Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Winter break looms; time to take stock.

- MICHAEL STOREY

Here we are nearing the mid-season hiatus when Christmas specials rule and most series take a winter break.

It’s also traditiona­lly the time when fans of any given new show begin to fret over whether it will live to see the new year.

That’s why a recent article in The New York Times caught my eye. Ace TV critic John Koblin summed up the new fall season with a very succinct, “Well, it could be worse.”

My thoughts exactly. Here are a few of Koblin’s 2016-2017 season observatio­ns I thought I’d pass along.

The Times agrees with most of us that there are only a handful of winners and losers so far. NBC’s smart new ensemble dramedy This Is Us is the surprise consensus breakout show, while ABC’s Notorious has fizzled, despite the presence of the lovely Piper Perabo and the lovelier Daniel Sunjata.

In between these two, it’s been a tough fall. The vast majority of shows are just trying to get enough traction to avoid the ax.

Ratings are off this fall, according to Nielsen — 8 percent for the advertiser-coveted 18- to 49-year-old demographi­c, and 4 percent overall. Nonetheles­s, each network is claiming to have something about which to cheer.

In addition to This Is Us, NBC has NFL football (despite declining viewership), The Voice and four (count ’em) Dick Wolf dramas. The network is down 7 percent, but that’s good news compared with the far higher losses at CBS and ABC.

This Is Us finds itself in the rarefied air of TV’s Top 3, just behind The Big Bang Theory on CBS and Fox’s Empire.

On ABC, the Times notes what it labels the network’s “Thursday problem.”

ABC still has its veteran high-rated shows, including Grey’s Anatomy’s (Season 13) and Modern Family (Season 8). Kiefer Sutherland’s Designated Survivor started out smoking hot, but has settled back into a Top 10 show.

On the comedy front, ABC is doing well with black-ish and newcomers Speechless and (for some reason) American Housewife.

With Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal being held for midseason (star Kerry Washington was pregnant and gave birth Oct. 5), ABC’s Thursday night has struggled. Notorious never caught on and is dragging down the already slumping How to Get Away With Murder.

On Sunday, Quantico is bleeding viewers in its second season, causing ABC to be in danger of finishing in last place.

Meanwhile, that recordbrea­king World Series has lifted Fox to No. 2 behind NBC. Fox also has the Super Bowl in February to look forward to.

Empire is going strong despite lower ratings and the revival of Lethal Weapon is doing nicely. But that’s it.

Viewers are bailing out of Season 2 of Scream Queens, and that has Fox honchos counting on the post-Super Bowl Feb. 5 arrival of 24: Legacy to give the network a boost.

If you want to go by total viewers, then CBS continues to be the leader. The Big Bang Theory, going strong in its 10th season, has returned to TV’s No. 1 program.

Meanwhile, Bull and Kevin Can Wait are doing passably well, but are not the breakout hits the network had hoped for.

The downside: Declining football ratings mean CBS is off 16 percent from last year. That, the Times notes, is the steepest drop of any network.

Which brings us to cancellati­ons.

By this time in years past there would have already been several freshman casualties. The plug used to be pulled at the first sign of faltering. Not so much anymore.

The Times explains that it’s not so much that the new shows are all that great, but that network officials are now erring on the side of caution. These days, ratings are factored not just from live viewings, but from DVR play down the road and On Demand use.

In addition, reruns are passe. Networks are out of options if they don’t have another show in the wings ready to replace one that has stumbled.

Short of cancellati­on, Notorious has had its season order cut back to 10 (never a good sign), and CBS’ Pure Genius has been trimmed to 13 episodes (although there is hope for a second season). Teetering on the pink slip fence is ABC’s Conviction and The CW’s No Tomorrow and Frequency.

Incorporat­ed reminder. The dystopian drama Incorporat­ed debuted last week on Syfy. If you missed it, catch up at Syfy. com. Episode 2 airs at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The series stars Julia Ormond, Dennis Haysbert and Sean Teale. It is set in 2074 when all those climate change concerns have come to pass and giant corporatio­ns control the world. One man takes on the corporate world to save the woman he loves.

I’d watch the magnificen­t Haysbert in anything, but Incorporat­ed was a bit derivative for my taste. I’ll pass.

Note: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are among the executive producers.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email mstorey@arkansason­line.com

 ??  ?? This Is Us, the surprise hit of the new fall season, stars Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth and Sterling K. Brown as Randall. The series airs at 8 p.m. today on NBC.
This Is Us, the surprise hit of the new fall season, stars Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth and Sterling K. Brown as Randall. The series airs at 8 p.m. today on NBC.
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