the buzz log
TV Viewers, On Your Marks
The Olympics are nearly here, and the world's premier couch athletes are ready. They've toned their thumbs, stretched their legs, and plumped the cushions on the sofa. All that remains is to establish the exact viewing schedule for total Games success.
And so it begins. Over the past week, TV viewers have pushed "2008 olympics tv schedule" up nearly 1,740% in Search. They've tossed variations on that theme—"2008 olympic tv schedule" (+1,193%), "olympics tv schedule" (+766%), and "olympics schedule" (+452%)—high in the air. And they've propelled interest upwards in "team usa basketball schedule" (+ 174%).
As to who these skilled American viewers are—they break down surprisingly equally between the two genders. Though nearly every age group has researched the broadcasts from Beijing, adults between the years of 35 to 44 account for the most active seekers.
Whether or not the Olympics turn out to be a smash hit for NBC remains to be seen, but in these days running up to opening ceremonies, thousands of sofa stars have certainly prepped for the activities.
What's the Buzz — August 7, 2008
Turmoil in Africa... your turn. A military coup up-ended the first elected president of Mauritania, and led to an online scramble for rebellion details, the country's location, and a timeline of the nation's growth. The junta marched with supporters and promised free elections, while the the daughter of ousted leader Sidi Cheikh Ould Abdallahi called for U.N. intervention.
.... Meanwhile, a blood trail leads to Laurence Fishburne as a possible new "CSI" boss. The tough guy catapulted into the top 50 terms, shooting past "paris hilton for president" queries. Methinks there's a veep candidate here.
...No relation to Han, but the force and Buzz beats strong for soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo (+270%), comeback kid for the USA women's Olympic team.
...And now, let's end with a Buzz Log eye-candy moment with Boris Kodjoe (+62%), soon to be in a romantic comedy near you.
Filed under: TV, Actors, Politics, Soccer, Military, Africa, Olympics
Emmy Driving "Mad Men" Wild
Note to television schedulers: Always program a premiere soon after the Emmy nominations.
Emmy showed she could provide the energy boost of a Red Bull enema with the recent season premiere of "Mad Men." The AMC original show, heaving under the weight of 16 nominations including one for best drama, doubled its searches on Sunday. Additionally, the show pulled ahead of all other drama and comedic nominees over the past 30 days. (Search chart follows below.)
The adoring masses—or in this case, enthusiastic crowds—shouldn't get too giddy. "Army Wives" (Lifetime) and "In Plain Sight" (USA), which both share the time slot, far outstripped the 2 million-plus who tuned in for "Mad Men." Still, as Media Life Magazine points out, AMC is no longer just the classics station, but the new retro classics station ("Mad Men" is set in the early 1960s).
For those stuck in the present, Entertainment Weekly not only recaps the premiere, but also offers a "crash course" for those late to the ad game. As for the rest of the nominees, the Sept. 22 Emmy Awards should give each show a boost in Search.Fastest Moving Emmy Show Nominees, Past 30 Days
1. "Mad Men" (AMC, premiered July 2008) +505%2. "Damages" (FX, January 2009) +66%
3. "30 Rock" (NBC, premieres Oct. 30)
4. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (HBO, 2009) +8%
5. "Entourage" (HBO, tentative Sept. 25) -1%
6. "The Office" (NBC, Sept. 25) -3%
7. "Two and a Half Men" (CBS, Sept. 22) -12%
8. "House" (FOX) -12%
9. "Dexter" (Showtime, Sept. 22) -14%
10. "Boston Legal" (ABC, Sept 22) -23%
11. "Lost" (ABC, January 2009) -56%
Filed under: TV, Award Shows, Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards 2008
Paging Mrs. Peel
Mrs. Peel, you're still needed... and wanted.
Diana Rigg, who played the coolly delicious, leather-clad Emma Peel in the playful '60s British spy series "The Avengers," turned 70 on Sunday. A birthday Search salute exploded: Lookups for the septugenarian surged a staggering 90,086%, landing her leather boots among the day's top 25 terms. That's more searches than Miley Cyrus with her new "Breakout" album, Britney Spears and her custody loss, or Angelina Jolie hoisting her new twins.
The fervor over a Dame turning 70 speaks to the cult power of the spy show, and calls for a TV history lesson: "The Avengers" (no relation to the Marvel comic) breathed campy aesthetics and thumbed its nose at all convention and storytelling while still looking timeless thanks to designer duds, spiffy vintage cars, and gender-role tweaking. The show also made small-screen history by casting a woman as a partner (to dapper spy John Steed, played by Patrick Macnee), rather than a sidekick or damsel in distress.
The postmodern Mrs. Emma Peel was built to appeal to men—"man appeal" or M-Appeal (get it)—which in the '60s meant putting a Shakespearean-trained lass in leather and stretch jersey. The lady also fenced, published scientific papers, ran an empire, dispensed bad guys with karate chops, and was fearless in the face of cackling villainy. The Man Appeal still holds up 40+ years later: Guys not only conducted more than 80% of Rigg's birthday searches, but also made up 8 out of 10 "emma peel" searches (which strode to the top 500 Sunday).
Rigg left the show in 1968, starring next as the only Bond wife ever in the movies. Still, two seasons had been enough to establish her as an iconic, liberated character who even now still seems before her time. Rigg herself has said for years that image is "not relevant to me," although a recent interview shows she still hasn't lost her cool.
Filed under: TV
Emmy Cuts "The Wire"
Top Snub? Most Overlooked?
Whatever the category is called, there needs to be something to address grievous wrongs. Quality nominees did make this year's 60th Primetime Emmys, but voters didn't even look down when they walked over the corpse outline of "The Wire," possibly one of the finest shows in television history. By escaping Emmy notice for the fifth (and final) year in a row, the HBO drama may be one of the most wronged shows in tube times.
Yes, Buddy TV pointed out the show again got a well-deserved nomination for its writing, making for an interesting category. Still, amongst the annual handwringing over snubs, the New York Daily News called the show "bafflingly invisible" among the Emmy line-up, the San Francisco Chronicle deemed its absence "surrealy absurd," and The Hollywood Reporter called "a moment of silence" for the wholesale carnage, which included overlooking the actors. An infuriated MSNBC contributor compared the choice of a much-nominated "Boston Legal" over "The Wire" to lauding the Miami Dolphins over the New England Patriots. And Gawker put it plainly: The show that dared take on crime, poverty, public policy, government corruption, and media corporations "was robbed."
Not that critics didn't see this coming: Newsweek predicted snubs, among them young James Hector for best supporting actor (drama). But it's not too late. If one takes the cynical view of the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award as a make-up award for dissing deserving personalities, why not one for a TV show? Or an outright "Do-Over" Award, so a program can have a chance beyond its run?
Glum fans will have to nurse their disappointment with the final DVD set due out August 12, which includes a retrospective of the first four years. Meanwhile, its creator and former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon may start another run for HBO: He moves from America's grimmest city to a post-Katrina New Orleans. That'll be one pair that will be hard to ignore.
Filed under: TV, Award Shows, Awards, Emmy Awards, The Wire, Emmy Awards 2008
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kara Dioguardi | Breakout! |
| 2 | Brooke Mueller | Breakout! |
| 3 | Genie Francis | Breakout! |
| 4 | Goliath Grouper Fish | Breakout! |
| 5 | Hari Puttar | Breakout! |
| 6 | Tropical Storm Gustav | Breakout! |
| 7 | Mia Hamm | 33250% |
| 8 | Ellen Barkin | 26799% |
| 9 | Luciana Barroso | 20830% |
| 10 | Giant Squid | 16720% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amanda Peet | +542 | 549 |
| 2 | Dancing With The Stars | +304 | 327 |
| 3 | 2008 Olympics | -377 | 323 |
| 4 | Ellen Barkin | +273 | 274 |
| 5 | Luciana Barroso | +245 | 246 |
| 6 | Mia Hamm | +229 | 229 |
| 7 | Hi-5 | -17 | 219 |
| 8 | Jessica Biel | +160 | 198 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
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