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USA's Magic Formula For Making Hits [Network scores in ratings without trendy sex or violence]
Wall Street Journal ^ | 7/30/10 | ORDAN C. HIRSCH

Posted on 07/30/2010 9:09:01 AM PDT by rhema

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1 posted on 07/30/2010 9:09:07 AM PDT by rhema
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To: rhema

I enjoy them all. They are easy to watch and mindless. Psych is my favorite.


2 posted on 07/30/2010 9:12:30 AM PDT by Roux (Ignorance can be cured but stupid is forever.)
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To: rhema

I like how Burn Notice worked the relative lack of violent deaths into the show’s logic. It simply generates too much police attention, which interferes with the work. IIRC, the star has only killed one person, the guy who had just sent his girlfriend to her death, and it was quite necessary to the plot.


3 posted on 07/30/2010 9:14:07 AM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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To: rhema

I regularly watch “white Collar” and “Covert Affairs”, and will watch “Burn Notice” if I have time. USA also used to run “Dead Zone”, which was another good show, suitable for the entire family. I almost never watch anything on NBC, but I will watch USA...


4 posted on 07/30/2010 9:14:55 AM PDT by CA Conservative
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To: Roux

Psych and Burn Notice for me...I really wished that USA would have taken a flier and rescued Life from NBC.


5 posted on 07/30/2010 9:15:24 AM PDT by MNlurker
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To: antiRepublicrat

I love Burn Notice


6 posted on 07/30/2010 9:16:29 AM PDT by Tribune7 (The Democrat Party is not a political organization but a religious cult.)
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To: rhema; genetic homophobe

I LOVE this show — White Collar — and I think I’m going to like Covert Affairs just as much.

The plots are complicated and I like to watch each episode a couple of times because I learn someting new each time.

I really miss Monk, but these new shows are worthy substitutes. And they bring Monk back from time to time in their re-run line up.


7 posted on 07/30/2010 9:17:48 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic (Southeast Wisconsin)
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To: Roux
Psych is my favorite.

Mrs. rhema and I like that, too. Monk is our all-time favorite USA Network offering.

8 posted on 07/30/2010 9:19:18 AM PDT by rhema ("Break the conventions; keep the commandments." -- G. K. Chesterton)
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To: antiRepublicrat
...the star has only killed one person, the guy who had just sent his girlfriend to her death, and it was quite necessary to the plot.

Did they kill off Fiona, or was that a previous girl friend? (I'm not up on Burn Notice.)

9 posted on 07/30/2010 9:20:32 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic (Southeast Wisconsin)
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To: rhema
The piece touched on it, but I think a central reason why those shows do so well is that they are all shot on location - NYC, The Hamptons, Miami etc. All the shows that are shot on the Universal or Sony backlots in LA, but are fictionally placed someplace else - like the backlot for Chicago - all look like they were shot on the back lot. The scenery becomes an effective character, a complimentary part of the production value.

I don't watch any of the CSI primarily because I can't stand the shows' aesthetics. It doesn't look like Vegas, it doesn't look like NYC and it doesn't look like Miami.

Dexter, which is shot in Manhattan Beach, does a fairly good job of looking like Miami, but even still, it frequently doesn't. I loved the pilot to Justified, primarily because it was shot on location in KY, and it just looked terrific. Then, of course, it moved production back to LA and it looked horrible - the Santa Monica mountains don't look like the Cumberland or Appalachian Mountains, ever.

10 posted on 07/30/2010 9:21:00 AM PDT by OldDeckHand
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To: rhema
USA's Magic Formula For Making Hits

It's called originality, creativity, and assuming that your audience has a functioning brain. All things that the 3 major networks are lacking.

11 posted on 07/30/2010 9:23:27 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
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To: afraidfortherepublic
I really miss Monk, but these new shows are worthy substitutes. And they bring Monk back from time to time in their re-run line up.

I'd better start paying attention to USA's schedule. I thought the website was the only place to catch Monk reruns.

12 posted on 07/30/2010 9:24:38 AM PDT by rhema ("Break the conventions; keep the commandments." -- G. K. Chesterton)
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To: Tribune7

“I love Burn Notice.”

I agree, Fiona can use me to prop up her sniper rifle anytime she wants...


13 posted on 07/30/2010 9:25:33 AM PDT by Exeter (A government that doesn't trust its people is a government that shouldn't be trusted.)
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To: rhema

“In Plain Sight” is a good show as well.

And the pilot for “Rubicon” on AMC was outstanding!

And the A&E show “Glades” is really well done.


14 posted on 07/30/2010 9:26:56 AM PDT by N. Theknow (Everything I needed to know about 0bama, I learned from Wesley Mouch.)
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To: rhema

“Burn Notice.”

Awesome. Fiona is IT.


15 posted on 07/30/2010 9:27:08 AM PDT by combat_boots (The Lion of Judah cometh. Hallelujah. Gloria Patri, Filio et Spirito Sancto.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic
Did they kill off Fiona, or was that a previous girl friend? (I'm not up on Burn Notice.)

Bad guy had Fiona on the way back to Ireland to face certain death and was holding Michael at gunpoint until she was out of his reach. Michael had to shoot him to rescue her.

16 posted on 07/30/2010 9:28:54 AM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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To: afraidfortherepublic
Did they kill off Fiona, or was that a previous girl friend? (I'm not up on Burn Notice.)

It was Fiona, but Weston was able to ride to the rescue after double tapping Strickler when he admitted setting her up.

17 posted on 07/30/2010 9:30:16 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
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To: rhema
I thought I was gonna like Covert Affairs. I liked the first episode; but the second episode pissed me off. The CIA was trying to stop a terrorist. Was he Al Qaeda, Taliban, or some other Islamofascist? No. He was with the IRA, and we are warned early on in the episode "the IRA may be acting in this country now".

What BS. If they don't have the courage to make the Muzzies the bad guys, then they should do what the Bond films and The Man From UNCLE did: invent some super-villains or some international crime syndicate. Sorry, but this is a hot-button issue with me. Only the Bellisarius-created shows like JAG and NCIS have had the courage to consistently feature mid-east terrorists. NCIS is becoming a little more PC, but last season did at least end with them squaring off against a Mexican drug cartel, which is a very real enemy.

18 posted on 07/30/2010 9:33:06 AM PDT by Sans-Culotte ( Pray for Obama- Psalm 109:8)
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To: rhema
"Royal Pains" is one of our favorite shows and is set in the Hamptons.

In season 2, Henry Winkler (The Fonzie) has joined the cast as the loveable con artist father of the two main male Stars. Winkler has aged appropriately, yet he hasn't lost any of his "edge". God, he's great.

19 posted on 07/30/2010 9:34:01 AM PDT by spectre (Spectre's wife)
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To: Non-Sequitur
It's called originality, creativity, and assuming that your audience has a functioning brain. All things that the 3 major networks are lacking.

ABC says, "Hey, I resemble that remark!"

20 posted on 07/30/2010 9:36:01 AM PDT by rhema ("Break the conventions; keep the commandments." -- G. K. Chesterton)
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