ABC 293,488
Glee-FOX 210,424
The Vampire Diaries-CW 177,823
Grey's Anatomy-ABC 115,462

Thursday's Cable Top 5

Swamp People-History 1.2/3.7
American Dad-Adult Swim 1.1/2.5
The Big Bang Theory-TBS 1.0/2.2
Men at Work-TBS .8/1.7
Chasing Tail-History .7/1.9

Thursday's Cable Trendrr Top 5

Stanley Cup Playoffs-NBC Sports 68,774
Small Town Security-AMC 35,341
Big Time Rush-Nick 33,361
Impact Wrestling-Spike 22,685
Futbol Mexicano-Univision 17,970

Friday's Broadcast Top 5
Shark Tank-ABC 1.8/6.0
20/20-ABC 1.7/5.8
Undercover Boss-1.6/6.9
Rock Center-NBC 1.2/4.7
Blue Bloods-CBS 1.1/9.9

Friday's Broadcast Trendrr Top 5
Shark Tank-ABC 40,434
Kitchen Nightmares-FOX 31,665
Blue Bloods-CBS 30,092
Touch-FOX 27,233
Fashion Star-27,027

Friday's Cable Top 5
NA

Friday's Cable Trendrr Top 5

NBA Playoffs-ESPN 1,097,325

NBA Playoffs-ESPN 303,712

WWE Smackdown-Syfy 56,580

Stanley Cup Playoffs-NBC Sports 46,202

Stanley Cup Playoffs-CNBC 41,765

UPFRONT WEEK BEGINS TODAY WITH NBC!  I'll provide my commentary throughout the week, and after I get through all the pilots. 

Here's NBC's lineup! 

MONDAY
8-10 p.m. – “The Voice”
10-11 p.m. – “THE BLACKLIST” CHECK OUT THE TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9_qgX7pTlc

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. – “The Biggest Loser” (New Day and Time)
9-10 p.m. – “The Voice” (New time)
10-11 p.m. – “Chicago Fire” (New Day and Time)

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Revolution” (New Day and Time)
9-10 p.m. – ”Law & Order: SVU”
10-11 p.m. – “IRONSIDE”

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – “Parks and Recreation” (New time)
8:30-9 p.m. – “WELCOME TO THE FAMILY”
9-9:30 p.m. – “SEAN SAVES THE WORLD”
9:30-10 p.m. – “THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW”
10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood” (New Day and Time)  IF THIS IS AGAINST SCANDAL I'M GOING TO BE PISSED

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
9-10 p.m. – “Grimm”
10-11 p.m. – “DRACULA”

SATURDAY
Encore programming

SUNDAY
7:00-8:15 p.m. – “Football Night in America”
8:15-11:30 p.m. – “NBC Sunday Night Football”

And the Midseason schedule:

MONDAY
8-10 p.m. – “The Voice”
10-11 p.m. – “THE BLACKLIST”

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. – “The Voice”
9-9:30 p.m. – “ABOUT A BOY”
9:30-10 p.m. – “THE FAMILY GUIDE”
10-11 p.m. – “Chicago Fire”

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Revolution”
9-10 p.m. – ”Law & Order: SVU”
10-11 p.m. – “IRONSIDE”

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – “Parks and Recreation”
8:30-9 p.m. – “WELCOME TO THE FAMILY”
9-9:30 p.m. – “SEAN SAVES THE WORLD”
9:30-10 p.m. – “THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW”
10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood”

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
9-10 p.m. – “Grimm”
10-11 p.m. – “CROSSBONES”

SATURDAY
8-10 p.m. – Encore and specials programming
10-11 p.m. – “Saturday Night Live” (Encore)

SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
8-9 p.m. – “AMERICAN DREAM BUILDERS”
9-10 p.m. – “BELIEVE”
10-11 p.m. – “CRISIS”

SURVIVOR

After seeing the scenes last week and all of the promos for the Survivor finale, I figured it was Eric who got sick and was pulled from the game.  Of course, I was right. Extreme hunger and dehydration got Eric the Bee Gee this time instead of extreme stupidity. I would say that's the better way to go out of the game.   Once Eric was gone and they were down to the final 4, Cochran recalculated and conspired.  He basically had a deal with everyone.  I was convinced that he would actually vote out Dawn, but he didn't.  He was true to his alliance and voted out Eddie and the final tribal council began.  

As usual, a crazy tribal council for us to all enjoy, except this time, in addition to the stuff we are so used to, we had a first...Brenda pretty much insisted that Dawn take out her retainer and humiliate herself on national TV and SHE DID IT! I have a thing about teeth, so this completely freaked me out. Man Survivor brings out the weird in people. Jeff didn't go after Brenda about it during the finale...maybe because she is VERY pregnant and if she got upset enough her water would break.  Well...if you are a Survivor loyalist then you know not just from my SPOILER HEADLINE, that Cochran was the winner this season.  I chose him to win it day one and I'm proud to say I was right. He played a great game and I'm thrilled that he won it all. 

Couple of notes:

• Who even thinks of a crazy one handed house of cards reward challenge? It must have been sooo  frustrating. This was one of those times I wished they had a clock to know how long it took to complete the challenge. Did you guys catch the bleeped curse words? I'm pretty sure I made out Dawn using my fave, motherf*cker ,when her tower crumbled. 
• So glad they did a compilation of Dawn's breakdowns.  She kept claiming how strong she was, but we were all witness to her losing it on a weekly basis. I'm thinking the 11 breakdowns shown last night couldn't possibly be all of them. 
• Isn't it nuts during the Right of Passage section of the show how you can barely remember some of the tribe members who played the game? Who remembered Allie, Hope, or Laura? NOT ME!!!
• I wonder if the people who created the giant monkey/Buddha were sad to see it burn.
• As a dog lover, I honestly thought Eddie's idea of a bar that you can bring your dog to was brilliant. I'm not even a bar person, but if there was one near my house that I could bring my dog too, I'd probably go!
• What was up with the pixelling of Eddie's nether region? Was his hair growing up and out? Did you guys notice that? 
• Dawn, Sheri and Cochran cleaned up better than any 3 contestants who played before. I mean MAN did Cochran look amazing at the finale or what? 
• While I was rooting for Cochran big time, he really did come across pretty cocky at a few points during the finale. How about how he dissed Harvard Law school for not prepping him to address a jury?  
• I loved when Phillip rescinded Sheri's "Stealth R Us" membership card! 
• Is Malcolm the new Fabio? I think so...what is with that mane of hair? Honestly, I think he'd be way hotter with it cut shorter. 
• Loved seeing Boston Rob at the finale. The "Boston Rob Rulebook" is real and if anyone IS interested, here's the link. http://www.bostonrobmariano.com/rulebook/
• I'm thinking the Blood vs. Water season is family members on one team and then friends on another team? Blood is thicker than water type deal?
• Malcolm was on The Bold and the Beautiful? 
• Rudy is 85 and he looked exactly the same as when he played the game 13 years ago. He didn't change at all. 
• Malcolm won the Sprint Player of the Season award. 100K should get him some acting lessons.
• Great season...Thanks Probst you are still the best at what you do! 

Married to Jonas

The Jo Bro's started their tour in South America where there were tons of screaming, crazy, chanting fans everywhere.  I was glad that Kevin and Dani worked out their issues over the past week.  Dani stayed in NY to finish her Cosmo article and planned on showing up on tour a few weeks later. No biggy at all right? Well...it is when weather gets in the way.  Freezing rain to be exact.  While on tour I learned that according to Nick Jonas, only married guys appreciate good hangers.  I find that hard to believe. No idea why the Jo Bro concert in Chile started at 1AM but it did and the press and paparazzi were all over the guys even in the middle of the night. I guess everyone in Chile is used to going to concerts and dinner in the middle of the night. Kevin and the crew all went to dinner after the show which must have been 330AM and the restaurant was jammed packed.  I'd never survive in Chile.

Tanked
I'm thrilled for Brett and Wayde and all the folks at Tanked with the success of the show. You know they're successful when Dunkin Donuts pretty much takes over an entire episode. The guys built a great tank for a Dunkin Donuts in Florida. It was a DD coffee cup with a donut going into it and a hand on top...pretty crazy. They also made a tank out of a giant beer fermenter for a place in San Diego called Pizza Port. All this while moving into a giant 30,000 foot new space. That's double the size they had before. I'm sure it was stressful, but the ATM guys made it look like moving all their crap from one place to another was the easiest thing in the world.  I'm starting to feel bad for Wayde. Everyone always makes fun of his weight and his love of food (mostly junk food, which is probably linked to the weight issue but that's a whole different blog). When they were going for their meeting with Dunkin Donuts, Brett said that taking Wayde to DD was like taking a monkey to a banana farm.  Sure I laughed, but I also felt bad for Wayde at the same time. Stop making fun of Wayde guys!

Smash
Only one more episode left before Smash is gone and forgotten. What a bummer that they didn't figure out how to fix it until after everyone tuned out.  It's actually pretty good now. Debra Messing lost weight and got her hair done, there's another, more modern show competing with the traditional Broadway touristy Bombshell, and there's even some real drama with Kyle dying (don't get me wrong, I'm still not happy about it) and Ivy being preggers.  At least it will go out on a good note and I'm sure that we'll be seeing a lot of the cast elsewhere soon.

NEWS & INFORMATION

-Okay here's where we are at this point: with network cancellations and renewals:  
FOX renewed Hells Kitchen and Masterchef
TNT cancelled Southland and Monday Mornings
NBC cancelled Go On, Rock Center, The New Normal & Smash
CBS cancelled CSI NY, Golden Boy, Vegas and one of my faves...Rules of Engagement
USA cancelled Burn Notice
SYFY renewed Defiance
ABC cancelled Happy Endings , Malibu Country, Body of Proof, Red Widow, How to Live with Your Parents and Family Tools
ABC renewed Nashville, Castle, Grey's Anatomy, Modern Family, Castle, Suburgatory, The Neighbors, Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Scandal, The Middle
NBC renewed Community (Shocked actually) and Celebrity Apprentice

-I'm pretty sure we all assumed that Seth Meyers would get the Fallon slot. I know I did. Well, it's now official and Lorne Michaels will of course be producing it. With Lorne producing Fallon, Meyers and SNL, perhaps he should just live in 30 Rock if he doesn't secretly live there already. In Googling Lorne...did you know his real last name was Lipowitz? I didn't. 

-YouTube launched 30 PAID channels last Thursday that allows content partners to charge a fee for access.  Fees vary and start at .99 a month. The channels can be accessed on all devices and platforms.

-In case anyone was worried, the NYC housewife crisis is over. They all signed their contracts, got a little bit more dough and an increase in budget for hair and makeup...ahhh I bet your soooo relieved. Me...I stopped watching NYC, I would have preferred a clean slate...maybe Real Housewives of  Westchester or Queens or something.  Just a thought for next season Andy Cohen!

-This week ABC will update its iphone and ipad app with a "live" button.  Users in the NY and Philadelphia area will be able to live stream all the programming from ABC's local stations.  ABC is the first major broadcaster to turn on this type of technology.  The apps will be live and featured during ABC's upfront on Tuesday. Take that Aereo!  Good for you ABC! I'm in!

-Barbara Walters will retire at the end of next Summer.  Nothing to say here...I'm good.

Monday's Trivia Question: What was the song they played on the series finale of Seinfeld in 1998?

WWTM-Kristy

Like me on Facebook at Watching Way Too Much

Follow me on Twitter at watchingwaytoomuch@tvnme

http://watchingwaytoomuch.com

kristy@watchingwaytoomuch.com

I wasn't happy with the Survivor Finale, but I was happy with Homeland's...

The answer to Friday's Trivia Question:  Brody was a Gunnery Sergeant in the Marines

FIRST FIVES: Alyssa Leifer, Megan Quirk, Phyllis DiCesare, Bill McLaughlin & David Gorin
Honorable Mention: Daniel Block

Thursday's Broadcast Top 5
The Big Bang Theory-CBS 5.4/16.7
Two and a Half Men-CBS 4.1/13.3
Person of Interest-CBS 2.9/14.0
Grey's Anatomy-ABC 2.9/8.1
X Factor-FOX 2.4/7.6

Thursday's Broadcast Trendrr Top 5
The X Factor-FOX 1,298,824
The Vampire Diaries-CW 196,097
Scandal-ABC 139,895
Glee-FOX 132651
The Big Bang Theory-CBS 90,710

Thursday's Cable Top 5
NFL Football-NF Network 2.0/5.4
NBA Basketball-TNT 1.4/3.0
The Big Bang Theory-TBS 1.3/2.8
Jersey Shore-MTV 1.2/2.0
The Big Bang Theory-TBS 1.1/2.4

Thursday's Cable Trendrr Top 5
NBA Basketball-TNT 612,184
NFL Football-NFL Network 127,694
Jersey Shore-MTV 73,499
NBA Basketball- TNT 51,055
Impractical Jokers-Tru TV 38

Friday's Broadcast Top 5

Dateline-NBC 2.0/6.7
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer-CBS 1.9/6.6
20/20-ABC 1.6/6.2
Yes, Virgina-CBS 1.6/5.9
Malibu Country-ABC 1.5/6.5

Friday's Broadcast Trendrr Top 5
Teleton USA-Univision 108,811
Fringe-FOX 39,666
Blake Shelton's Not So Family Christmas-NBC 32,100
Kitchen Nightmares-FOX 22,389
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer-CBS 12,339

Friday's Cable Top 5

NA

Friday's Cable Trendrr Top 5
Piers Morgan-CNN 120,411
NBA Basketball-ESPN 74,176
WWE Smackdown-Syfy 57,022
NBA Basketball-ESPN 44,206
Anderson Cooper-CNN 30,469

While we were waiting for the Survivor Finale, and trying to avoid all Connecticut coverage Sunday night, we all watched See Dad Run on Nick. You know, the new one with Scott Baio.  I gotta say, we really were all laughing out loud, even my husband.  The show is very cute and family friendly and every time I see Scott Baio all I can focus on is how amazing he looks for a 52 year old.  How in the world does he look that good?  Anyway,  the entire episode took place in a "Cost Club" (aka Costco) where the family went on Christmas Eve to just get cheesy potatoes for dinner.  Of course as we all know when you go to Costco, we never end up with just what we went for, and the Hobbs family was no exception.   They unfortunately forgot the cheesy potatoes, but did get the Uggs, the blender that can liquefy shoes, and a 5 gallon tub of crab dip. Of course in addition to the cheesy potatoes there was a cheesy Santa who was or wasn't real, but net net, it was the right show at the right time.  


The Survivor Finale always starts out with an extra long recap of the game to date, I call it Recap #1.  You'll see where recap #2 comes into play in a minute.  Final 4, Malcolm, Lisa, Denise and Skupin.  Even though Skupin made it this far, I still got nervous that he's was going to burn himself every time they filmed him by the fire. I love Lisa Whelchel and wanted her to win, but did you happen to notice her crazy eyebrow growth? Her waxer must have charger her extra when she got home.  I don't recall another player ever having such bushy eyebrows at the end of the game.  Do you? Okay, first reward challenge was another obstacle course ending with yet another puzzle, this time in the shape of a dragon.  Pretty tight race but Malcolm won and the prize was an advantage at the final challenge. Even with the advantage, Malcolm couldn't pull it out.  Which is actually funny because for the final challenge the players had to hold a long stick and balance a little ball.  You'd think Malcolm would be great at that but shaky hands got the best of him and he was the first out.  Skupin ended up winning and it seemed obvious that getting rid of Malcolm was the only way to go, but Skupin started talking about keeping Malcolm to make his wife proud.  Trust me, she'd be proud if he walked in with the giant million dollar check regardless. So before the final tribal, Recap #2...the Fallen Comrades thing, or as I call it, the reminder of players we had already forgotten. Final tribal, Skupin came to his senses and Malcolm went home.  Yeah my girl Blair made it to the Final 3. Abi was super shiny and in need of some blotter paper during the final tribal council. I hadn't realized that Denise went to every tribal council and survived. I'd call that Outlasting at its finest.  Everyone's speeches were really strong.  I honestly didn't know who should win after hearing them and how they responded to all of the questions and comments. RC's laugh was super annoying, Malcolm came down hard on Denise and I was really upset with Penner as he felt the need to reveal that Lisa was a child star and had kept that from the tribe.  I didn't think that was a nice thing to do and it actually could have cost her the money. He seemed filled with bitterness, but of course it was great TV.  After a moment of silence for the Connecticut families, Jeff revealed our winner...Denise.  I was shocked and honestly not happy with that at all.  So rather than watch the reunion, I switched over to the Homeland finale.

I don't think I could have asked for a better finale of Homeland than the one we got.  All season long I kept thinking, where is this show going?  Well we got the answer. What a roller coaster of an episode right?  First you think Quinn's going to kill Brody, but since he apparently only kills bad guys, he couldn't follow orders and let him be after eating what appeared to be a Snack Pack pudding.  Then we got a bit of the Brody/Carrie love story thing where we learned that Carrie's Mom went to CVS and never came back. (I sense her return at some point next season don't you?)  Saul was finally let out of his holding room,  but only after getting his mini milk.  Brody hooked up with Mike and basically gave him his family to handle, then headed home to get a suit for the Walden memorial.  Dana was there and of course called him out on his previous terrorist stint, but since he let her watch him get dressed and didn't put a bomb on, she knew he wasn't going to kill anyone that day. Off to the memorial he and Carrie went.  They got bored and went upstairs where Carrie revealed that she was quitting the CIA to be with him forever.  Just before they could get down and celebrate, Brody noticed his truck had been moved and then a huge explosion and everyone died. The Walden's, Estes and 197 more. HOLY CRAP, didn't see that one coming.  But now everyone thinks Brody did it, so on the run they go.  Carrie must have known this day was coming because she had a storage unit inside a storage unit, a spare car, extra passports and a ton of cash ready to go.  She took Brody to get a passport at "Mike's" place (no another Mike) and then to yet another family lake house and then...left him.  Again...holy crap, now you know...she has to go clear his name. Carried interrupted Saul doing the Jewish Yiska prayer  for the hundreds of  dead bodies he gave her the "glad you're back" nod/smile...THE END.  Extremely satisfying and a great way direction for next season.  OMG exhausted.

I think I'm done with The Wedding Band.  I've decided it's an odd show that just hasn't figured out what it wants to be.  It's not funny enough to be a comedy, it's definitely not a drama, the guys aren't hot enough, (Sorry Brian Austin Green...you're cute but not cute ENOUGH to carry this show) and there isn't enough Wedding BAND in The Wedding Band.  There IS something there and that's why I keep watching it.  I keep thinking THIS will be the week that they get it right and then they don't.  So I think...but I'm not positive...that I'm done.

NEWS & INFORMATION

*The 12.12.12 Concert across all networks was seen by 19.3 million viewers.  The average audience viewing the concert at any given moment was 5.2 million viewers. Not sure how many people stayed awake for the entire thing.  I missed everything after Billy Joel.  I thought   for sure it would air again over the weekend but it didn't.  Sorta bummed I missed the end but at some point I'm sure I'll get to see it.

*TV Guide announced it's top 10 shows of 2012 as:
10 Happy Endings
9 Game of Thrones
8 Girls
7 Louie
6 Parenthood
5 The Walking Dead
4 Mad Men
3 30 Rock
2 Breaking Bad
1 Homeland
While I'm psyched that Parenthood made this list, I'd take off Girls or Happy Endings to get Parks & Rec and Sons of Anarchy on there.  Thoughts?

Monday's Trivia Question: Bumbles Bounce, Island of Misfit Toys and Independent Dentist were all characters from which holiday special?

WWTM-Kristy

http://watchingwaytoomuch.com

kristy@watchingwaytoomuch.com

kristy.carruba@watchingwaytoomuch.com