By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --If it’s a lousy week for President Donald Trump, it’s usually a good week for Rachel Maddow.
MSNBC’s marquee personality took advantage of a busy week of bad news for the president, led by former lawyer Michael Cohen’s plea deal and former campaign manager Paul Manafort’s conviction on corruption charges.
She had the top-rated show on cable television on Tuesday with 3.89 million viewers. Maddow beat the usual cable ratings leader, Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, for the week. Hannity won August overall.
Even MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell managed to tie Hannity’s best showing of the week. MSNBC spread the love around the dial: its “Morning Joe” had its best ratings week ever, the Nielsen company said.
Behind its summer juggernaut “America’s Got Talent,” now being shown on two nights, NBC won the week in prime-time with an average of 4.9 million viewers. CBS had 4 million viewers, ABC had 3.6 million, Fox had 2.6 million, ION Television had 1.4 million, Univision and Telemundo were tied with 1.21 million and the CW had 770,000.
Fox News Channel led the cable networks with an average of 2.26 million viewers, taking advantage of its weekend strength. MSNBC had 2.12 million, USA had 1.42 million, HGTV had 1.39 million and CNN had 1.27 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8 million viewers. The “NBC Nightly News” had 7.4 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.7 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Aug. 20-26. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 11.21 million.
2. “America’s Got Talent” (Wednesday), NBC, 9.7 million.
3. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.38 million.
4. NFL Exhibition Game: Arizona at Dallas, NBC, 7.17 million.
5. NFL Exhibition Game: Philadelphia at Cleveland,” Fox, 6.5 million.
6. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 6.31 million.
7. “NFL Pre-Game Show,” NBC, 6.12 million.
8. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 5.83 million.
9. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 5.72 million.
10. “Big Brother” (Sunday), CBS, 5.67 million.
11. “Big Brother” (Thursday), CBS, 5.63 million.
12. “NCIS,” CBS, 5.24 million.
13. “The $100,000 Pyramid,” ABC, 5.16 million.
14. “Dateline Classic,” NBC, 5.13 million.
15. “World of Dance,” NBC, 5.06 million.
16. “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 5.01 million.
17. “NFL Pre-Game Show,” Fox, 4.9 million.
18. “Mom,” CBS, 4.89 million.
19. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 4.72 million.
20. “Bachelor in Paradise” (Monday), ABC, 4.62 million.
ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More