Aug 2015
Reviewing Netflix's Narcos after viewing all 10 Season 1 episodes
08/31/15 04:05 PM
Netflix’s latest streaming original is the 10-episode Narcos, which telescopes the life and times of Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar and those who wanted him dead. Our review is here.
Ed Bark
Ed Bark
Cowboys bucked in Saturday night's 3rd pre-season game
08/31/15 11:46 AM
The Dallas Cowboys’ annual “dress rehearsal” pre-season game, in which most available starters played, ended up a dud in the D-FW Nielsen ratings.
Airing on a Saturday night -- which likely was part of the problem -- Dallas’ 28-14 home loss to Minnesota easily scored the lowest among three pre-season games. Further details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark
Airing on a Saturday night -- which likely was part of the problem -- Dallas’ 28-14 home loss to Minnesota easily scored the lowest among three pre-season games. Further details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark
Fox4's Tim Ryan marks two decades in the early morning trenches
08/28/15 01:32 PM
Fox4’s still No.1-rated Good Day program has had one constant in the last 20 years. Co-anchor Tim Ryan remains in place, having outlasted enough male rivals to almost stock a full NBA basketball team. Ryan’s Dallas-based station saluted him with a “Once Upon a Tim” video package on Friday’s waker-upper. You can see it on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, which also lists the many competing A.M. male anchors who have come and gone in just the last 10 years.
Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is posted.
Ed Bark
Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is posted.
Ed Bark
Broad, loud, funny: NBC's The Carmichael Show manages to be all three
08/26/15 12:07 PM
Little was expected of The Carmichael Show, which NBC is kissing off with back-to-back episodes on three successive Wednesdays in the nowhere land between summer’s end and the start of the new fall season. But surprise, surprise. Or at least I was. The review is right here.
Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in.
Ed Bark
Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in.
Ed Bark
TNT makes some sharp impressions with Public Morals
08/25/15 10:38 AM
Premiering on Tuesday, Aug. 25th, Public Morals adds an edge to TNT as part of the network’s goal of re-positioning itself. Actor Edward Burns created and stars in this crisp 1960s police series. And our review is here.
Also, Super Bowl Monday (back to school day) sent TEGNA8 to the head of the class in the 6 to 7 a.m. D-FW newscast ratings. Our report card is here.
Ed Bark
Also, Super Bowl Monday (back to school day) sent TEGNA8 to the head of the class in the 6 to 7 a.m. D-FW newscast ratings. Our report card is here.
Ed Bark
Byron Harris, dean of D-FW's TV investigators, talks about why it's time for him to go
08/24/15 11:12 AM
WFAA-TV on Friday announced the impending retirement of investigative reporter Byron Harris, who joined the Dallas-based station in 1974 and has won all of the industry’s most prestigious national awards at least twice. On Monday morning, he talked to unclebarky.com about exiting on Oct. 9th, the day of his 69th birthday. Our story is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Plus, the Dallas Cowboys were super-boring in Sunday night’s pre-season loss to San Francisco while the Texas Rangers continued their rather amazing drive for a post-season spot. The ratings breakdowns also are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. Alas, the only real suspense is: How badly did the Cowboys’ pretend game clobber the Rangers’ very meaningful one?
Also, Fort Worth-based NBC5 has named Mark Ginther as its new vice president of news. He succeeds Susan Tully. More details are right here.
Ed Bark
Plus, the Dallas Cowboys were super-boring in Sunday night’s pre-season loss to San Francisco while the Texas Rangers continued their rather amazing drive for a post-season spot. The ratings breakdowns also are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. Alas, the only real suspense is: How badly did the Cowboys’ pretend game clobber the Rangers’ very meaningful one?
Also, Fort Worth-based NBC5 has named Mark Ginther as its new vice president of news. He succeeds Susan Tully. More details are right here.
Ed Bark
AMC doubles down with Fear the Walking Dead
08/21/15 03:24 PM
AMC has done exceedingly well with the zombie apocalypse. Its The Walking Dead is TV’s runaway biggest draw among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. So here comes another one, AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead prequel. It starts on Sunday, August 23rd and our review is here.
Ed Bark
Ed Bark
These are the new voyages of Patrick Stewart in Starz comedy Blunt Talk
08/21/15 12:00 PM
Not generally known for comedy, Patrick Stewart throws himself into Starz’s Blunt Talk after barking out commands for all those years on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The half-hour series premieres on Saturday, August 22nd, and our review is here.
Ed Bark
Ed Bark
Homecoming week for Lifetime's The Unauthorized Full House Story
08/20/15 01:43 PM
No one should expect it to be good. And really, who would? But as a diversion for fans of the critically panned original, Lifetime’s The Unauthorized Full House Story serves as a serviceable place-holder for Netflix’s upcoming Fuller House, which will reunite most of the original cast. The Lifetime movie premieres on Saturday, August 22nd, and our review is here.
Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” spotlights another fevered battle among three popular “reality competition” series.
Ed Bark
Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” spotlights another fevered battle among three popular “reality competition” series.
Ed Bark
Mockumentary wow? IFC debuts Documentary Now!
08/19/15 05:21 PM
Documentaries increasingly are “having their moment.” So IFC is seizing the day with a spoof called Documentary Now! from Saturday Night Live alums and chums Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers. The six-episode series premieres on Thursday, Aug. 20th, with IFC already pre-ordering two more seasons. Our review is here.
Ed Bark
Ed Bark
Glower power: CNN premieres Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
08/19/15 01:49 PM
Morton Downey Jr., agitated son of a once popular crooner, came to prominence in the late 1980s with a foul-smelling talk show that some say was a road-paver for some of today’s TV brayers and other assorted garbage.
CNN’s Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie looks back on it all with a fresh perspective and some really great animated sequences. It premieres on Thursday, Aug. 20th, and our review is here.
Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in.
Ed Bark
CNN’s Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie looks back on it all with a fresh perspective and some really great animated sequences. It premieres on Thursday, Aug. 20th, and our review is here.
Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in.
Ed Bark
Resurgent Rangers also starting to score again in D-FW ratings; TEGNA furthers its stamp on WFAA
08/18/15 01:28 PM
Fox Sports Southwest is finally starting to reap some ratings benefits from the Texas Rangers’ late season run for a post-season berth. Monday night’s Nielsen numbers were a prime-time hit for FSS, and the details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Plus, TEGNA furthers its grip on WFAA-TV (TEGNA8) with a “community”-conscious image spot that features reporter Demond Fernandez while never mentioning Dallas. You can read all about it and also see it right here.
Ed Bark
Plus, TEGNA furthers its grip on WFAA-TV (TEGNA8) with a “community”-conscious image spot that features reporter Demond Fernandez while never mentioning Dallas. You can read all about it and also see it right here.
Ed Bark
Final round of PGA wins Sunday ratings but is a little tap-in putt compared to Cowboys 1st pretend game
08/17/15 02:28 PM
Sunday’s Jordan Spieth-fueled final round of the PGA championship made a nice showing in the D-FW Nielsen ratings. But compared to Thursday’s opening Dallas Cowboys pre-season game . . . well, you know the drill.
Complete numbers are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Also while I was away, NBC5 hired a new reporter and CBS11 added a pair of behind-the-scenes assistant news bosses. Details are here.
Ed Bark
Complete numbers are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Also while I was away, NBC5 hired a new reporter and CBS11 added a pair of behind-the-scenes assistant news bosses. Details are here.
Ed Bark
Back from TV "press tour" and ready with a review of HBO's Show Me a Hero
08/16/15 01:34 PM
Unclebarky.com is firing up again after two-and-a-half weeks on the summer Television Critics Association “press tour.”
First off, you can find the collected works -- all 15 stories -- on tvworthwatching.com.
And now that I’ve toweled off, here’s a review of the standout HBO miniseries Show Me a Hero. It premieres on Sunday, Aug. 16th and is a collaboration between David Simon (The Wire, Treme) and Paul Haggis (Crash).
Plus, those who help unclebarky.com out by clicking on an amazon.com ad before making their purchases have probably noticed that those ads have disappeared. That’s because Amazon is requiring new ads to replace the outdated ones. So I’ll try to fix that as soon as possible. Meanwhile, public service ads, such as the current “Let’s Fight Hunger Together,” are serving as temporary replacements after Amazon put them up.
Anyway, happy to be back as the D-FW market’s only independent local and national TV website. As always, thanks for your continued readership and support for this one-person site, which soon will observe its 9th anniversary.
Ed Bark
First off, you can find the collected works -- all 15 stories -- on tvworthwatching.com.
And now that I’ve toweled off, here’s a review of the standout HBO miniseries Show Me a Hero. It premieres on Sunday, Aug. 16th and is a collaboration between David Simon (The Wire, Treme) and Paul Haggis (Crash).
Plus, those who help unclebarky.com out by clicking on an amazon.com ad before making their purchases have probably noticed that those ads have disappeared. That’s because Amazon is requiring new ads to replace the outdated ones. So I’ll try to fix that as soon as possible. Meanwhile, public service ads, such as the current “Let’s Fight Hunger Together,” are serving as temporary replacements after Amazon put them up.
Anyway, happy to be back as the D-FW market’s only independent local and national TV website. As always, thanks for your continued readership and support for this one-person site, which soon will observe its 9th anniversary.
Ed Bark