powered by FreeFind

Apple iTunes

Archives

CBS primes the crime pump again with voyeuristic Stalker

Kevin Williamson, architect of The Following, the Scream movies and The Vampire Diaries, strikes again with CBS’ Stalker. It begins with a woman being drenched with gasoline before she’s burned alive. Our review, which won’t be favorable, is right here.

Also, Monday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” details who’s up and who’s down on TV’s most competitive night.
Ed Bark

Amazon Prime's Transparent finds Jeffrey Tambor dressing the part

Amazon Prime challenges Neftlix’s streaming supremacy with the provocative 10-part Transparent. Jeffrey Tambor stars, and our review is here.
Ed Bark

ABC plunges ahead with new sitcoms Selfie and Manhattan Love Story

ABC’s latest Tuesday night lead-off hitters, Selfie and Manhattan Love Story, hope to somehow survive opposite NBC’s The Voice and CBS’ NCIS. Odds are very long on that.

Our review of Selfie is here. And our review of Manhattan Love Story is here.
Ed Bark

Cowboys soar past 1.5 million viewers mark with Sunday night rout of Saints

New and lower D-FW viewer population estimates didn’t stop the Dallas Cowboys from drawing 1.5 million-plus viewers for Sunday night’s 38-17 thumping of the visiting New Orleans Saints. All the details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

"Shondaland" vs. the NFL in big D-FW ratings faceoff

CBS’ Thursday Night Football had a second straight blowout game while squaring off against ABC’s “Shondaland” trio of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and the new How to Get Away with Murder.

So how did all of that play out in the D-FW Nielsen ratings on Night 4 of the new TV season? We’ve got all the details right here.
Ed Bark

CBS transplanting a trio of comedies

CBS has a new game plan involving The Big Bang Theory, Mom and The Millers. Follow these bouncing sitcoms on our TV Bulletin Board page.

Also, ABC’s black-ish gets off to a rousing start in the D-FW Nielsen ratings. Our complete hour-by-hour breakdown for Night 3 of the new season is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.


Plus, we have two updates on the D-FW television news scene. Longtime Fox4 photo-journalist Marc Kaminer has died after a 36-year career at the station. And veteran Fox4 consumer reporter Steve Noviello will be marrying his longtime partner in New York City this weekend.
Ed Bark

How to Get Away with Murder gives producer Shonda Rhimes a Thursday night stranglehold

The late Aaron Spelling used to get away with this, filling an entire night on ABC with TV series bearing his name. Now Shonda Rimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal) repeats this history by adding How to Get Away with Murder to her Thursday night cache. Starring Viola Davis, it premieres on Thursday, Sept. 25th. And our review is here.

Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” breaks down Night 2 of the new season.
Ed Bark

Suburban on the rocks in ABC's black-ish

ABC’s most promising new comedy series, black-ish, stars Anthony Anderson as a suburban father and hubby in search of a blacker racial identity. Our review is here.

Also, we have the complete D-FW ratings picture for Monday’s big opening night of the fall season.

Plus, HBO has announced the two lead actors for Season 2 of True Detective. Details are on the TV Bulletin Board page.
Ed Bark

Fox4 sports anchor/reporter Max Morgan dies at age 59

Sports anchor/reporter Max Morgan, who joined Dallas-based Fox4 in 1993, died Monday night of congestive heart failure. Our coverage and Fox4’s extended video tribute to Morgan are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

NCIS: New Orleans: throw another knockoff on the fire

The second spinoff of CBS’ NCIS lumbers into view on Tuesday, Sept. 23rd. Our review of NCIS: New Orleans is here.
Ed Bark

Rams put up a ratings barrier despite big Cowboys comeback win

The Dallas Cowboys’ Game 3 of last season was the first to drop below the one million viewer mark in D-FW. So was this year’s. Both were noon starts on Fox against the St. Louis Rams. Details on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Plus, CBS11 sports reporter/anchor Jane Slater has left to join the ESPN-owned Longhorn Network. We also have updates on Fox4 sports mainstay Max Morgan and former Fox4 meteorologist Ron Jackson. Again it’s all on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

200 years and counting in ABC's Forever

The prospect of eternal life on earth is hardly a novel premise for a TV series. But at least the main man of ABC’s Forever doesn’t appear to be a vampire. Plus, he has “Sherlockian” deductive abilities, as if we didn’t have enough of that, too. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Scorpion, where is thy sting?

Glowering Robert Patrick whips a band of “nerdy masterminds” into shape in CBS’ ridiculously conceived Scorpion. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

CBS' Madam Secretary falls well south of The West Wing

White House intrigue rides again in CBS’ Madam Secretary, starring Tea Leoni as an idealistic, newly named Secretary of State. Comparisons to Hillary are far-fetched, save for the pantsuits. Our review is here.

Plus, Thursday’s local Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in. Not surprisingly, CBS’ godawful Thursday Night Football game still dominated against mostly reruns on rival networks.
Ed Bark

Fox goes big and bold with Gotham

Fox’s heavily promoted Batman “origin” series, Gotham, premieres on Monday, Sept. 22nd in tandem with the returning Sleepy Hollow. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Gannett8 adds Monica Hernandez to reporting staff

Dallas-based Gannett8 is adding Monica Hernandez to its reporting staff. She’ll arrive from WWL-TV in New Orleans, a CBS affiliate also owned by Gannett.
Details on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

DMN managing editor George Rodrigue soon to be in the TV news picture

George Rodrigue, managing editor of The Dallas Morning News for the last decade, will be taking his talents across the driveway to Gannett8, where he’ll be the new assistant news director. Editor Bob Mong announced his Sept. 25th departure Thursday morning. More details on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Fox4 reporter Lari Barager leaving station after 15-year tenure

Fox4’s Lari Barager is the latest experienced D-FW reporter to leave for a new profession. She spent 15 years at the station. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Also, the Tuesday/Wednesday D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshots” are in. They include data on the season’s first new series premieres, NBC’s The Mysteries of Laura and Fox’s Red Band Society.

Plus, The Beatles did Dallas 50 years ago today (Sept. 18th). We review a new book by journalist Ivor Davis, who was with them every step of the way on their first American tour. It’s called The Beatles and Me On Tour and you can read all about it here.
Ed Bark

First new fall series out of the box: Fox's Red Band Society and NBC's The Mysteries of Laura

Wednesday is jumping the gun on the new fall season, which doesn’t “officially” start until Monday, Sept. 22nd.

Fox offers the teen-driven medical drama Red Band Society, which is reviewed here. And NBC hopes to pave the way for The Mysteries of Laura, a cop drama starring Debra Messing, with a sneak preview following the Season 9 finale of America’s Got Talent. Our review of that one is here.
Ed Bark

A small ratings bump for Cowboys' impressive win at Tennessee

Game 2 of the Dallas Cowboys’ 2014 season, a running game-enriched 26-10 win against the Tennessee Titans, performed a bit better among D-FW viewers than last year’s second contest.

A complete ratings report is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, where local audiences for Sunday Night Football, the Miss America pageant and Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts also are detailed.
Ed Bark

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History is classic Ken Burns -- and then some

Ken Burns’ 14-hour The Roosevelts: An Intimate History is well worth every hour spent with it. It premieres on Sunday, Sept. 14th and runs on consecutive nights through Sept. 20th. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Thursday Night Football scores in D-FW

D-FW ratings were strong, although not quite spectacular, for CBS’ kickoff of Thursday Night Football. We have a complete breakdown of the numbers for a one-sided, but controversial game that also was simulcast on the NFL Network. It’s all on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Plus, our “Fall Promo Palooza” series wraps up with a tease for Fox’s new Gotham and an old “We’ve Got the Touch” campaign from CBS.
Ed Bark

Syfy's Z Nation lets loose with another zombie apocalypse

Fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead, which returns on Oct. 12, might find a suitable appetizer in Syfy’s Z Nation. Our review is here.

Plus, a pair of new “Fall Promo Palooza” spots bring you the dawn of ABC’s Monday Night Football and the desperation of NBC’s “We’re Proud” campaign for the 1980-81 TV season.
Ed Bark

Opening game Cowboys ratings hold steady through thin and thin

D-FW ratings for Sunday’s Game 1 Dallas Cowboys loss to San Francisco fell from last year’s, although there are extenuating circumstances. Still, most fans hung in there until the end of a game in which Dallas trailed 28-3 at halftime en route to a 28-17 loss. Our complete local ratings report is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Plus, we have another installment of “Fall Promo Palooza.”
Ed Bark

NBC5 and The Dallas Morning News team to give Dave Lieber's The Watchdog column an extra set of eyes

Content-sharing partnerships between television stations and newspapers are generally not among my favorite things. But this collaboration makes sense and might well flourish in time. NBC5 will be providing a little air time for Dave Lieber of The Dallas Morning News and his The Watchdog columns. More details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Remembering Joan Rivers in all her gory glory

Joan Rivers is dead at age 81. I’ve had many first-hand experiences with her over the years. And so here’s an attempt at an uncommon remembrance. It’s on our Network News & Reviews page.
Ed Bark

Fall promo palooza: The Temptations add some pop to CBS' 1990 "Get Ready" campaign

The 1990-91 TV season turned out to be pretty lousy for CBS from a ratings standpoint. But at least its fall promo campaign had some swagger, with The Temptations front and center. Relive it in our third “Fall Promo Palooza” video.

Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” is now in the picture on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

CBS11 anchor Tracy Kornet's goodbye comments; new DWTS "celebrities" announced

As previously posted, CBS11 anchor Tracy Kornet has decided to leave the station after an eight-year stay in D-FW. Her parting words and reasons for leaving, sent Thursday morning, are now included in our earlier story on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. Kornet signs off after the Thursday, Sept. 4th edition of CBS11’s 4 p.m. news.

Also, the 19th edition of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars has announced its 13 new dancers. You might actually know a few of them, particularly veteran inhaler Tommy Chong. Details on our TV Bulletin Board page.
Ed Bark

Fall promo palooza: ABC's 1979 "Still the One" campaign

Our “Fall Promo Palooza” series continues with video of ABC’s 1979 “Still the One” campaign. It had a hot air balloon theme, with stars such as Robin Williams and a bearded Henry Winkler beaming from on high. Check out the Network News & Reviews page.

Plus, the Back Channels page revisits a spring 1995 article on the then unusual confluence of Emmy caliber TV series and high ratings. NBC led the way in times when the old-line broadcast networks were still turning out the lion’s share of quality comedies and dramas. They’ve since ceded most of that turf to cable and Netflix.

Also, Tuesday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” is posted.
Ed Bark

Fall promo palooza fires up with look at 1996 NBC "Must See" spot

Hello again, and I hope everyone had a fine, fun Labor Day weekend.

Unclebarky.com now gets back at it with the first in our “Fall Promo Series” tied to network TV’s impending re-start later this month. You can find the opening vintage video right here.

Plus, here’s another video of Fox4 anchor Clarice Tinsley touting fun-loving sports anchor Dale Hansen when they were teammates back in 1882. Make that 1982.

Also, the Labor Day weekend Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in.
Ed Bark