By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The dramatic conclusion to "The Undoing," HBO's whodunit starring Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman, proved how it's still possible to bring people together in today's fragmented television world.
Three million people tuned in Sunday to find out who really killed the girlfriend of Grant's adulterous character in one of three showings on HBO and on the streaming service HBO Max, the Nielsen company said.
That's likely to be a fraction of who eventually sees it, given how television is consumed today. The premiere of the six-episode series was seen by 1.4 million people the night it first aired, and by now has been seen by 9 million and counting.
"It's a good example of how you can still have a water-cooler hit," said Casey Bloys, HBO Programming president. "I will always point to good acting, writing and directing. It was a good story."
It was the most-watched night for HBO since the finale of "Big Little Lies" last year, which also featured Kidman and creator David E. Kelley.
HBO also said it was the first time in network history that each episode of a series was seen by more people than the previous one, a powerful signal of how people were drawn into the mystery.
"The Undoing" has generated more conversation on social media than any other new scripted television series this year, Nielsen said. Coupled with the streaming-only series "The Flight Attendant," HBO Max had its biggest week since the service was launched.
"The Undoing" was always designed as a limited series, but it attracted the type of interest that would make any television executive naturally wonder if the story could be extended in some way.
"I don't know," Bloys said. "I do think these things are lightning in a bottle. It could always be difficult to try that again."
But he pointed to the network's productive relationship with Kidman and Kelley.
"We'll find something great to do," he said. "Who knows what it will be?"
In other ratings news, CNN finished November with its most-watched month in the network's 40-year history, showing growth in the aftermath of the election compared to rivals Fox News Channel and MSNBC.
NBC was the top-rated broadcast network in primetime for Thanksgiving week, averaging 3.64 million viewers. CBS had 3.55 million, ABC had 2.4 million, Fox had 1.6 million, Ion Television had 930,000, Univision had 890,000 and Telemundo had 530,000.
ESPN was the most-watched cable network, averaging 2.95 million viewers. Hallmark hit 2.53 million, Fox News Channel had 2 million, MSNBC had 1.59 million and CNN had 1.41 million.
ABC's "World News Tonight" led the evening news ratings race with an average of 9.5 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 8.8 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.3 million.
For the week of Nov. 23-29, the 20 most-watched programs in primetime, their networks and viewerships:
1. NFL Football: Chicago at Green Bay, NBC, 16.48 million.
2. "60 Minutes," CBS, 13.78 million.
3. "NFL Pregame" (Sunday), NBC, 13.32 million.
4. NFL Football: L.A. Rams at Tampa Bay, ESPN, 13.14 million.
5. "The Masked Singer," Fox, 11.42 million.
6. "NFL Post-Game" (Sunday), Fox, 11.11 million.
7. "Football Night in America" (Sunday, 7:55 p.m.) NBC, 10.78 million.
8. "NCIS," CBS, 10.16 million.
9. "FBI," CBS, 8.4 million.
10. "Football Night in America" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), NBC, 7.38 million.
11. "The Voice" (Monday), NBC, 7.08 million.
12. "The Voice" (Tuesday) NBC, 7.07 million.
13. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 6.42 million.
14. "Monday Night Kickoff," ESPN, 6.22 million.
15. "I Can See Your Voice," Fox, 6.07 million.
16. "FBI: Most Wanted," CBS, 5.66 million.
17. "The Neighborhood," CBS, 5.46 million.
18. "Bob Hearts Abishola," CBS, 4.9 million.
19. "Bull," CBS, 4.68 million.
20. "The Bachelorette," ABC, 4.49 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