By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Nielsen’s first “most likely to succeed” list is out, and it includes Michael Weatherley, Mandy Moore, Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin James.
They are among the stars in new series that performed well during the first week of the new TV season, the Nielsen company said. The best performer was “Bull,” CBS’ series starring Weatherley as a trial consultant in a story loosely based on Dr. Phil McGraw’s life. Its audience of 15.6 million made it the most-watched debut of the week.
Moore is in the ensemble cast of NBC’s “This is Us,” and James in the CBS comedy “Kevin Can Wait,” which both finished among Nielsen’s Top 25 for their debuts.
All three series, however, had the advantage of following more popular returning series on the schedule: CBS’ “NCIS” and “The Big Bang Theory,” and NBC’s “The Voice.” That’s the television equivalent of beginning a 100-yard dash 50 yards ahead of your opponent.
Sutherland’s critically acclaimed “Designated Survivor” on ABC, however, was the only one of the four newcomers to gather a bigger audience than the show immediately preceding it on the schedule. ABC’s “black-ish” had 6.4 million viewers for its premiere, and “Designated Survivor” followed it with more than 10 million — a positive sign that many viewers specifically sought it out.
After finishing the summer months behind NBC in the ratings, CBS returned to the top spot last week. It also was the only one of the top four networks to gain in viewers compared to the first week of the 2015 season.
CBS averaged 11.2 million viewers in prime time for premiere week. NBC had 8.7 million, and won among the 18-to-49-year-old demographic sought by advertisers. ABC had 5.9 million, Fox had 3.6 million, Telemundo had 1.7 million, Univision had 1.6 million, ION Television had 1.1 million and the CW had 900,000.
ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 3.19 million people in prime time. Fox News Channel ad 2.33 million, TNT had 1.8 million, TBS had 1.44 million and HGTV had 1.31 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.2 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.7 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Sept. 19-25. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Chicago at Dallas, NBC, 20.62 million.
2. NFL Football: Houston at New England, CBS, 17.55 million.
3. “NCIS,” CBS, 16 million.
4. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 15.82 million.
5. “Bull,” CBS, 15.57 million.
6. “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 15.41 million.
7. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14.36 million.
8. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 12.29 million.
9. NFL Football: Philadelphia at Chicago, ESPN, 12.14 million.
10. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 12.1 million.
11. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 11.5 million.
12. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 11.12 million.
13. “NFL Pregame,” CBS, 11.084 million.
14. “Kevin Can Wait,” CBS, 11.08 million.
15. “Empire,” Fox, 10.87 million.
16. “MacGyver,” CBS, 10.73 million.
17. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 10.72 million.
18. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 10.55 million.
19. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 10.34 million.
20. “Hawaii Five-O,” CBS, 10.22 million.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More