By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Mulder and Scully received a big assist from the NFL in attracting more than 16 million television viewers to the premiere of their return in Fox’s “The X-Files.”
Fox’s iconic series starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is back for a limited run, and Fox schedulers smiled on them by booking the show directly after the NFC championship game between Arizona and Carolina. That game was seen by 45.7 million people on Sunday, the Nielsen company said.
While more people watched “NCIS” last week, “The X-Files” had more than twice as many viewers as any other scripted series among viewers aged 18-to-49, Nielsen said. That’s the audience Fox cares the most about.
CBS’ coverage of the AFC championship between New England and Denver wasn’t in primetime, but it was seen by an average of 53.3 million viewers Sunday on CBS. That made it the top-rated AFC championship game in 30 years, Nielsen said.
As the game was reaching its conclusion, CBS’ telecast hit a peak of 63 million viewers between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. EST.
The NFC championship helped Fox to an easy ratings win, with the network averaging 13.2 million viewers in prime time. CBS had 8.7 million, NBC had 4.9 million, ABC had 4 million, Univision had 2.1 million, the CW had 2 million, Telemundo had 1.5 million and ION Television had 1.4 million.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.05 million viewers in prime time. HGTV had 1.73 million, USA had 1.69 million, TBS had 1.67 million and Discovery had 1.6 million.
NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 10.3 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second with 9.8 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 8.5 million viewers.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Jan. 18-24. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: NFC Championship, Arizona at Carolina, Fox, 45.74 million.
2. “NFC Championship Post-Game Show,” Fox, 33.9 million.
3. “The OT,” Fox, 24.32 million.
4. “NCIS,” CBS, 17.51 million.
5. “The X-Files,” Fox, 16.19 million.
6. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 13.31 million.
7. “Scorpion,” CBS, 11.61 million.
8. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 11.56 million.
9. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 11.09 million.
10. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 10.64 million.
11. “Hawaii Five-O,” CBS, 10.07 million.
12. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 9.69 million.
13. “American Idol” (Thursday), Fox, 9.36 million.
14. “Criminal Minds,” CBS, 9.25 million.
15. “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 9.22 million.
16. “Life in Pieces,” CBS, 8.78 million.
17. “Supergirl,” CBS, 8.77 million.
18. “Mom,” CBS, 8.49 million.
19. “60 Minutes” (Sunday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 8.32 million.
20. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 8.16 million.
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