ABC found crying in a ditch

🎬 Welcome to The Reelarc Rundown 🎬

🔸 Find out which network is *dominating* viewership this year (and which isn’t 👀)
🔸 A look at the newest scripted YouTube sensation Alan’s Universe
🔸 Breaking down who’s who in Hulu’s Under the Bridge

All that and more on this week’s Rundown ⤵️

Industry News

The Network Numbers

While the usual suspects (Sunday Night Football & Monday Night Football) led the pack in viewership, CBS’ Tracker was the third most watched program on television for the 2023-2024 season. (We previously broke down this rookie show that’s taken off like wildfire in our “Behind the Screens” segment- read it again here.)

Remember that Nielsen ratings do not account for streaming, which at this point is a very large portion of most audiences. Rounding out the top ten shows by viewership:

4. NCIS (CBS) - 9.66 million weekly viewers

5. Young Sheldon (CBS) - 9.28 million

6. FBI (CBS- are we sensing a theme here?) - 8.82 million

7. Chicago Fire (NBC- ok whew finally) - 8.68 million

8. Blue Bloods (CBS- just kidding we’re back) - 8.4 million

9. 60 Minutes (CBS) - 8.37 million

10. Ghosts (CBS) - 8.21 million

In a big “yikes” for ABC, the highest scripted show ranking they achieved this year was 911 at number 22 with 6.67 million viewers. One thing that’s clear is Americans’ love for procedurals is stronger than ever. The crime and legal dramas that fit under the genre umbrella made up 13 of the top 20 programs. I guess Dick Wolf was really onto something.

More Viewers Than Dune

Creators are constantly finding outside-of-the-box ways to reach untold audience numbers on the internet and Alan Chikin Chow is one of them. The USC grad’s YouTube channel Alan’s Universe has over 45 million subscribers and 39 billion (yes, with a b) views. Heavy hitters like Netflix, Max, and McDonald’s have reached out for partnerships and brand deals. Deadline calls the short-form episodes, which have an average viewership of 10 million, “a cross between Charlie Chaplin, Korean soaps, and Riverdale.”

Listen to Alan and his Universe co-stars talk about the meteoric rise on the Crew Call podcast. ⬇️

Abbott Elementary Keeps Teaching Lessons

Actor William Stanford Davis had a good career- he was happy with the work he’d done on shows like Ray Donovan and Ally McBeal. But getting cast on Abbott Elementary as the cantankerously lovable janitor Mr. Johnson has opened his world up in a way he didn’t think was possible. Now he consistently has teachers, principals, and parents stopping to thank him for his work. He sees a real impact from his efforts.

He had especially powerful words for men & women pursuing acting later in their lives-

“In Sheryl [Lee Ralph]’s speech when she won her Emmy, she said, ‘It may not happen in your 20s, your 30s, your 40s, your 50s, your 60s.’ And in my case, my 70s. I felt like I had a good run as an actor. I worked quite a bit. But this is the greatest thing that has ever happened. I would tell them, ‘Learn your craft and don’t quit.’…It’s never linear. It wasn’t linear for Denzel or Morgan Freeman or Robert De Niro. There were stops and starts, detours and you’ve got to go around them.”

Box Office Numbers

1. Bad Boys: Ride or Die - 56.5M - Sony Pictures

2. The Garfield Movie - 10M (68.6 gross) - Sony Pictures

3. IF - 7.8M (93.4 gross) - Paramount Pictures

4. The Watchers - 7M - Warner Bros.

5. The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - 5.4M (149.8 gross) - 20th Century Studios

Behind the Screens

Let’s take a closer look at Hulu’s acclaimed limited series that just wrapped up last month- Under the Bridge. Starring Riley Keough, Lily Gladstone, and Archie Panjabi, this thriller based on true-crime events (and the book of the same name) follows writer Rebecca Godfrey (Keough) as she investigates the disappearance and murder of a local young girl.

Creators/Producers:
Quinn Shephard (Not Okay)
Samir Mehta (Tell Me Lies, Fear the Walking Dead)
Listen to Quinn & Samir talk about the casting and creative process behind the project.

Selected Directors:
Catherine Hardwicke (yes, that Catherine Hardwicke that directed Twilight, Lords of Dogtown, & Thirteen)
Geeta Vasant Patel (Ahsoka, House of the Dragon, Superstore)
Dinh Thai (The Good Doctor, Death & Other Details, New Amsterdam)

Casting:
Tiffany Mak (Death & Other Details, Tracker, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before; Upcoming: Virgin River, The Chicken Sisters)
Julie Schubert (House of Cards, Manifest, Jessica Jones; Upcoming: The Madness, A View of the World from Fifth Avenue)

We love these 10 takeaways from Julie’s casting masterclass earlier this year at SAG-AFTRA ⬇️

Reelarc Casting Board

NYC
any gender, 35-50, any ethnicity
female, 24-34, any ethnicity

Quiz Time

The new Hulu documentary Brats looks back at the famed 1980s Brat Pack. Who of the following were not members of the Brat Pack?

Trends on your FYP

We can’t stop watching the newest round of Variety’s Actors on Actors. Catch Brie Larson & Andrew Scott dissect their recent work, as well as how they’ve tackled auditions & handled rejection.

What We’re Watching This Weekend

🎥 For a fun emotional rollercoaster - Inside Out 2 is now out in theaters

🎥 For the best anachronistic romance in the game - the long awaited Bridgerton Season 3, Part 2 in on Netflix

🎥 For the Homelander stans - after two years, The Boys Season 4 is finally here on Prime

🎥 For your Matt Smith fix - House of the Dragon Season 2 on Max

🎥 For your next dose of prestige legal thriller - the first two episodes of Presumed Innocent starring Jake Gyllenhaal on Apple TV+

Quiz Answers: Tom Cruise & Timothy Hutton
(P.S.- Have a story or industry info you think should be featured on the Rundown? Let us know - [email protected]!)