Miami Medical: Waiting For News

Well, a reliable source tells me we’ll have news one way or the other on a renewal for Miami Medical today. Hopefully CBS will give the young show a chance — what with the awful time slot and only eight episodes to fill a season, one would hope CBS won’t kill it before it’s really gotten started.

Jeremy Northam as Doctor Proctor in Miami Medical's Man on the Road episode

When I know anything, so will you guys. In the meantime, ignore the hype. Because that’s all it is. Unless you’re an executive at CBS, you probably don’t know anything — and neither do the talking heads out there.

That said, the Ausielle Files blog is reporting four new series pickups that have been announced by CBS. Here’s what he said:

CBS has ordered four new series, including its reboot of Hawaii 5-0 starring Alex O’Loughlin, the Jim Belushi legal drama Defenders, the Tom Selleck police drama Blue Bloods, and the plus-sized comedy Mike and Molly.

Noticeably missing from the Eye’s first wave of pickups: The Criminal Minds spinoff. But CBS’ upfront is still two days away, so there’s still time.

Miami Medical’s numbers weren’t great on May 14. Although I fully admit I don’t really understand the whole ratings/numbers thing.

Here’s what HitFix has for numbers for that evening:

Overall (for Friday night), CBS averaged an estimated 6.19 million viewers to go with a 4.1 rating/8 share.

ABC controlled 10 p.m. with a 4.5/8 for “20/20,” which also won the demo with a 1.8 rating. NBC’s “Dateline” was a close second. CBS’ “Miami Medical” wasn’t far off in third with a 4.0/7 and a 1.2 demo rating.

TheTVAddict.com reported that the show had 5.93 million viewers, which isn’t horrible, but it is the lowest viewership for Miami Medical so far.

To summarize the numbers overall: Miami Medical opened with Pilot at 7.54 million viewers, its second episode, 88 Seconds, netted 7.14 million viewers, the third, What Lies Beneath, had 6.78 million viewers, the fourth, All Fall Down, had just over 6 million viewers, the fifth, Golden Hour, popped back up with 6.7 million viewers, the sixth, Calle Cubana, netted 6.3 million viewers and the seventh, Man on the Road, had 5.93 million viewers.

If it is canceled, there are still five filmed episodes out there. Not sure what they’ll end up doing with them if that happens, but I’ll try to find out and pass it on.

In the meantime, fingers crossed. And stay tuned.

Cheers,
-SueVo

Update: It’s 10 p.m. Pacific Time and still no word on a renewal. Hopefully we’ll hear some good news tomorrow. At least I’ll keep telling myself that until I hear otherwise. In the meantime, since I have to sleep, check out The Jer Blog for any potential updates — I’ll check in again when I wake up in the morning.

Miami Medical: The Numbers Game

First some talk of viewer numbers and then we’ll go into chicken soup pot mode with all the Web goodies that have appeared about Miami Medical today.

Trying to figure out viewership numbers is a bit like trying to hit a target with a paper airplane

Calle Cubana, from what I can tell, netted 6.3 million viewers this week. That’s down from 6.7 million viewers for Golden Hour, but up from All Fall Down, which had the lowest viewership so far at about 6 million.

The aptly-named All Fall Down low was partly due to Miami Medical following re-runs of the more established shows that week. This week, Miami Medical followed new episodes of Ghost Whisperer and Medium.

The talking heads are calling this an increase of 17 percent. I’m not quite sure where that comes from, but maybe that’s in relation to the All Fall Down numbers.

Jeffrey Lieber seems happy with that on his unofficial Miami Medical Facebook fan site. His status reads “Thanks to all of you, we grew another 17%, which mean if we were a badger last week… we’re now a well-fed raccoon. Big ups.”

Seems good to me, thinks Jeremy Northam...

To summarize viewership so far, here’s where the numbers have gone: Miami Medical opened with Pilot at 7.54 million viewers, its second episode, 88 Seconds, netted 7.14 million viewers, the third, What Lies Beneath, had 6.78 million viewers, the fourth, All Fall Down, had just over 6 million viewers, the fifth, Golden Hour, popped back up with 6.7 million viewers and the sixth, Calle Cubana, netted 6.3 million viewers.

Here are the stories that ran on HitFix and HollywoodReporter based on the viewership numbers, with excerpts relating to Miami Medical:

HitFix — TV Ratings: ‘Friday Night Lights’ returns soft, CBS wins Friday

CBS got consistent numbers from its three dramas, as the two networks (CBS and ABC) battled for ratings supremacy on Friday night.

…

Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 6.64 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/8 share.

…

“Miami Medical” did a 4.1/8 to win the 10 p.m. hour overall, even if that overall audience was down from last week and the drama finished third in the key demo.

HollywoodReporter — ‘Friday Night Lights’ returns dimmer

CBS, the network posted across-the-board gains. “Ghost Whisperer” (6.5 million, 1.6) climbed a tenth, “Medium” (7.1 million, 1.8) was up 29% and “Miami Medical” (6.3 million, 1.4) grew 17%. Despite continuing to post soft numbers, this is the second week in a row that “Miami” has improved given an original lead-in. The Jerry Bruckheimer medical drama could end up a bona fide bubble show after all.

I’m not sure how important any of this is in terms of getting the show renewed — which is the bottom line that I’m hoping for and the reason I’m staring at all this bizarre TV math stuff.

The quality of Miami Medical is improving week by week, so lets hope CBS notices that and the numbers, which HitFix and HollywoodReporter seem to think are decent.

Beyond that, there’s a few other goodies this morning floating around in Web land.

TV Guide has a story about Tuck Brody’s stabbing and some chatting with Jeffrey Lieber here: TV Guide Miami Medical Exclusive: What’s Next for Nurse Tuck?

Nurse Tuck Brody (played by Omar Gooding) did not have a good week in the trauma unit

Doctor Proctor (Jeremy Northam) and Doctor Zambrano (Lana Parrilla) worry by Tuck Brody's bedside.

Gill at The Jer Blog has also been busy today, with two new posts about Calle Cubana. They are here:

Miami Medical, Calle Cubana, stones, bulls and paper aeroplanes

Miami Medical: the doctors’ dilemma

And there’s a fun new Executive Producer Visual Effects Commentary video on the whole Eyeball scene in Episode 6 (beware though, if you’re squeamish):

Jeffrey Liber this morning posted a YouTube video of a song by his wife, Holly Long Liber, which was played in Calle Cubana. She has a lovely voice. Here’s the clip of “Summertime in Your Eyes”:

Here’s the promo for Episode 7, Man On The Road:

From what I’ve heard, Man on The Road will be a trying episode for Elisabeth Harnois’ character, Doctor Serena Warren, who is wondering if it’s her fault that Tuck Brody got stabbed by the patient she saved and who also appears to have a really rough day full of plane crash victims.

Doctor Proctor comforts young Doctor Warren after the stabbing

I’m probably not the only one that’s sad that the first season ends after only eight episodes. I want to see more, but I guess that will have to wait for the fall if the show is renewed.

Here’s the CBS promo for next week’s episode, Man On The Road:

THE ALPHA TEAM FINDS THEMSELVES IN UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY AS THEY AWAIT NEWS ABOUT ONE OF THEIR OWN, ON “MIAMI MEDICAL,” FRIDAY, MAY 14

Kari Matchett (“Leverage”) Guest Stars as Dr. Helena Sable, A Cardiac Surgeon
Kevin Weisman (“Alias”) Guest Stars as Moose, a Flight Medic
James Frain (“The Tudors”) Guest Stars as Brian, a Trauma Patient

“Man on the Road” – As the Alpha Team awaits news of their friend’s condition, they must tend to the victims of a motorcycle accident and a small plane crash, on MIAMI MEDICAL, Friday, May 14 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Kari Matchett (“Leverage”) guest stars as Dr. Helena Sable, a cardiac surgeon. Kevin Weisman (“Alias”) guest stars as Moose, a flight medic. James Frain (“The Tudors”) guest stars as Brian, a trauma patient.

SERIES REGULARS

Dr. Matthew Proctor………….. Jeremy Northam
Dr. Chris Deleo……………………….. Mike Vogel
Dr. Eva Zambrano…………………… Lana Parrilla
Dr. Serena Warren……………. Elisabeth Harnois
Nurse Tuck Brody……………….. Omar Gooding

GUEST STARS

Dr. Helena Sable…………………… Kari Matchett
Moose……………………………… Kevin Weisman
Brian……………………………………… James Frain
Josephine……………………………….. Robin Dalea
Barkley…………………………………. Mia Riverton
Arianna………………………………….. Clare Carey
Truman……………………….. Christopher Cousins
Nurse Graceffa………………… Shanola Hampton
Burly Paramedic…………………….. Jeremy Radin

DIRECTED BY: Eagle Egilsson
WRITTEN BY: Jeffrey Lieber
GENRE: DRAMA, MEDICAL
RATING: TV14-LV

On the Web: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/Miami_Medical

Cheers,
-SueVo

Miami Medical: Another Chat With Jeffrey Lieber

Jeffrey Lieber, executive producer of Miami Medical, was kind enough to talk with me a bit more about how the show is coming along and what we might hope to see soon. Here’s what he said, in question and answer format.

Enjoy! And please check out the show Friday nights at 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

Jeffrey Lieber

The viewership popped up this week from 6.08 million to 6.7 million, which to my math-addled mind I’ve been told is about 30 percent. Is there a magic number that will get the show renewed? If we keep seeing viewership rise, when can we breathe a sigh of relief?

There is no magic number, especially since CBS will be making the final decision in the next two weeks. This means that by the time we would get to any specific number… we’ll know about season #2. That said… our case will be vastly improved if we continue to hold Medium’s lead in and if the next two weeks — with original lead ins — keep trending up.

If the show is renewed, when will it return? I’m not sure I understand how “seasons” work on TV. I’ve seen speculation that it would be back in the fall? Is there a chance CBS will give it a better time slot if it is renewed?

Good question… without a clear answer. Most likely we’d return in the fall… meaning September, but I suppose there’s a world where we get renewed for midseason again (AKA after January 2011). The latter would be hard because part of he numbers game is getting a solid launch with schedule flow… which is just harder in the middle of a television season.

You said previously that the show would start to break from formula a bit in upcoming episodes — any hints or teases for us?

Two of the last three teases include our characters and one of those teases doesn’t even involve a trauma incident per se. Additionally, the last three season one episodes really push character, with more leaning on the lives of Proctor, Zambrano, Deleo, Warren and Tuck.

There are some pictures out there from CBS of Doc Proc in a jogging suit in the snow — does that mean we’ll get to see a flashback of what happened to him before this season is over?

Yes. 😉

Doctor Proctor, played by Jeremy Northam, takes a jog

Mike Farrell was great to watch in Golden Hour. He and Jeremy Northam worked well together — I loved watching some of the glances between the two of them during Proctor’s speech, especially when he performed surgery on the chicken. Will we see Farrell again? Any other well-known special guests coming to the show?

Mike Farrell will hopefully be back in season 2. He was great in the episode and an administrator above Proctor as we go forward. As for other guest stars… I’ve been told that CBS publicity will take a toe every time I pre-announce anything so I must demure.

You outed yourself on Twitter the other day as a Cubs fan and you revealed that Doctor Zambrano’s name came from Cubs’ pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Do any other names from the show have interesting stories like that?

Not in the main cast. My kids are both named in the next episode I wrote (not this week, but next) and Steve Maeda is always trying to get crazy names on his character. The truth is all names have to “clear” legally so a lot of times you start out with a name that has meaning, but it changes once the studio lawyers get a hold of it. The “Eva” in Eva Zambrano was like that. Her original name was “Marisol” Zambrano, but when it didn’t clear… we were sent a list of alternatives and — with Lana — we chose Eva. (In fact, now that I think of it Matthew Proctor was originally… Thomas Proctor.)

We’re seeing the first fan videos of the show come out on YouTube — generally comprised of some grabs from the show overlaid to music. How do you feel about these things? They apparently take a long time to put together and show a sort of labor of love by the fans, but at the same time, I wonder how you feel about people grabbing bits of your show and playing with them?

I LOVE this stuff. You have to realize how hard it is for all of us to separate the “character” from the “actor” and the “costumes” and the “set” and a thousand other production based facts. These videos are like the audience washing away all those details and returning the characters to us in pure form. Its very kind and flattering.

Many thanks to Jeffrey for talking to me again. And make sure you watch the show Friday nights at 10 p.m.!

Here’s a little gallery of some of the fan videos to pop up so far:

And this one, which has embedding disabled by request: This Never Happened Before (Eva/Proctor, Miami Medical)

Cheers,
-SueVo

Miami Medical: More Fun With Numbers

It looks like Golden Hour, which was just a superb episode all around, gave Miami Medical a much-needed boost in viewership this week. Lets hope that continues in upcoming episodes so that the fledgling series can get on firm footing in time for a renewal.

Hugs to those viewers who showed up to watch!

The show netted 6.7 million viewers Friday, up from just about 6 million the previous week.

Those numbers aren’t the best in the world, and it seems that CBS still had a little trouble carrying Friday night. According to this story from HitFix:

It used to be that if CBS aired original episodes of its three Friday dramas, no other network would stand a chance. Instead, on the first Friday of the crucial May Sweeps period, new hours of “Ghost Whisperer,” “Medium” and “Miami Medical” couldn’t deliver anything more than a split.

Among adults 18-49, NBC won the night, scoring a 1.5 rating in the key demographic. CBS was a close second with a 1.4 rating, followed closely by the 1.2 rating for ABC. FOX’s 0.9 rating and the 0.7 rating for The CW weren’t far off.

Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 6.52 million viewers to go with a 4.3 rating/8 share. NBC’s 4.2/8 and nearly 6.2 million viewers produced a close second place finish. ABC was third with a 2.5/5. FOX’s 1.8/3 and the 1.3/2 for The CW followed.

The good news is that Miami Medical popped up about 30 percent, which lets hope starts a new upward trend. Here’s more from HitFix:

CBS’ “Miami Medical” reverse a multi-week slide in the ratings with a 4.4/8, drawing CBS’ biggest overall audience of the night, but also its smallest demo rating. ABC’s “20/20” was third overall, but second in the demo, beating CBS.

But it’s probably still too early to tell anything about a renewal.

Jeremy Northam as Doctor Proctor in Golden Hour

If you look at all the data so far, here’s where the numbers have gone: Miami Medical opened with Pilot at 7.54 million viewers, its second episode, 88 Seconds, netted 7.14 million viewers, the third, What Lies Beneath, had 6.78 million viewers, the fourth, All Fall Down, had just over 6 million viewers, and the fifth, Golden Hour, popped back up with 6.7 million viewers.

Jeffrey Lieber, the show’s executive producer, said this on Twitter earlier today in response to a fan question about renewal:

@ShaunDaily There’s a lot up in the air at CBS. If we were a CBS/Paramount show for CBS, we’d be good to go. Being WB for CBS, its harder.

I have a few questions out to him as well — so I’ll let you know when he responds.

Cheers!
-SueVo