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Without Roseanne “The Conners” Ratings Fall in Premiere Beaten by “NCIS”– But It’s a Hit

Roger Friedman
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Without Roseanne “The Conners” Ratings Fall in Premiere Beaten by “NCIS”– But It’s a Hit

“The Conners” scored 10,458,000 viewers in its debut, considerably below the “Roseanne” premiere of 17 million last spring. It was beaten handily by “NCIS” with 11.6 million.

Realistically, “The Conners” was a hit, even with the loss to “NCIS.” There isn’t a comedy out there that wouldn’t covet the numbers they got. “The Conners” scored an 8 in the key demo of Men, ages 18-49, the highest of all shows last night. John Goodman’s fans found him, which is always great. Among women in the key demo, “The Conners” scored an 11 and tied with the NBC hit “This is Us.”

Remember, “The Conners” was never going to score the gargantuan ratings of the “Roseanne” reboot last spring. And I’ve got a feeling their numbers will be steady now, and not drop off as the “Roseanne” show did. Plus, Goodman and Metcalf are just sensational, and the whole show was excellent.

Critics Choice Awards Will Give Michael Moore Lifetime Achievement, “Free Solo” Lead Nominations

Roger Friedman
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Critics Choice Awards Will Give Michael Moore Lifetime Achievement, “Free Solo” Lead Nominations

The Broadcast Critics have announced the nominations for their third annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, in November. Michael Moore is receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award. “Free Solo,” from Nat Geo Docs, leads the pack of other nominees. “RBG,” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” and “Three Identical Strangers” are all nominated for Best Doc. The awards will be given at BRIC in Brooklyn (on the BAM campus) November 10th.

The Critics Choice Awards for feature films will be given on January 13th, 2019.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Crime + Punishment – Director: Stephen Maing (Hulu)
Dark Money – Director: Kimberly Reed (PBS)
Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Hal – Director: Amy Scott (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber)
Minding the Gap – Director: Bing Liu (Hulu)
RBG – Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media)
Three Identical Strangers – Director: Tim Wardle (Neon, CNN Films)
Wild Wild Country – Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way (Netflix)
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Director: Morgan Neville (Focus Features)

BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES

America to Me (Starz)
Dirty Money (Netflix)
Elvis Presley: The Searcher (HBO Documentary Films, Sony Pictures Television)
Flint Town (Netflix)
One Strange Rock (National Geographic)
The Fourth Estate (Showtime Networks)
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (HBO)
Wild Wild Country (Netflix)

BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES

30 for 30 (ESPN)
American Masters (PBS)
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN)
Frontline (PBS)
Independent Lens (PBS)
Making a Murderer (Netflix)
POV (PBS)
The History of Comedy (CNN)

BEST DIRECTOR

Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi – Free Solo (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Bing Liu – Minding the Gap (Hulu)
Morgan Neville – Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (Focus Features)
Kimberly Reed – Dark Money (PBS)
Rüdiger Suchsland – Hitler’s Hollywood (Kino Lorber)
Tim Wardle – Three Identical Strangers (Neon, CNN Films)
Chapman Way and Maclain Way – Wild Wild Country (Netflix)

BEST FIRST TIME DIRECTOR

Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster – Science Fair (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Heather Lenz – Kusama – Infinity (Magnolia Pictures)
Bing Liu – Minding the Gap (Hulu)
Stephen Nomura Schible – Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (MUBI)
Amy Scott – Hal (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Rudy Valdez – The Sentence (HBO Documentary Films)

BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

RBG – Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media)
Dark Money – Director: Kimberly Reed (PBS)
Fahrenheit 11/9 – Director: Michael Moore (Briarcliff Entertainment)
Flint Town – Directors: Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper, Jessica Dimmock (Netflix)
Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber)
John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls – Directors: George Kunhardt, Peter W. Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt (HBO)
The Fourth Estate – Directors: Liz Garbus, Jenny Carchman (Showtime Networks)

BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

Andre the Giant – Director: Jason Hehir (HBO)
Being Serena (HBO)
Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Film)
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection – Director: Julien Faraut (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Minding the Gap – Director: Bing Liu (Hulu)
The Workers Cup – Director: Adam Sobel (Passion River)

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

Bad Reputation – Director: Kevin Kerslake (Magnolia Pictures)
David Bowie: The Last Five Years – Director: Francis Whately (HBO Documentary Films)
Elvis Presley: The Searcher – Director: Thom Zimny (HBO Documentary Films, Sony Pictures Television)
Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow – Director: Stephen Kijak (Showtime Networks)
Quincy – Directors: Alan Hicks, Rashida Jones (Netflix)
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Director: Stephen Nomura Schible (MUBI)
Whitney – Director: Kevin Macdonald (Roadside Attractions, Miramax)

MOST COMPELLING LIVING SUBJECT OF A DOCUMENTARY
(ALL LISTED IN THE CATEGORY WILL BE HONORED AT THE EVENT)

Scotty Bowers – Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (Greenwich Entertainment)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg – RBG (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media)
Alex Honnold – Free Solo (National Geographic Documentary Film)
Joan Jett – Bad Reputation (Magnolia Pictures)
Quincy Jones – Quincy (Netflix)
David Kellman and Bobby Shafran – Three Identical Strangers (Neon, CNN Films)
John McEnroe – John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Leon Vitali – Filmworker (Kino Lorber)

MOST INNOVATIVE DOCUMENTARY

306 Hollywood – Directors: Elan Bogarin, Jonathan Bogarin (PBS, El Tigre)
Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Film)
Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber)
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Director: Stephen Nomura Schible (MUBI)
Wild Wild Country – Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way (Netflix)
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Director: Morgan Neville (Focus Features)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

306 Hollywood – Cinematographers: Elan Bogarin, Jonathan Bogarin, Alejandro Mejía (PBS, El Tigre)
The Dawn Wall – Cinematographer: Brett Lowell (The Orchard)
Free Solo – Cinematographers: Jimmy Chin, Clair Popkin, Mikey Schaefer (National Geographic Documentary Film)
Minding the Gap – Cinematographer: Bing Liu (Hulu)
Pandas – Cinematographer: David Douglas (Warner Bros., IMAX)
Wild Wild Country – Cinematographer: Adam Stone (Netflix)

BEST EDITING

Dark Money – Editor: Jay Arthur Sterrenberg (PBS)
Filmworker – Editor: Tony Zierra (Kino Lorber)
Free Solo – Editor: Bob Eisenhardt (National Geographic Documentary Film)
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection – Editor: Julien Faraut (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Three Identical Strangers – Editor: Michael Harte (Neon, CNN Films)
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Editors: Jeff Malmberg, Aaron Wickenden (Focus Features)

That $4 Million Columbia Records Paid for Dominic Fike? Sounds Like It Was Worth It

Roger Friedman
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That $4 Million Columbia Records Paid for Dominic Fike? Sounds Like It Was Worth It

In August I wrote about Sony’s Columbia Records paying $4 million for an unknown rapper named Dominic Fike. It seemed like folly, but new president Ron Perry had to do something BIG.

Tonight, Mr. Fike has dropped an EP of 6 songs. The money may have been well spent. His songs are melodic– they’re songs, he’s not really a rapper. Dominic sounds a little like Mark McGrath, which isn’t a bad thing. I love the acoustic guitar. His genre is rock. Like, rock.

I do think they’ve got a couple of singles here. This is a good preface to a full length album. Dominic’s going to have a hit of some kind with “3 Nights.” Columbia Records may be back on the charts with someone under the age of 25. Ron Perry will be getting a lot of kudos, and Rob Stringer can breathe a sigh of relief.

PS Fike gets the last laugh. He was in jail prior to signing with Columbia. He’s not going back.

TV: Roseanne Returns from the Grave, Tweets “I Ain’t Dead, Bitches!” After TV Character is Killed Off

Roger Friedman
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TV: Roseanne Returns from the Grave, Tweets “I Ain’t Dead, Bitches!” After TV Character is Killed Off

One of the craziest episodes in TV history was resolved tonight. Roseanne Conner is dead from an opioid overdose. Her family, The Conners, will now plow ahead with Roseanne of blessed memory.

UPDATE: Barr Tweeted after all. “I ain’t dead, bitches!” It won’t be her last.

Ironically, “Roseanne” debuted almost 30 years to this day– October 18, 1988. The new show debuted tonight, months after Barr wrote a racist Tweet about former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett. The comedian and actress was almost immediately fired from her own show. “The Conners” rises in its place.

When The Conners picks up tonight, Roseanne has been dead for three weeks. The family is still adjusting to her absence. Dan– John Goodman– is furious with the woman whose name was on the prescription bottle. There’s a surprise cameo from Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen.

Also, Roseanne and Jackie’s mother is back, played by theater great Estelle Parsons. She really will be 90 on November 20th!

Last spring, “Roseanne” returned to the air with monster ratings– at least, at first. What will tonight’s show bring? Will “The Conners” make it to a second season?

Misc: “The Conners” kept the theme music from “Roseanne.” I guess that Carsey-Werner owned it outright, why pay for a new theme? Also, Still MIA: Jerry, Roseanne and Dan’s youngest son, and also Andy, Jackie’s son. Jerry was at least mentioned on last season’s “Roseanne.” Andy has vanished.

Paul Allen: Genius, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, ROCK STAR: Hear His ‘Lost” Album with Chrissie Hynde, Heart, Derek Trucks

Roger Friedman
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Paul Allen: Genius, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, ROCK STAR: Hear His ‘Lost” Album with Chrissie Hynde, Heart, Derek Trucks

Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen– who died yesterday at age 65– was many things– genius, entrepreneur, philanthropist. But the one thing the New York Times left out of its obit today was any mention of Paul wanting to be a rock star. He did, and he was.

In 2013, Allen– after years of performing with his rock band The Underthinkers– released an album on Sony/Legacy. “Everything at Once” didn’t get much press, and didn’t sell many copies– a stunning 215 according to BuzzAngle. I’d never heard of it until yesterday.

Still, there’s some nice stuff on the album including a country song sung by Chrissie Hynde called “Rodeo.” There are plenty of other guests including Heart sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson (before they fell out), Ivan Neville, Derek Trucks, and Joe Walsh. (You can hear it below on Spotify.)

Knowing Paul, he wouldn’t do publicity for the record, and I’m sure whatever proceeds there were went to charity. He was rich enough to fund the project. But good for him– he LOVED playing rock and blues. He knew from 1982 his life wouldn’t be long, so he just did what he wanted.

Countdown: America Waits to See How Roseanne Conner Dies, How Many Will Tune In?

Roger Friedman
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Countdown: America Waits to See How Roseanne Conner Dies, How Many Will Tune In?

The clock is running. A little more than five hours from now, Roseanne Conner is leaving this mortal coil.

Will she die from an opioid overdose? A heart attack? Has she left town to work for Trump? We will know in the first five minutes. “The Conners” airs at 8pm eastern on ABC.

Early reviews suggest that without Roseanne out of the picture, “The Conners” is a better show. That’s right. John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf are top notch actors who had more success after the first run of “Roseanne” than Roseanne Barr ever did.

Indeed, Barr struggled without her sitcom. Her talk show failed, so did various other attempts at series and acting. She is not a great actress. She bleated, and squealed, and honked. She was slovenly. The show was built around that. But before she lost her mind, the audience loved her for it.

And Roseanne herself? She signed off of Twitter about a month ago. She’s been silent. It must be in her contract with ABC that she’s not allowed to comment on social media. If so, it must be killing her.

So what now? Come back here at 8:05pm to get the answer.

Ratings: “The Walking Dead” Collapses, Loses 1.1 Million Viewers in One Week

Roger Friedman
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Ratings: “The Walking Dead” Collapses, Loses 1.1 Million Viewers in One Week

Sunday night The Walking Dead had 4,947,000 viewers. The prior Sunday it registered 6,076,000 fans. Over  1.1 million people became zombies in one week. The show is now in serious trouble.

It’s as if Negan took his club and went after the fans themselves. “The Walking Dead” numbers have been coming down from their lofty heights for some time. But this is really a dire turn of events.

It’s not like “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” suddenly rose from its grave to get Rick and company. For a second week in a row, the Ks finished under 900,000 at 867K. They, too, are crumbling like zombies left in the rain.

AMC’s companion show, “Talking Dead,” also fell by more than 1.3 million to 1,694,000 from 2,914,000. If they didn’t want to see the show, the fans had fewer questions– makes sense.

It could be, of course, that everyone is watching baseball. The Red Sox-Astros game had the highest rating of the night with 5,658,000.

So what is it? Are viewers tired of zombies? Aren’t we all zombies at this point? This is the 9th season of “Walking Dead.” It may be enough already.

 

Oscar Prognosticating in Mid October: A Star is Born Isn’t the Only Movie Out There But it’s The One to Beat

Roger Friedman
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Oscar Prognosticating in Mid October: A Star is Born Isn’t the Only Movie Out There But it’s The One to Beat

I see all the Oscar prognosticators are drawing up their lists for 2019. It’s only mid October, and there are several things no one has seen. But here’s my take, for better or worse.

BEST PICTURE

A Star is Born–it’s the one to beat right now. Big stars, big box office, great reviews. Bradley Cooper for best director, actor, screenplay. Lady Gaga for Best Actress. In supporting, Sam Elliott is spot on.

First Man— Damien Chazelle’s epic had a rough opening weekend. But I stand behind it. Direction, writing, acting– Gosling and Foy are wonderful. There are lots of American flags, the movie is very patriotic.

Green Book— Best Picture, Director, Actor, Viggo Mortensen (Likely winner). Mahershala Ali, Supporting Actor. If this goes wrong, I don’t know what to do.

Blackkklansman— Spike Lee major return, directing, writing, John David Washington and Adam Driver will get noms. This is a majorly important film, and so entertaining.

A Quiet Place— Bradley Cooper got so much attention for directing himself in A Star is Born. But hey– John Krasinski did a phenomenal job with this movie. Emily Blunt should be in the Best Actress race. A gem of a film.

Roma, Never Look Away, and Capernaum— are all three incredible films, albeit in foreign languages. They all deserve to be Best Picture noms, but that’s why there’s Best Foreign Film. This a trio no one should miss as they’re released to theaters. Roma already has its accolades. The other two are just as remarkable.

The Hate U Give — I thought there’d be more brouhaha about this film. It’s so good, and so timely. Where is the larger discussion? In the long run, I just hope that Russell Hornsby is nominated for Best Supporting Actor. It would be a crime if he were overlooked.

Can You Ever Forgive Me?– Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant are their own best ensemble, they each deserve nods– he’s in supporting–and had better get them.

The Favourite— So many weird things here. I thought it would be Emma Stone in lead, Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz in supporting. But now I hear that Colman and Stone are switched to lead and supporting. All three are sensational. The movie just nuts, but in the best way possible.

Glenn Close— in The Wife. Best Actress, nomination at least. I wish a groundswell would develop. Unforgettable.

Black Panther— Will it get a Best Picture nod? I’m not so sure. If Wonder Woman didn’t, then why this one? Such a well made, fun film. Is it an Oscar movie? And isn’t $700 million the reward for Ryan Coogler’s good work? Below the line, lots of nods. But above? Unclear until we see how other things play out.

Miscellaneous: Viola Davis in Widows; Robert Forster in What We Had; Nicole Kidman and Sam Rockwell in “Destroyer”; Nicole again in “Boy Erased”; “Isle of Dogs” must not be forgotten.

So hold on– we’ll be back. Just some info to chew on for the moment…

 

 

RIP Paul Allen, Flashback to His Great Parties in Cannes, St. Barth’s, and Around the World

Roger Friedman
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RIP Paul Allen, Flashback to His Great Parties in Cannes, St. Barth’s, and Around the World

Paul Allen– I am so sorry to hear of his passing at 65. He was soft spoken but a real rocker, and he loved a good party. He was not the party type. Allen was a quiet man, and thoughtful. He was not the life of the party except when he played the guitar. For years he hosted parties on one of his two yachts, the 414 foot Octopus (with a yellow submarine, helicopter, it was like the Mall of America) and its junior, the 303 ft. Tatoosh. Paul flew in his own band and invited famous musicians to play with him. Why not? Using his Microsoft money, Allen had become an incredible philanthropist. His dream of himself as a rock star was benign and fun. He didn’t have a lot of ego. He will really be missed. I talked to him at length this year in Cannes at the “Han Solo” premiere. He was gentle soul. I find myself more upset than I thought I would tonight.

here’s a report from 2010

Here’s another report I ran of a Paul Allen party. I’ll look for some others. This was from January 2, 2008:

Forget New Year’s Eve. The real party down in expensive, tony and, apparently, cold St. Bart’s this year was on Dec. 30. The location was Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Octopus, the sixth-largest private yacht in the world at 414 feet.

I’m told guests got to rub elbows with Steven Spielberg, Denzel Washington and Brett Ratner, while both Jon Bon Jovi and Robbie Robertson played in separate jam sessions with the amiable Allen and his house rock band.

Also there were Billy Joel with wife, Katie Lee; Harvey Weinstein and bride, Georgina Chapman; Penny Marshall; Tom Freston; Linda Evangelista and Peter Morton; financier George Soros; and Rebecca DeMornay (fresh from her DUI arrest in Los Angeles).

LeeLee Sobieski; Vivi Nevo and Ziyi Zhang; Charles Simonyi and Martha Stewart; Lorne Michaels; and Antonio “LA” Reid of Island Def Jam Records all hung out on the boat.

My spies even spotted Warner Music Group’s Lyor Cohen, who was probably celebrating his company’s spectacular 75 percent loss in value for 2007. Their stock was trading at $6 Wednesday morning.

Maybe he was explaining over Champagne and caviar why on Friday, WMG suddenly turned over 3 million tracks to Amazon.com for downloading with copy protection (see Monday’s Fox411.) The many dozens of Warner/Atlantic legacy artists who depend on CD sales would be heartened to know Cohen was enjoying himself.

And St. Bart’s wasn’t the only mecca for A-listers this year. Cap Juluca, Anguilla, played host to Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson, Sir David Frost, actor Aidan Quinn and family and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.

I know what you’re thinking: How did we miss all of this? What could we have been doing back here in New York for two weeks that was more important? Answer: Considering that alternate-side-of-the-street parking was in effect most of the vacation, I don’t know!

(Watch) Sting, Shaggy Perform “Gotta Get Back My Baby” LIVE on “The Talk”

Roger Friedman
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(Watch) Sting, Shaggy Perform “Gotta Get Back My Baby” LIVE on “The Talk”

Wanna see rock stars sing LIVE on a TV show? Sting and Shaggy did exactly that today on “The Talk.” It was 11:50am in Los Angeles, too, and Sting is recovering from a bad cold. Sting and Shaggy just get better and better. I hope they get some Grammy nominations. Best Pop Album–“44/876.”

I waited through 45 minutes of jabbering to see this. How can people watch this show? The Issue of the Day is themselves. Nice to see Lisa Ling, though. They should hire her.

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