Rankings Corporate Jungle: Voice & Smash Rise

After going for a hit from facing Daytona 500 a week ago, NBC’s The Voice (6.1/16) returned back using its first fight round, that was up 13% from a week ago for that show’s best result because the publish-Super Bowl Monday episode. At 10 PM, Smash (2.7/7) was up a large 17% to reverse its initial rankings downtrend. After two days of double-digit drops following a premiere, Smash held steady last Monday before heading up last evening — it’s very good news for NBC’s new regime, which put the majority of its eggs within the Smash basket this year. NBC’s selection, which won the evening in 18-49 (4.9/13) and total audiences (13.7 million), was assisted by CBS, which broadcast reruns. (ABC’s 10 PM drama Castle also would be a repeat.) Fox’s Alcatraz broadcast two back-to-back episodes (1.9/5, 1.8/4). The very first was up a tenth as the second was flat using the series’ newest hourlong original two days ago. ABC’s broadcast a 2-hour The Bachelor: The Ladies Tell All special (2.5/6), that was lower a tenth from a week ago and lower 19% from last spring’s special once the Bachelor didn't face The Voice. The CW also broadcast repeats.

FCC Crimps Dish Systems Broadband Plans By Declining To Approve Rule Waiver

Dish Network shares are lower about 3.5% in publish-market buying and selling following the satellite broadcaster experienced a collection-in its intend to create a wireless broadband network. The organization really wants to use spectrum from the $1.4B planned purchase of TerreStar — and requested the FCC, which must approve the offer, to grant a waiver to the build-out needs. But late Friday the FCC rejected therequest as government bodies develop rulesgoverning all companies who want to use particular airwaves.”In light from the unique qualities of the spectrum band,” an FCC spokesperson states, “the rule-making process will best serve the general public interest and increase the lengthy-term worth of the spectrum for that American economy.” A week ago Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen stated when the TerreStar deal was declined or postponed thenwed have to check out other options, which may be unfortunate and may need a write-lower. Dish stated Friday that it's “disappointed” and can review its options. However it added that, although it views its next move, it'll “continue dealing with the FCC” to figure out ways to”solve the present spectrum crunch” and supply additional broadband competition. That is “particularly critical because of the growing realm of bit caps and limited data plans,” it states. Dish hopes to shut its spectrum deals “as soon as practicable.”

Oscars 2012: Favorite Speeches, Shocks And Moments

Another year, another Oscars lower. Plenty of expected benefits, yes, however, many happy surprises inside the mix too, together with a nearly-streak for Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" together with a few well-placed penis jokes within the "Bridesmaids" crew. MTV News' Eric Ditzian, Josh Wigler and Amy Wilkinson had plenty to say on what labored and what didn't as of this year's Academy awards -- have a look at their reactions inside the video below.

NBC Sets Community Return Date, Premieres for Bent, Close Buddies Forever

The Vampire Diaries' Candice Accola states that Caroline and Bonnie will probably carry on growing much closer. In last week's episode, "The Kids,Inch Caroline consoled Bonnie when her mother, Abby, was converted to a vampire. While it definitely is been Elena by Bonnie's side, Acccola states Caroline will be the one she turns to since her relationship with Elena is strained. Discover More > Other Links From TVGuide.com The Vampire DiariesCandice Accola

Netflix inks pact with Weinsteins

Netflix and The Weinstein Company Tuesday announced a new multi-year licensing agreement, their first, to make foreign language, documentary and certain other movies from TWC exclusively available for Netflix members in the U.S. to watch instantly."The Artist" will make its pay TV debut exclusively on Netflix rather than on traditional premium cable.The pic, written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius and starring Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, has been sweeping the awards season, including the Golden Globe for Best Picture/Comedy or Musical and Best Picture Awards from the Producers Guild of America, British Academy of Film and Television, the London Critics Circle and NY Film Critics Circle.Also making its pay TV premiere on Netflix is "Undefeated," nominated for a 2012 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Pic follows players on a Memphis, Tenn. inner-city high school football team as it attempts to win its first playoff game in the school's history.A diverse slate of TWC specialty films will appear exclusively on Netflix within one year of their theatrical release, including World War II drama "Sarah's Key," "Intouchables," "W.E.," "Coriolanus" and "Bully."Terms of the deal, the first between TWC and Netflix, weren't disclosed. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Pilot Season: Mary McCormack Cast in ABC Comedy, FlashForward Vet Lands Shonda Rhimes Drama

[Warning: This story includes major spoilers from Sunday's episode in the Walking Dead. Read in the own risk. ] Lori has advanced considerably from housewife-switched-zombie apocalypse survivor. Sunday's episode in the Walking Dead shown she'd do nearly everything to keep her family intact, even if what this means is planting the seed in husband Rick's mind that his nearest friend Shane must die. TVGuide.com switched to executive producer and showrunner Glen Mazzara to get the scoop on Lori's "foolish decision." Plus: What is going to the long run hold for Shane, who's extended outlived his comic counterpart? Uncover below: Discover More > Other Links From TVGuide.com Andrew LincolnNorman ReedusScott WilsonFrank DarabontSarah Wayne CalliesJon BernthalMichael ZegenGlen MazzaraThe Walking DeadChandler RiggsMelissa Suzanne McBride

Which Pilots Will Get Series Orders?

Which Pilots Will Get Series Orders? By Pete Keeley February 17, 2012 Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images Roseanne Barr During pilot season, I like to play a game I'll call, for lack of a better title, "Which pilots will get series orders?" At this point, before the pilots have been cast and shot, there's not much to go on. You have the log line. You have the auspices. You have the stars attached, if any. But that's it.The casting directors are playing this game too. Most offices are only going to land one pilot, maybe two, and they have to choose wisely. Do they want to work on an intriguing, single-camera comedy from an up-and-coming writer who has no track record? Or do they want to staff yet another show about a cop/lawyer/doctor/single mother who "refuses to play by the rules," only it's produced by Shonda Rhimes ("Grey's Anatomy") and stars Meryl Streep?Casting a pilot that gets a series order means the office has the inside track on casting the series. If that series is a success, that casting director has job security. Job security is awesome. (Being in the publishing industry, I wouldn't know, but it sounds awesome.) So while I can't predict the future, let's give the game a new title and play "If I were a casting director, which pilot would I want to be casting?"As far as dramas go, anything that J.J. Abrams touches will probably get picked up. This year, he's attached to a few projects, one of which is NBC's "Revolution," described as "a high-octane action drama following a group of characters struggling to survivein a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist." All forms of energy but octane, it seems. If you remember anything from high school physics, you're saying "What about chemical potential energy?!" But Abrams just laughs in your face and smacks you with his "Lost" Emmy. April Webster is casting this one, as is the case with most Abrams projects. So she's set.Another drama that shouldnay, must!receive an order is CBS' untitled Las Vegas project. The pilot is written by Nick Pileggi, who wrote "Goodfellas," just the best movie ever. It's set in, duh, Vegas and dramatizes the life of Ralph Lamb, a cowboy who became Clark County sheriff in 1961 and spent the next 20 years battling the mob. Sheila Jaffe and Gail Goldberg are casting this one, which has to be good.As far as comedy pilots go, a casting director could do worse than landing Roseanne Barr's return to prime time. Risa Bramon Garcia will be casting NBC's "Downwardly Mobile," which stars Barr as the proprietor of a trailer park who's constantly putting out mostly figurative fires started by her eclectic tenants. But wait, it gets better. The other lead? John Goodman! I'm from a middle-class family in Chicago and grew up watching "Roseanne." You cannot convince me this is a bad idea.You can play this game too by following the pilot casting announcements posted regularly on BackStage.com. Think of the network up-fronts in May as your answer key. Which Pilots Will Get Series Orders? By Pete Keeley February 17, 2012 Roseanne Barr PHOTO CREDIT Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images During pilot season, I like to play a game I'll call, for lack of a better title, "Which pilots will get series orders?" At this point, before the pilots have been cast and shot, there's not much to go on. You have the log line. You have the auspices. You have the stars attached, if any. But that's it.The casting directors are playing this game too. Most offices are only going to land one pilot, maybe two, and they have to choose wisely. Do they want to work on an intriguing, single-camera comedy from an up-and-coming writer who has no track record? Or do they want to staff yet another show about a cop/lawyer/doctor/single mother who "refuses to play by the rules," only it's produced by Shonda Rhimes ("Grey's Anatomy") and stars Meryl Streep?Casting a pilot that gets a series order means the office has the inside track on casting the series. If that series is a success, that casting director has job security. Job security is awesome. (Being in the publishing industry, I wouldn't know, but it sounds awesome.) So while I can't predict the future, let's give the game a new title and play "If I were a casting director, which pilot would I want to be casting?"As far as dramas go, anything that J.J. Abrams touches will probably get picked up. This year, he's attached to a few projects, one of which is NBC's "Revolution," described as "a high-octane action drama following a group of characters struggling to survivein a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist." All forms of energy but octane, it seems. If you remember anything from high school physics, you're saying "What about chemical potential energy?!" But Abrams just laughs in your face and smacks you with his "Lost" Emmy. April Webster is casting this one, as is the case with most Abrams projects. So she's set.Another drama that shouldnay, must!receive an order is CBS' untitled Las Vegas project. The pilot is written by Nick Pileggi, who wrote "Goodfellas," just the best movie ever. It's set in, duh, Vegas and dramatizes the life of Ralph Lamb, a cowboy who became Clark County sheriff in 1961 and spent the next 20 years battling the mob. Sheila Jaffe and Gail Goldberg are casting this one, which has to be good.As far as comedy pilots go, a casting director could do worse than landing Roseanne Barr's return to prime time. Risa Bramon Garcia will be casting NBC's "Downwardly Mobile," which stars Barr as the proprietor of a trailer park who's constantly putting out mostly figurative fires started by her eclectic tenants. But wait, it gets better. The other lead? John Goodman! I'm from a middle-class family in Chicago and grew up watching "Roseanne." You cannot convince me this is a bad idea.You can play this game too by following the pilot casting announcements posted regularly on BackStage.com. Think of the network up-fronts in May as your answer key.

Marvel reveals The Avengers LEGO toys

If you thought LEGO Lord Of The Rings was cute, just wait until you've seen The Avengers' LEGO counterparts.Unveiled by Marvel, these additions to the Danish block-building world are looking like the summer's must have toy for film geeks everywhere. Actual children may also enjoy them.Unsurprisingly, vehicles form the crux of some of the sets, including buildable versions of Captain America's motorbike and the Quinjet.But it's the cute figures that are the essential element for us. Check out the images below:The Avengers opens on 27 April 2012.[brightcove]1213024251001[/brightcove]

National football league in rankings league of their own

Super Bowl XLVI was probably the most-viewed telecast in U.S history. Because of a 300-plus funnel world, the web, Dvd disks along with other more recent media forms, the eyeballs of America are splintered more than ever before nowadays. There is however one factor which brings us altogether: the National football league. The February. 5 Super Bowl between your NY Titans and Gambling on NBC came the biggest average aud on record for any U.S. program -- 111.3 million -- marking the seventh straight year of gains for professional football's championship game. Once the same teams met 4 years previously Fox, a likewise competitive contest came 97.4 million. How large may be the National football league nowadays? Take into account that the 111.3 million who viewed the Super Bowl is much more compared to combined audiences which are more recent determining games of baseball's World Series (25.4 million), college football's BCS title game (24.two million), basketball's National basketball association Finals (23.9 million), college basketball's NCAA men's championship (20.a million) and hockey's Stanley Cup Finals (8.5 million). This came around the heels from the conference championship games that determined the Super Bowl teams calculating an astonishing 53.7 million -- probably the most for that penultimate round in 3 decades. Obviously, it will help the sport hasn't been more competitive, including some nail-biter Super Bowl finishes (unlike a stretch an era ago when the overall game generally would be a blowout). However the league has been doing its part to make certain more audiences see significant games season-lengthy, with a few key changes to the television packages recently. For instance: The Saturday playoff games typically skedded for 1 p.m. ET kickoff decades ago were gone to live in primetime, and among the conference titles has become also performed in primetime there's flexible arranging on Sunday, which changes games either to some:15 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. ET timeslot when the one initially scheduled is really a dud and top-tier teams can be displayed in primetime as much as six occasions, up from five about ten years ago. Because a roll because the National football league is on, you will find already some questioning the league's recent decision to include early-season Thursday evening games to the television slate. The matchups during these games don't figure to become as attractive because the primetime package on either NBC or ESPN -- and definitely will not draw too, since they'll air around the lesser-available National football league Network -- but could it be an excessive amount of a positive thing? Contact Ron Kissell at ron.kissell@variety.com

Exclusive video interview with Daniel Radcliffe

[brightcove]1442101405001[/brightcove]You can watch an exclusive video interview with Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe above.In the video, he discusses his transition to an altogether more 'adult' role in The Woman In Black, explaining that his character, lawyer Arthur, is drifting through life "like a ghost."Speaking of the crossover, Radcliffe says, "It was great to step onto a new set, and to be able to lead a new set was very exciting to me."He also talks about his own fears (and those of Potter co-star Rupert Grint), so get watching now.And while you're in a video-watching mood, why not check out these two clips from the film?[brightcove]1442200718001[/brightcove][brightcove]1442186164001[/brightcove]The Woman In Black opens on 10 February 2012.Read Total Film's The Woman In Black review.

The Grey tops the US box office

Liam Neeson's rock-hard thriller The Grey has slogged its way to the top of the US box office, after an opening weekend of $20 million knocked Underworld: Awakening off its perch.The vampires and werewolves saga slipped to second with a $12.5 million weekend, narrowly edging out Katherine Heigl's latest misfire, One For The Money.Red Tails slipped several places to fourth with $10.4 million, while Sam Worthington's Man On A Ledge opened disappointingly with just $8.25 million in the coffers.The Oscar-nominated Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close continued to underwhelm at the box office, adding just over $7 million to its overall haul. The Academy Award announcement also seemed to make a negligible influence on The Descendants which took around $6.5 million.Mark Wahlberg's Contraband was in eigth spot on $6.5 million, with another action thriller propping up the table in the shape of Haywire, on $4 million. Sandwiched between those two is the 3D refit of Beauty And The Beast, which took £5.3 million.Next week sees Daniel Radcliffe arrive in US screens with The Woman In Black. Can he scare some life into an otherwise turgid box office? We'll have to wait and see...

Joaquin Martinez dies at 81

Actor Joaquin Martinez, best appreciated for your role of offerings His Shirt Red-colored-colored in Sydney Pollack's Robert Redford starrer "Jeremiah Manley" as well as the title role in Robert Aldrich's "Ulzana's Raid" (1972), starring Burt Lancaster, died on Jan. 3 at his home in Everdingen, Holland, carrying out a brief have trouble with pancreatic cancer. He was 81. Born in Cozumel, Mexico, Martinez examined Method acting with Seki Sano and located prominence in Carlos Velo's Mexican film "Pedro Paramo," which opened up at Cannes in 1967. Soon after he gone after La and labored becoming an actor in film, on television and onstage more than 3 decades. Offered stereotypical roles, like many Latino stars, throughout his career in Hollywood, Martinez activly works to redefine the various, sometimes getting him into conflict with producers and company company directors. His TV work including guest roles in many Western series, including "The Top Chapparal," "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke" guest gigs on "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "Ironside," "Quincy," "L.A. Law," "Empire" and "Northern Exposure" and roles in telepics and miniseries incliuding "Ishi: All the His Tribe," "Centennial," "How a West Was Won" and "Gems for Ibarra." Film credits Bille August's 1993 "Home from the Spirits," and "Revenge" (1990), starring Kevin Costner and Anthony Quinn. In 2001, Lee Tamahori cast Martinez inside the Jason Bourne thriller "Die A Later DateInch based on his longtime recognition of Martinez's performance in "Ulzana's Raid." Onstage Joaquin came out with Christopher Reeve and Christine Lahti in Tennessee Williams' "Summer season and Smoke" within the Ahmanson in 1988. He appeared to become a geniune cast part of the musical drama "Zoot Suit." Martinez is managed to get by his wife, Marja Valkestijn boy Christopher, a publicist a daughter, Jennifer stepson Sjoerd and former wife Mary Preston. Donations may be created in the memory for the SAG Children's Fund for Children's Literacy. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

WGA Nominations 2012: 'Win Win,' 'Bridesmaids' and Steve Zaillian Among Nominees

It seems like no less than lots of people haven't overlooked 'Win Win.' The well-examined, honours-season afterthought received a sizable boost on Thursday within the Authors Guild of America when Tom McCarthy was among the five nominees for top Original Script. The WGA also selected Diablo Cody (for 'Young Adult'), Will Reiser (for '50/50'), Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo (for 'Bridesmaids') and Woodsy Allen (for 'Midnight in Paris') as original script nominees. Round the modified side, the scripts for 'The Descendants,' 'The Help,' 'Hugo' as well as the Steve Zaillian twosome, 'Moneyball' and 'The Girl While using Dragon Tattoo,' were designated as honorees. Clearly, don't go putting lower a pleasant earnings on these films within your Oscar conjecture pools at this time around the WGA considered scripts for 'The Artist,' 'Beginners,' 'Drive,' 'Margin Call,' 'Shame,' 'Melancholia,' 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,' 'The Iron Lady,' 'The Skin Home Is,A 'Martha Marcy May Marlene' and 'My Week With Marilyn' ineligible. So! What can the WGA nominations mean for your Academy awards? That 'Bridesmaids' is virtually locked to, no less than, a Best Original Script nomination it's doubtful the trio of Will Reiser, Diablo Cody and Tom McCarthy will all get requested for the Kodak Theater in February with 'The Artist' and 'Beginners' residual which 'War Horse' is most likely not the Oscar favorite you assume. The Richard Curtis and Lee Hall adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel was snubbed despite getting qualification for just about any WGA nomination. [via GoldDerby.com] [Photo: Fox Searchlight] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook