Ratings: ‘Celebrity Big Brother,’ ‘Amazing Race’ Run Second to Olympics
Men’s alpine skiing on NBC freezes out broadcast competition
Tony Maglio | February 15, 2018 @ 8:41 AM
Last Updated: February 15, 2018 @ 9:58 AM
CBS
At this point, it should come at no surprise that NBC topped primetime with its Pyeongchang Olympics — but who picked up Wednesday’s scraps? That would be second-place CBS, which won the ratings silver medal with “Celebrity Big Brother” and “The Amazing Race.”
NBC was first in ratings with a 4.0 rating/16 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 17.1 million, according to preliminary numbers. The Winter Games aired throughout primetime, with men’s alpine skiing events on the broadcast channel.
CBS was second in ratings with a 1.0/4 and in viewers with 4.4 million. “Big Brother: Celebrity Edition” at 8 p.m. had a 1.3/5 and 5.2 million viewers. At 9, a two-hour “Amazing Race” averaged a 0.9/3 and 4.1 million viewers.
Fox and ABC tied for third in ratings, both with a 0.6/2. Fox was third in total viewers with 2.7 million, ABC was fourth with 2.5 million.
For ABC, following repeats, “Match Game” at 10 managed a 0.5/2 and 2.2 million viewers.
Univision was fifth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and in viewers with 1.6 million.
Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.4/2 and in viewers with 1.2 million.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.2/1 and in viewers with 730,000. A pair of Valentine’s Day specials combined for those lackluster Nielsen numbers.
All 7 Aardman Animations Features Ranked, From 'Wallace & Gromit' to 'Chicken Run' (Photos)
In the same way that we look to France for fashion and Japan for electronics, we look to England for coziness. That’s at least in part due to Bristol-based Aardman Animations, the 46-year-old studio best known for its “Wallace & Gromit” franchise. With Aardman’s latest release “Early Man” hitting theaters, let’s revisit the studio’s feature-length output, from worst to best.
Aardman Animations
7. "Early Man" (2018)
“Early Man” is the closest Aardman has come to making a “bad” movie. This romp about the origins of soccer at the dawn of the Bronze Age is hardly shoddy, but there’s a definite whiff of second-rateness in the film’s predictable plotting, lazy puns and ceaseless slapstick. Aardman’s lesser works can rightly be accused of weightlessness, and “Early Man” fits the bill: A week after my screening, I forgot I saw it.
DreamWorks Animation
6. "Shaun the Sheep Movie" (2015)
Based on the popular “Wallace & Gromit” spin-off series, the imaginatively titled “Shaun the Sheep Movie” feels similarly inconsequential story-wise to "Early Man," but miles ahead in terms of ambition. The premise of a bored farm animal running away to experience the excitement of the big city is practically a children’s movie cliché, but this charming effort deserves respect for its wordless script and daring humility. By illustrating that cartoons for the masses need not involve endless mugging and patience-testing obnoxiousness, Aardman received its third Oscar nom for Best Animated Feature.
StudioCanal
5. "Flushed Away" (2006)
DreamWorks sends Aardman’s soul to The Sunken Place in this collaboration between the two studios. Set in the sewers (where we’re treated to the sight of a half-wrapped chocolate bar that looks like an all-too-realistic poo), “Flushed Away” revels in, well, toilet humor. And yet, I’d still rank this all-CG picture high: The story of a posh pet rat who doesn’t realize how lonely he is until he’s been banished to rodent-infested sewers is surprisingly fresh and resonant.
DreamWorks
4. "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" (2005)
Welcome to the splitting-hairs phase of this ranking. The remaining four Aardman features are all superlative, so it’s only after much quibbling and parsing that the “Wallace & Gromit” movie, which boasts the studio’s sole Oscar win for Best Animated Feature, lands on this list at No. 4. Aardman’s famous claymation has never looked better -- the entire picture is invitingly tactile -- and “Curse of the Were-Rabbit” showcases the studio’s secret weapon: a willingness to go dark, even a little dirty. But one nitpick persists -- the story of a dotty inventor who accidentally turns himself into a monster and the canine sidekick who has to clean up all his messes, no matter how delightfully executed, is still a bit familiar.
DreamWorks
3. "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" (2012)
Charles Darwin, Queen Victoria and a floundering buccaneer who goes by “Pirate Captain” tussle over the world’s only dodo in “The Pirates! Band of Misfits.” After “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” this stop-motion–CG hybrid is the best showcase of Aardman’s brilliantly textural animation style. Just as winsome is the plot, based on the first book of Gideon Defoe’s “The Pirates!” series, which sends up pirate tropes while offering a modern revision of the British empire.
Sony Pictures Animation
2. "Arthur Christmas" (2011)
How is “Arthur Christmas” not a bigger deal? The only Aardman feature directed by a woman (Sarah Smith) is a forgotten masterpiece with a completely new take on the Santa story. Set against technological changes in the dynastic gift-distribution business, “Arthur Christmas” achieves that seemingly impossible balance between Yuletide sentimentality and pointed satire.
Sony Pictures Animation
1. "Chicken Run" (2000)
What other film could top a list of Aardman’s achievements? The studio’s debut feature is still its best, a silly but scary "Handmaid’s Tale"-evoking fable about hens forced to lay (eggs) or die. The chickens imagine a new future -- a farmer-less utopia -- but first, they have to escape their pen. Aardman’s magnum opus is cozy and endearing -- but also a sometimes truly ominous rebuke of American animation flash.
Aardman Animation
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How does “Early Man” rank among the British studio’s cartoon classics?
In the same way that we look to France for fashion and Japan for electronics, we look to England for coziness. That’s at least in part due to Bristol-based Aardman Animations, the 46-year-old studio best known for its “Wallace & Gromit” franchise. With Aardman’s latest release “Early Man” hitting theaters, let’s revisit the studio’s feature-length output, from worst to best.