By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --No one is coming close to challenging “The Big Bang Theory” when Americans turn on prime-time television in search of a few laughs.
The Nielsen company’s ratings last week illustrate the CBS comedy’s dominance. Nielsen said 15.2 million people watched “The Big Bang Theory” on Thursday, far above the second most-popular sitcom, ABC’s “Modern Family,” which had 8.4 million viewers.
The Chuck Lorre-created comedy about socially challenged brainiacs is headed toward some memorable episodes, with Jim Parsons’ character, Sheldon Cooper, about to consummate his romance with Amy, played by Mayim Bialik.
“The Big Bang Theory” is also the most popular sitcom among viewers ages 18- to 49-years-old, although the gap with “Modern Family” is narrower.
The bench strength for televised sitcoms has to be concerning for television executives. At NBC, ancestral home of “Cheers,” ‘’Friends” and “Seinfeld,” the most-watched sitcom last week was “Undateable,” a Friday-night show with 2.7 million viewers. Jimmy Fallon often draws that many viewers late at night.
The American Music Awards led ABC to its best Sunday-night showing since last spring, although its audience of 11 million viewers was a dip from last year’s 11.6 million, Nielsen said.
CBS won the week in prime time, averaging 8.4 million viewers. NBC had 7.7 million viewers and was the most popular network among 18- to 49-year-old viewers. ABC had 7.1 million, Fox had 5.3 million, Univision had 2.4 million, the CW had 1.49 million, Telemundo had 1.48 million and ION Television had 1.2 million.
ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.88 million viewers in prime time. Fox News Channel had 2.27 million, Hallmark had 1.88 million, USA had 1.61 million and TBS had 1.56 million.
During a busy news week, NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9.6 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second with 9.2 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 8 million viewers.
Primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Nov. 16-22. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Cincinnati at Arizona, NBC, 18.01 million.
2. “NCIS,” CBS, 16.59 million.
3. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 15.19 million.
4. “Sunday Night NFL Pregame Show,” NBC, 13.69 million.
5. “The Walking Dead,” AMC, 13.22 million.
6. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 13.01 million.
7. “The OT,” Fox, 12.73 million.
8. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 12.35 million.
9. NFL Football: Houston at Cincinnati, ESPN, 12.19 million.
10. “Empire,” Fox, 11:34 million.
11. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 11.21 million.
12. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 11.18 million.
13. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 11.01 million.
14. “American Music Awards,” ABC, 11.007 million.
15. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 10.99 million.
16. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 10.88 million.
17. “Madam Secretary,” CBS, 9.91 million.
18. “Scorpion,” CBS, 9.16 million.
19. “Hawaii Five-O,” CBS, 9.1 million.
20. “Survivor,” CBS, 9.05 million.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More