Sep 2015

CBS takes another stab at hit hospital drama with chaotic Code Black

09/30/15 01:12 PM

CBS hasn’t had an enduring medical drama since Chicago Hope checked out in 2000. The network tries again with the Wednesday, Sept. 30th launch of Code Black. Our review is here.

Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” spotlights Fox’s premieres of Grandfathered and The Grinder, respectively starring John Stamos and Rob Lowe.
Ed Bark

Byron Harris gets big Press Club of Dallas sendoff amid fellow WFAA colleagues past and present

09/29/15 01:21 PM

Exemplary investigative reporter Byron Harris, who’s retiring from Dallas-based WFAA-TV on Oct. 9th after a 41-year career at the station, got a big sendoff Monday night at a memorable Press Club of Dallas event. Take a look on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Also, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in.
Ed Bark

Fox goes for enduring killer looks in new sitcoms Grandfathered and The Grinder

09/28/15 04:19 PM

John Stamos and Rob Lowe join Fox’s Tuesday night lineup on Sept. 29th in back-to-back comedies. Our review of Grandfathered is here and our review of The Grinder is here.

Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings show the Dallas Cowboys taking a big hit while still drawing more than a million total viewers.
Ed Bark.

Don Johnson's back and Blood & Oil's got him

09/25/15 04:17 PM

ABC’s Blood & Oil, premiering on Sunday, Sept. 27th, is mainly notable for Don Johnson’s participation. He’s back in a prime-time series for the first time since Nash Bridges left CBS in 2001. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

ABC's Quantico visits another terrorist strike on NYC

09/25/15 12:07 PM

Quantico premieres on Sunday, Sept. 27th, and the ABC drama series opens with the aftermath of a current-day major terrorist strike on New York City. Perhaps we’ve seen more than enough of that? Our review is here.

Plus, Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings again put football on top while NBC’s Heroes Reborn gets off to a solid start.
Ed Bark

NBC adds Heroes Reborn and The Player to Thursday night mix

09/24/15 01:44 PM

Heroes Reborn makes its way to NBC on Thursday, Sept. 24th after the original fizzled out five-and-a-half years ago. Our review is here.

NBC also is launching The Player, a Vegas-set action series co-starring Wesley Snipes. The review for that one is here.

Plus, Empire returns and again makes Fox a ratings behemoth in Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen numbers.
Ed Bark

Fox's Rosewood stars a pathologist in need of a script doctor

09/23/15 02:16 PM

Wednesday night’s big new season drawing card is the return of Empire. But before that happens, Fox is serving a “procedural crime” appetizer called Rosewood. Our review is here.

Also, Tuesday night’s D-FW Nielsen ratings show a quiet start for Fox’s heavily hyped Scream Queens
Ed Bark

Throw another feature film adaptation into the new season mix with CBS' Limitless

09/22/15 02:52 PM

Bradley Cooper has gone on to be really big after his 2011 starring role in Limitless. But as a co-executive producer, he drops in for a cameo in CBS’ same-named continuation. Our review is here.

Also, opening night of the new fall season is in the books. And Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” charts the ups and downs of three new series.

Plus, TEGNA8’s Daybreak personalities become “Uppets” in a promo tied to the Tuesday, Sept. 22nd premiere of ABC’s The Muppets
Ed Bark

Hey, hey, it's The Muppets on ABC

09/21/15 06:39 PM

ABC’s The Muppets, premiering Tuesday, Sept. 22nd, is a “mockumentary” workplace series borrowing from the likes of The Office and Parks and Recreation. How’s it play? Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Fox's Scream Queens turns up the volume on several fronts

09/21/15 02:47 PM

Billed as a “comedy-horror murder-mystery,” Fox’s heavily promoted Scream Queens arrives with a two-hour premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 22nd. It can be fun but also unsettling. Not so much with the violence but with the lead character’s recurring bigotry. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Cowboys' win (and loss) outdraws season opener on Sunday Night Football

09/21/15 12:02 PM

The Dallas Cowboys’ 20-10 win over the butt-ugly Philadelphia Eagles, severely marred by QB Tony Romo’s broken clavicle, drew just over 1.5 million D-FW viewers Sunday, And then came the Emmy Awards.

We have the complete numbers breakdown of the prime weekend attractions on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Plus, here’s unclebarky.com’s look at the Andy Samberg-hosted Emmy ceremony on Fox.
Ed Bark

Emmy picks plus reviews of NBC's Blindspot, Fox's Minority Report, CBS' Life in Pieces

09/18/15 01:07 PM

Pant-pant, your friendly content provider has been really busy of late -- providing content.

So here we go.

Sunday night brings the 67th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, and my picks are here.

Monday offers the fall season premieres of three broadcast network series.

Review of NBC’s Blindspot is here.

Review of CBS’ Life in Pieces is here.

Review of Fox’s Minority Report is here.

Furthermore, Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” highlights the return of CBS’ Thursday Night Football and a new 2015 season ratings record for the red-hot, first-place Texas Rangers.
Ed Bark

Republican debate plasters everything in sight

09/17/15 05:22 PM

Wednesday’s 11-way Republican presidential candidate wrestling match on CNN dominated D-FW’s prime-time ratings from start to finish despite going on and on for a full three hours. All the details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Unclebarky.com -- now 9 years in the saddle

09/16/15 10:55 AM

Daughter Liz, son Sam again go wild in celebrating 9th anniversary of unclebarky.com. (Secretly, they really love this picture.)
It’s now been nine years since the tin can, one-person website known as unclebarky.com began providing unfettered, independent coverage of national and D-FW television.

Sept. 16, 2006. Binge-viewing wasn’t in the vernacular, AMC hadn’t yet launched Mad Men, Tina Fey had no idea she’d be mimicking Sarah Palin someday and your friendly content provider found himself a stranger in the strange land of Internet startups.

Anyway, unclebarky.com will shoot for at least a landmark 10-year anniversary. And then who knows? Thanks to all for your support and readership. It still fuels the fire.

Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” shows the Texas Rangers holding their own in the numbers game while they also moved into first place with a dramatic “walk off” win.
Ed Bark

Advice for Stephen Colbert (not that he asked) after his first five shows

09/15/15 05:46 PM

Stephen Colbert now has a quintet of CBS Late Shows under his belt. Everyone has an opinion, and here’s mine on our Network News & Reviews page.

Also, the Texas Rangers are in the midst of a down-the-stretch battle for first place with the Houston Astros, whom they met Monday night in the first of a four-game series at Globe Life Park. But once again, pro football easily ruled the D-FW Nielsen ratings despite no local teams being involved. The numbers breakdown is on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Whistles on its way: PBS' oft-magical Walt Disney doc

09/14/15 04:04 PM

Presented under the American Experience banner, PBS’ four-hour Walt Disney documentary premieres on Monday, Sept. 14 and continues on Tuesday night. Our review is here.

Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” highlights the Dallas Cowboys’ near-miraculous win over the Giants in Sunday night’s regular season opener.
Ed Bark

FX's The Bastard Executioner loses its way -- and some heads

09/11/15 03:57 PM

FX’s latest graphic drama series, The Bastard Executioner, premieres on Tuesday, Sept. 15th. Set in medieval times, it’s from Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter and includes his wife, Katey Sagal in the cast, as well as Stephen Moyer from True Blood. Our review is here.

Also, CBS11 seeks to keep its early morning ratings percolating with a new “Morning All-Star Free Coffee” promo featuring news anchor Karen Borta and meteorologist Scott Padgett as java shop purveyors. Our comments and the video are here.

Plus, the NFL kicked off its new season Thursday night -- and kicked all other prime-time attractions to the curb. The D-FW numbers are here. And CBS11 has hired a new husband-wife reporter duo from the same San Diego TV station.
Ed Bark

Reviewing Amazon Prime's Hand of God after full Season 1 immersion

09/08/15 05:04 PM

Amazon Prime’s Hand of God, which began streaming on Friday, Sept. 4th, has a number of familiar TV faces, including Ron Perlman, Dana Delany and Garret Dillahunt. But Dallas-based Erykah Badu also has a strong recurring role as a philosophical marijuana provider. Our review, based on all 10 Season 1 episodes, is right here.

Also, violence still faces few roadblocks, but sex is quite another thing on advertiser-supported broadcast and cable networks. Even though some producers with newfound freedom on the likes of Netflix are easing off the throttle for fear of alienating fans who first watched the shows with broadcast network restrictions in place. Read all about it on our Network News & Reviews page.

Plus, the holiday weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings put a non-Texas school attraction at the head of the big opening college football parade.
Ed Bark

Texas Country Reporter host Bob Phillips gets an on-air traveling companion for first time in show's 43-year history

09/02/15 11:23 AM

Bob Phillips has been a solo act on Texas Country Reporter since the show debuted in 1972. Now he’ll be getting a co-host, his wife Kelli Phillips, when new episodes resume the weekend of Sept. 12-13. More details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in.
Ed Bark

Above the Fold

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