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Was Jussie Smollett’s “Attack” Designed to Boost “Empire” Ratings? Once Hit Show Has Been in Steady Decline Recently

Roger Friedman
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Was Jussie Smollett’s “Attack” Designed to Boost “Empire” Ratings? Once Hit Show Has Been in Steady Decline Recently

Everyone is trying figure out why Jussie Smollett got himself into this mess. Why would a hot young actor in a hit series create a scandal that keeps unraveling and looking worse and worse?

Maybe one answer can be found in the ratings for “Empire.” Once a show that everyone watched and talked about, “Empire” is starting to fade, and fast.

When the show returns on March 13th, “Empire” will be down over 10% in total viewers from its previous season and 16% in the key demo of 18-49.

The last season, which started in September, returned with just 6 million viewers. The second week saw a decline of 1 million. On November 14th, the number dropped below 5 million to 4.8 million. The show finished on December 5th with just over 5 million total, and a weak 1.50 in the demo.

Was Smollett worried about the ratings? His so-called mugging was the most publicity “Empire” has had in eons. Whether Smollett’s story turns out to be true or not, it will definitely have an impact on the March 13th return. It could be this was some kind of misguided effort to get attention.

It’s not “Empire” would be cancelled. Even with 5 million viewers, the show remains a hit for Fox. But a 7th season ending doesn’t seem out of the question. The thrills of “Empire”– a show that burns through plot faster than Donald Trump on Adderall– are less a novelty than ever before. The ratings are slowly draining. After this new, sixth season the odds are it will be time to say goodbye– even if a comeback is plotted a few years down the line.

If “Empire” ended, the main stars Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson could book new TV roles or pursue their movie careers. Taraji is starring right now in “What Men Want.” But Smollett and the other young people would be at the same crossroads as other TV actors coming off hits. Nothing is guaranteed.

WGA Awards “Eighth Grade” Best Original Screenplay, “Can You Ever Forgive Me” Best Adapted, “Mrs. Maisel” Best Comedy, “The Americans” Best Drama

Roger Friedman
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WGA Awards “Eighth Grade” Best Original Screenplay, “Can You Ever Forgive Me” Best Adapted, “Mrs. Maisel” Best Comedy, “The Americans” Best Drama

Believe it or not, there’s still a guild that hasn’t dispensed its awards to whoever’s still left in Hollywood.

Right now the WGA is handing out their prizes.

Comedy Series, “Mrs. Maisel”

“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” wins Best Adapted Screenplay.

“The Americans” won Best Dramatic Series.

“General Hospital” won Best Daytime Drama.

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” wins Best Talk/Variety.

“Eighth Grade” won Best Original Screenplay. It wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar.

HBO’s “Barry” has won Best Episodic Comedy. It also won Best New Series.

“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” is best game show.

Showtime’s “Homeland” picked up the award for Best Episodic Drama.

“The Simpsons” won for Best Animated Show.

Here are the nominees for movies. Not all screenplays were eligible.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“Eighth Grade,” Written by Bo Burnham; A24

“Green Book,” Written by Nick Vallelonga & Brian Currie & Peter Farrelly; Universal Pictures

“A Quiet Place,” Screenplay by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski, Story by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck; Paramount Pictures

“Roma,” Written by Alfonso Cuarón; Netflix

“Vice,” Written by Adam McKay; Annapurna Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“BlacKkKlansman,” Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee, Based on the book by Ron Stallworth; Focus Features

“Black Panther,” Written by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Based on the book by Lee Israel; Fox Searchlight

“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Screenplay by Barry Jenkins, Based on the novel by James Baldwin; Annapurna Pictures

“A Star is Born,” Screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters, Based on the 1954 screenplay by Moss Hart and the 1976 screenplay by John Gregory Dunne & Joan Didion and Frank Pierson, Based on a story by William Wellman and Robert Carson; Warner Bros.

The Songwriter Strikes Back: Desmond Child, No Longer Living on a Prayer, Shows Off the Rock Star Who Lurks Beneath the Surface

Roger Friedman
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The Songwriter Strikes Back: Desmond Child, No Longer Living on a Prayer, Shows Off the Rock Star Who Lurks Beneath the Surface

If you don’t know Desmond Child’s name, you should. He’s written a lot of the songs you love over the last 30 years.

Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Ricky Martin? They owe a lot of their chart topping success to him. One of the best songs on Barbra Streisand’s most recent album is from Desmond.

So the songwriter who almost was a rock star– his early group was called Desmond Child & Rouge– sold out The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Saturday night. With the backgroup of the Manhattan skyline facing east from the Time Warner Center, Child brought a crack band that featured Tony winner Lena Hall plus Bette Sussman, Tabitha Fair and the best musicians in town.

Even though some of these others sang, it was Desmond’s voice we wanted to hear. He is a rock star at heart, and his voice– which quavered a bit at the beginning– blossomed through the 90 minute show. He should, as they say, write a book. Stories about working with Cher, or KISS, or even Joan Jett are a hoot to hear and would even be better on paper.

There wasn’t a dud in the set last night. From “Livin’ on a Prayer” to an Aerosmith medley (“You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Dude Looks a Lady” and a sparkling “Angel”) to “You Want to Make a Memory” (a sleeper that someone should re-record now) to a previously unheard collaboration with Oscar nominee Diane Warren called “Truth Hurts” (someone has to make Gladys Knight sing this song), Desmond showed his incredible range and versatility.

What makes Desmond Child special and gives his best known works longevity is that so many of them are story songs. They are about people, specific characters, all of whom get stuck in your head like short stories. Sting, Billy Joel, Elton John, Carole King and especially Paul McCartney and Paul Simon have made this their forte. The listener has an emotional attachment to Gina and Tommy from “Living on a Prayer.” They’re like Roxanne, or Brenad and Eddie, or Eleanor Rigby. This just isn’t the case anymore in most contemporary pop-rock songs.

Let’s hope Desmond makes an album with this material. I need it for my car ASAP!

Movies: Irony of “The Upside,” Harvey Weinstein’s Personal Project, Reaching $100 Million at Box Office This Week

Roger Friedman
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Movies: Irony of “The Upside,” Harvey Weinstein’s Personal Project, Reaching $100 Million at Box Office This Week

There’s a big upside for “The Upside” and a little bit of a downside.

The current movie was Harvey Weinstein’s idea. He bought and released the great French film, “The Intouchables,” released it and retained the US rights. The movie was a big hit in 2011 although France did not submit it as a foreign film entry to the Academy Awards.

Making “The Intouchables” into a US movie was all Weinstein talked about. And he did it. He hired director Neil Burger, oversaw the casting of Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart, even persuaded Nicole Kidman to take a small, supporting role.

At the 2017 Toronto Film Festival, “The Upside” had a huge opening at Roy Thomson Hall. Weinstein declared there would be an Oscar qualifying run in December followed by a February 2018 opening. In fact, “The Upside” went over so well it took the sting out of another premiere Harvey had at that festival, the lamentably confused “The Current War,” which failed to electrify the audience.

But about two and a half weeks later, Weinstein’s world came crashing down. He was accused of sexual misconduct, The Weinstein Company went belly up, and all release plans ended.

“The Upside” went into the company’s bankruptcy.

Now this movie that Harvey Weinstein shepherded is on its way to $100 million this week via STK Films. If “The Upside” had remained a Weinstein Company movie, it would have been their 6th highest ranked behind “Django Unchained,” “The King’s Speech,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Inglorious Basterds,” and “The Butler.” It was what Harvey had always been aiming for– a big commercial studio type comedy with broad appeal. An arbiter of good taste, he’d bought “The Artist,” won a lot of Oscars for it, and still made no money. “The Upside” would have been a lovely vindication for him.

Weinstein’s personal behavior may have been reprehensible, but no one knew quality movies like he did. All those Oscar nominations and wins were not a fluke. Those movies stand up to this day including and most importantly “Shakespeare in Love,” which won a bunch of Oscars 20 years ago.

Bette Midler Is Coming to the Oscars: The Divine Miss Dolly Will Perform “Marry Poppins Returns” Song on Academy Awards

Roger Friedman
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Bette Midler Is Coming to the Oscars: The Divine Miss Dolly Will Perform “Marry Poppins Returns” Song on Academy Awards

To be blunt: Emily Blunt wasn’t going to sing on next Sunday’s Academy Awards. She wasn’t nominated for either of her potential Oscar roles, especially as Mary Poppins. So it wouldn’t have been nice to ask her to sing “The Place Where Lost Things Go.”

So Bette Midler has announced she will be singing the Oscar nominated song. Come on, this is great news. We now have Lady Gaga with Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Hudson, Bette Midler, and Kendrick Lamar performing on the show. Getting Bette is a coup because she’s been tied up performing “Hello, Dolly!” for nine million dollars a ticket for the last two years.

Irregardless, as Mariah Carey would say, hearing Bette on the Oscars will be magical. She’s back where she belongs!

The last time Bette sang on the Academy Awards was during the In Memoriam section in 2014:

Jennifer Lopez’s Hideous Motown Medley from the Grammy Awards is Set to Be Included in CBS-Grammy Motown Special

Roger Friedman
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Jennifer Lopez’s Hideous Motown Medley from the Grammy Awards is Set to Be Included in CBS-Grammy Motown Special

 Some things just won’t die.

That was the story this past Tuesday when I bought tickets to the Motown 60 special taped by the Grammys for CBS. Broadcast is set for April.

On the rundown for the special, which had highs and lows, there was one notable inclusion: Jennifer Lopez’s hideous six minute medley of Motown songs she performed on the Grammys. During the taping they didn’t play the clip, but it was on the official run down. It was also mentioned on stage during a break.

On Grammy night when she performed this grotesqueness there were complaints that Lopez isn’t black, and was never signed to Motown. But it’s worse than that: she can dance, but she can’t sing. She lip-synchs through the disaster. They’re either using a pre-record with back up singers or someone else entirely. Look at the clip below.

No one questions that JLo can dance like crazy. But singer? Her real voice is thin and unpleasant. I remember years ago talking to Ashanti’s mother about how it was her daughter’s voice on “I’m Real” with Ja Rule. There must be squadrons of Ashanti-types since then.

The Motown special, the more I’ve thought about it, was a train wreck. Real Motown veteran stars like Mary Wilson of the Supremes and Otis Williams of the Temptations were left in the audience, never identified. It was humiliating. Duke Fakir, the last of the Four Tops, had been in town all weekend (he went to Clive Davis’s party) but wasn’t invited to the Motown show. As I wrote the other day, no Jacksons were there; Michael was particularly erased from the show. There was no Gladys Knight. Many others were missing.

I do hope Ken Ehrlich has so much good material that he doesn’t include the JLo spectacle. Here it is, to review. Oy vey.

 

 

Ariana Grande: Annoying? Yes. Good Album? Also, Yes. “Thank You, Next” Sells 355K Copies in Debut, More Than Rest of Top 50

Roger Friedman
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Ariana Grande: Annoying? Yes. Good Album? Also, Yes. “Thank You, Next” Sells 355K Copies in Debut, More Than Rest of Top 50

Ariana Grande. Is she annoying? Yes. Talented Yes.

Ariana’s second album in six months, called “Thank You, Next,” sold 355,000 copies in its debut week and landed at number 1.

That’s more than all the rest of the top 50 albums added together.

Also, 12 songs from “Thank You, Next” hit the top 20 Streaming Songs Chart on hitsdailydouble.

Grande wants to be the Next Big Diva. She’s getting there. Her ex fiance Mac Miller killed himself. She had a bad breakup with ex fiance Pete Davidson. She was there when a tragic mass shooting took place in Manchester, England. She fought publicly with Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich.

And she’s only 25.

Some songwriters who’ve worked with her say she’s a Grande headache. So the plan is working. On Twitter today she and her mother talked about how Ariana used to stand in the mirror and imitate Madonna.

We have a lot to look forward to. I will say this– she as a terrific voice. I wish she’d use it on better material. Don’t make the Mariah mistake and squander your instrument on bad songs.

Here’s the best song on the new album:

Soap Opera Cliffhanger Resolved: Doug Davidson, Longest Running Cast Member of “Young and the Restless,” Is Back

Roger Friedman
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Soap Opera Cliffhanger Resolved: Doug Davidson, Longest Running Cast Member of “Young and the Restless,” Is Back

Good news for soap fans and for common sense.

Doug Davidson, who’s played Paul Williams for 40 years, is back on “The Young and the Restless” after months of being taken off contract.

Davidson, a gentleman, announced last fall that the show had no plans for him after 4 decades. He’s won Emmy Awards, and been the captain of the team, so to speak, through a lot of good times and bad.

Now ex-producer Mal Young started writing out the show’s veterans last year, and swept Davidson out. Also gone were Eileen Davidson (no relation), and several others. The show’s ratings tanked. Young was ultimately fired. It’s hoped that Young’s victims will all return if they haven’t been killed off.

An interesting aspect of this was how it all happened. Apparently, the show’s nominal star, Eric Braeden, took off around Labor Day and didn’t return. He became very vocal on social media. There must have been some real great backstage wrangling on his part. Braeden at one point admitted that Young was trying to get rid of him, too.

Braeden was like a deposed leader of a banana republic. Now he’s back, and so are his minions. Congrats to him!

The sad part is that the show was writing out Kristoff St. John, only adding to his depression about his deceased son. St. John took his own life, a terrible turn of events.

There’s something weird about the insular world of soap operas. The actors usually don’t speak out, thinking they will risk being fired or blackballed. New executive producers come in, convinced they will re-invent the wheel. It never works. Just watch “SoapDish” or “Tootsie.”

 

PS If the show really wanted to be clever they’d bring on songwriter Paul Williams for a cameo.

Oscars: Academy Reverses Course, All 24 Categories Will Be Live, So NO ONE Complain The Show Runs 3 Hours, 30 Minutes Please

Roger Friedman
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Oscars: Academy Reverses Course, All 24 Categories Will Be Live, So NO ONE Complain The Show Runs 3 Hours, 30 Minutes Please

An Emergency Declaration today caused the Oscars to reverse their original thinking. The Academy Awards will now run three hours, thirty minutes. All 24 categories will be given live on the air. All five songs will be sung. Last year’s acting winners will give awards to their successors. There will be no host.

Are you satisfied? When the show runs long, now no one can complain. You wanted it, you got it. Get pillows, pjs, cookies, milk, whatever you need. But NO COMPLAINING. We’re going to get the Full Academy Awards, from soup to nuts.

And nuts is what this all has been. I really think people have transferred their negative energy about Trump to things like awards shows. How utterly ridiculous. Now maybe we can get on with the show!

Today is February 15th. There are four more days before ballots are due back. Oscars are February 24th. Then we start all over again.

Dawn Hudson, wherever you are, I’m toasting you. Have a drink on all of us!

P.S. This still doesn’t resolve the shabby way “First Man” was treated, but we can talk about that later…

Lady Gaga’s Engagement Ring is Gone and So May Be Fiance On Eve of Oscars and Her Best Season Ever

Roger Friedman
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Lady Gaga’s Engagement Ring is Gone and So May Be Fiance On Eve of Oscars and Her Best Season Ever

Well, you can’t have everything.

On the eve of the Oscars, and having just won a Grammy, Lady Gaga’s got some personal issues.

She didn’t wear her engagement ring to the Grammys, and she didn’t mention fiance Christian Cariano when she won her three Grammys on Sunday night for “Joanne” and for “Shallow.”

It was only a couple of weeks ago that Gaga sported the diamond dazzler at the SAG Awards. Before that she had it on at the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes.

But on the Grammy red carpet, the ring was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the fiancee. Many are speculating the four month engagement is over.

It wouldn’t be a shock. He’s 50, she’s 32. He’s a talent agent who must be at a desk every day. She’s a rock star who is constantly in motion. This is also an extraordinary time for Gaga, with awards, nominations, concerts, albums. She barely has time to tenderize her meat dress!

One dead giveaway: she has a deal with Tiffany. She wore a Tiffany necklace to the Grammy red carpet but no ring. Wouldn’t the ring be an obvious Tiffany tie in?

Also, on her Instagram page, Cariano is AWOL. he’s just not there. And there was no mention of him on Valentine’s Day on her social media. I think it’s a sign. What do you think?

Well, good luck to both of those crazy kids. Maybe this wasn’t a right fit. There will be others.

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