Entering TV's New Year: Mo' or No Mo'?
12/27/06 09:31 AM
By ED BARK
Some have it, others don't. As 2006 gets ready to be ancient history, let's look at some of the stars, shows and networks with or without momentum on their sides. For short, we'll call it MO' and NO MO.' Ready, set, go.
MO' -- Carrie Underwood. She functionally performed at the Kennedy Center Honors in tribute to Dolly Parton. And on Christmas Day she got on the Texas Stadium field with boy pal Tony Romo, even if the Dallas Cowboys QB has a little case of No Mo' at the moment.
NO MO' -- Jessica Simpson. She dysfunctionally performed at the Kennedy Center Honors in tribute to Dolly Parton. So much so that she asked to be cut from the Dec. 26th CBS telecast. And her rumored fling with Romo turned out to be an incomplete pass.
MO' -- Dancing with the Stars. Buoyed by Emmitt Smith's upset win, ABC's hoof and puff extravaganza became TV's most-talked about reality show, at least until Fox's American Idol returns in January.
NO MO' -- Survivor. The Cook Island edition generated next to no buzz. How many can name its winner? Ratings remain decent, but CBS no longer has a juggernaut.
MO' -- Charles Gibson. ABC's newly installed World News anchor is gaining on Brian Williams' top dog NBC Nightly News, and lately has been edging it among advertiser-coveted 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal target audience for non-entertainment programming.
NO MO' -- Katie Couric. The thrill is gone, with her CBS Evening News slipping to a distant third place after early viewer windfalls. It's going to be very tough for Couric to dig out.
MO' -- Heroes. NBC's new serial drama has burst into the public consciousness, already ranking a heady No. 5 for the season with 18-to-49-year-olds, the key advertiser target audience for entertainment programming.
NO MO' -- Lost. Ratings are down and the storytelling is getting just a bit drowsy. Add a long layoff that stretches until February and a later Wednesday night slot that will pit ABC's twisty-turny against CBS' still potent CSI: NY. Diminishing returns are likely.
MO' -- The CSI franchise on CBS. All three editions rank in the top 10 with total viewers and in the top 15 among 18-to-49-year-olds. That's despite CSI: Crime Investigation sustaining a few dents on Thursdays from ABC's competing Grey's Anatomy.
NO MO' -- The Law & Order franchise on NBC. None of the three editions ranks in the top 15 in either Nielsen measurement. The granddaddy, Law & Order, has sunk to 41st place with total viewers and 52nd among 18-to-49-year-olds.
MO' -- Seinfeld alum Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Her New Adventures of Old Christine sitcom on CBS has won her a best actress Emmy and a pair of Golden Globe nominations.
NO MO' -- Seinfeld alum Michael Richards. His profane, racial diatribe at a Los Angeles comedy club has sunk his career like a two-foot putt.
MO' -- YouTube. The hottest media property in the land spurred Time magazine to name "You" its Person of the Year. A staggering $1.65 billion purchase by Google was the year's biggest business story. Now we'll see if the site is corporate-ized and therefore compromised in 2007.
NO MO' -- Yahoo. The Avis of web servers fell further behind Google, prompting another executive shuffle. Will it eventually go the way of Betamax?
MO' -- Showtime. The No. 2 premium cable network made great strides creatively with standout series such as Weeds, Dexter, Sleeper Cell and The Brotherhood. Audience levels remain low, but Showtime at least cracked the 1 million viewer mark with its recent Dexter finale. It also had more Golden Globe nominations for its series than HBO.
NO MO' -- HBO. Premium cable's longtime kingpin is struggling to find its next landmark series. Big Love made a pretty big impression, but Lucky Louie was pure stinkum. Rome will return for its second and last season on Jan. 14, Deadwood is all but gone save for a possible movie or two and The Sopranos will have its last gasp starting in March. The pump needs replenishing.
MO' -- Ugly Betty. ABC's loose but lush adaptation of the hit Spanish language telenovela has done well against Survivor and looks like a sure returnee next fall.
NO MO' -- MyNetworkTV's telenovelas. Cheap English language adaptations starring the likes of Morgan Fairchild, Bo Derek and Tatum O'Neal have done next to nada in the Nielsens. The fledgling network may have to do a complete course correction by next fall.
MO' -- The Today Show. NBC hasn't missed a beat by plugging Meredith Vieira into the slot vacated by Katie Couric. Today remains No. 1, with no end to its reign in sight.
NO MO' -- The Early Show. Perennially last, it's in the midst of another makeover. Co-host Rene Syler unjustly became the first to walk the plank. But how will CBS boss of bosses Leslie Moonves handle holdover host Julie Chen's future? Possible sticking point: she's his wife.
MO' -- Rosie O'Donnell. Ratings for ABC's The View are up since she replaced Vieira and began braying insults and strong opinions. Her feud with Donald Trump afforded the opportunity to flip her mane in an imitation of his. Nice touch.
NO MO' -- Donald Trump. The billionaire blowhard's been pounding away at O'Donnell by calling her fat, ugly and unfit for television. But Trump's The Apprentice is on fumes and so desperate for attention that next month's edition will originate from Los Angeles, not New York. Bad move. He'll be fired by NBC after this one.
MO' -- Univision. The Spanish language network has moved into fifth place in prime-time with the three key advertiser demos -- 18-to-49, 25-to-54 and 18-to-34-year-olds.
NO MO' -- The CW. Arising from the ashes of The WB and UPN, the new network's blend of the old networks' programming is running behind Univision in those aforementioned key demographics. And it's barely ahead of Univision in total viewers despite spending a ton more money on its nighttime attractions.
MO' -- NBC's Thursday comedies. They're not racking up the big-time ratings of predecessors such as The Cosby Show, Seinfeld and Friends. But the Peacock's new quartet of My Name is Earl, The Office, Scrubs and 30 Rock is starting to make a solid impression with 18-to-49-year-olds. Additionally, all four received Golden Globe nods.
NO MO' -- CBS' Monday comedies. Only Two and a Half Men does well with both total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds. Old Christine also will be a keeper for next season. But The Class is a sure goner and How I Met Your Mother remains an under-performer despite CBS' big promotional effort on its behalf.
MO' --Tom Bergeron. The host of both Dancing with the Stars and America's Funniest Home Videos could make a fence-painting competition teem with excitement. Glib with an ad lib, he'd be the perfect answer for CBS' The Early Show. Then again, why would he want to do that?
NO MO' -- William Shatner. Shat's Show Me the Money on ABC flopped despite the host's recurring dance fevers with a bevy of beauties. That tarnished his alleged "Shat-tastic" mystique, although Denny Crane on Boston Legal is still in his bag of schticks.
MO' -- MSNBC. It was the only cable news network to gain viewers this year, with acid-tongued Keith Olbermann's Countdown leading the charge.
NO MO' -- Fox News Channel. Percentage-wise, it led the cable news league in audience erosion. Are President Bush's continued low approval ratings and the Democrats' mid-term election successes starting to turn heads?
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