The HBO drama set in a small Louisiana drama continues to set series-high ratings throughout its second (and most talked about) season. Last week’s episode (‘I Will Rise Up’) is pretty much the best episode yet, with Eric’s trickery (and that grin), the dream sequence, and Godric’s end, but with the Dallas storyline to an end, these last three episodes continue into the chaos that is one of the most mysterious characters that was introduced toward the end of the first season: Maryann (played by Michelle Forbes).

She’s got pretty much the whole town under her spell, and Sookie (Anna Paquin), Bill (Stephen Moyer), and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) returned back from Dallas in the middle of it all. Sookie learns that it was Maryann who attacked her (which we already knew, as an audience, but it was the first time Sookie learned of it, since she was in Dallas the entire time), Jason continues to be our new hero, rescuing Sam (and that whole god-bit, hilarious), with the help from Bill, Sookie is able to bring Tara back, Bill heads to see the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, and Sookie seems to have a new surprising power (Jaw dropping, WTF moment, and really, a shock, since it is definitely completely new; in the books, she only had telepathy. [note, there's really no reason to compare between the show and the books they are based on, the series has taken a new direction on its own, which is great, 'cause I'm excited to see where it goes]).

That was just the gist of the last two episodes, I didn’t even mention about new Vampire Jessica and Hoyt, and Hoyt’s mother (again, hilarious scene with her and the Wii). The only thing the previous ep, ‘New World in my View’, would be a disappointment, as the 45 minute run time (it’s usually around 52-55 min). Oh, and only about two minutes of Eric (played by Alexander Skarsgard), but seems next week’s will make up for that part.

The tenth episode, ‘New World in My View,’ came in at an astonishing 5.3 million viewers (around 12 million when onDemand and DVR is counted). To get an idea of how good this is, the last show HBO had to break 5 million, was the Sopranos, whose finale brought in over 11 mil. Could the finale (airing September 13, instead of the 6th due to Labor Day weekend) see 6 million?

Here’s the trailer for the 11th episode of the season, ‘Frenzy’:

True Blood Ratings Continue to Rise – Just Jared | True Blood Tuesday continues – TVByTheNumbers

I want to point out, that on September 6th, since there are no new episodes, HBO, will, however, air the previous three, episodes 9 through 11, starting at 9PM, which is a good chance to review all, including that marvelous 9th episode, before the season finale.

Last Thursday was the 8th episode, and the last one NBC decided to air, opting for Law and Order repeats instead. They did, however, release the remaining five online. I thought it was gonna be one by one, but looks like all are now available to stream. So, go to NBC’s ‘the Listener’ Videos Page and watch the remaining five eps (109-113), or the whole thing if you haven’t checked it out yet. The show has a [somewhat] slow start, but stick with it, and you’ll crave more.

BTW, I recommend trying to stream the episodes one by one online at the Thursday 10PM slot, to show NBC that that is the program we want to watch, not more Law and Order. Similar to the save Chuck campaigns after the finale, when fans streamed a select episode on NBC.com on Monday 8PM (its normal timeslot). Whether that played a small part, not sure, but I think it’s worth the try. I myself plan to watch the next episode sooner (I really want to see it [edit 7-27-09: okay, can't help myself, I've already watched through the 10th episode now, and can't help but keep going]), but still go for the Thursday 10:01 PM time as well, and stay with that from then on (it’s tempting to watch them all now, but I’ll try).

Hopefully, since this is a CTV production (Canada) and that Fox International is happy with its, well, international premiere back in March (apparently it was received well) and its ratings in Canada aren’t that bad, a second season could still be possible. Basically, its well off everywhere except here in the US. Big surprise.

Oh, and they are available at NBC and Hulu up until September 20th.

And here’s a good reading on the US-Canadian partnership of The Listener and other shows, such as Flashpoint (CBS) and the first Canadian show to come to the US, Due South, which did survive a few more years after CBS canned it back in the mid-90s, because of good ratings in Canada, as well as the UK. TV partnerships are great – until they’re not — The Globe and Mail

Tonight is the premiere of the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. The former Late Night host will take over as host of the highest rated late night show (one thing NBC has been good at in ratings). Jay Leno’s last night was last Friday, which was his best Friday night in his 17 year run. But that is the most of it. He drew bigger audience with the Johnny Carson tribute show (in 2005, after the death of the Tonight Show legend), and when Obama appeared as host. Though, no one would think it could even touch Carson’s last show, but you’d think it would at least be top for Leno himself. But, it’s probably because it’s not a farewell, since this fall, Leno will be back with his own show on NBC every weeknight at 10PM.

So, how will Conan do? In my opinion, I think he’ll be just fine. I loved him on Late Night, and I believe he appeals more to the target demo.

TV.Com has posted an article on 10 shows at risk of cancellation. I could post them all, but I think I’ll just give the highlights of the ones I actually watch (Sorry, I had started this post earlier, and tried Tabbing and Backspace, don’t ever do that in WordPress, it sent me back and when I went forward everything I typed up was gone, so I need to save time)

So I’m really doing the top 4 (though Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and My Name is Earl is in the list as well.

4: Castle (ABC) : Starring the wonderful and underrated actor Nathan Fillion, this show is actually better than I thought it would be. Airs Mondays 10PM, on ABC.
What you’re missing (Pilot promo):

3: Reaper (CW) : The only CW series on the list, this show has it all: humor, drama, action, and the Devil. What’s not to like? Airs Tuesday 8PM on the CW.
What you’re Missing: (Season 2 promo)

2: Dollhouse (FOX) : The highly buzzed series by the mind of Joss Whedon opened to poor ratings (though better than its lead-in, Terminator, and also enjoys great DVR numbers). Airs Fridays at 9PM on FOX.
What you’re missing (series promo):

1: Chuck (NBC) : Mondays have gotten a little harder for our little spy/Nerd Herd supervisor, as it is now up against FOX’s House and ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, and the CBS comedies, though it seems fairly consistent in ratings (I think that’s something NBC should consider), but given the whole Leno thing happening next year (5 nights a week at 10PM is taken), could our little beloved show fall victim of crowded programming? Airs Monday 8PM, on NBC.
What you’re missing: (promo for the next new episode, since it guests Chevy Chase, and shouldn’t be missed):

Full TV.com article: http://www.tv.com/story/13568.html for the other 7 shows (#10 was a tie).

And don’t miss new episodes of Castle (Monday 10 PM ABC), Reaper (Tuesday 8PM CW), Dollhouse (Friday 9PM FOX), and Chuck (Monday 8PM NBC).

I’m just bored and love this show, and in light of why all the once highly rated shows (such as Heroes) have taken a plunge in ratings, well, at least this show is up (probably b/c old people watch CBS and old people tend to be scared of new technologies, such as the TiVO, but anyway), Enjoy…

Oh, and have I mentioned my hate of the outdated Nielsen system, others feel the same way, read article from the SCI-FI WIRE

Used to, there would be shows that had 20-some odd million viewers. They still exist, but there are so few. Why? Increase in DVR and online usage. Many networks, such as NBC, offer full episodes online to stream, for free. Then, there’s DVRs. Advertisers aren’t gonna pay-up for DVR viewings, because people can fast-forward their ads, which would defeat the purpose of them paying for ad-spots to be seen during the airing of a show. If people are skipping them, they are not viewing them, and if they are not viewing them, they aren’t gonna know of the product, and would be least likely to buy. If no one buys the product, the company can’t make any money, therefore, can’t afford to buy those ad-spots, which would keep a show from airing. Without sufficient funds, a network can’t buy episodes of the show to even air (dramas average 2 million an episode, this would include salaries for cast and crew, plus music used).

Yet, despite knowing this, instead of finding new ways to advertise (product-placement could work), they continue to rely on this info, canceling shows based on what I call flawed data. People could get pissed off with this next suggestion, but with digital technologies, there has to be some way to disallow fast-forwarding of certain (say the top advertisers, just to keep it from being too annoying). That more likely wouldn’t work, ’cause people would see it defeat the purpose of having a DVR (though not entirely, ’cause the point of a DVR is to record a show when you’re at work or had to run some errands, so you never miss a show.) I still feel there has to be a way to include counts with DVR usage, as well as online viewings, and one that shouldn’t be difficult, purchases from iTunes and Amazon unBox, as they are bought, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be counted, even if not high of a number.

Another way this data is flawed, is that Nielson Media Research may have a good formula, but I find that you can’t generalize a population, saying that because of the 5,000 or so Nielson boxes out there, that 20% (1,000) are white male in ages 18-49, so that of a majority of those, maybe 25% of that 20% (250), are watching say CSI Thursday nights, that doesn’t necessarily mean that 5% of the population are white male 18-49 (which I’m sure it is much higher than that, but this is an example) that watch CSI. If there is 130 million people watching TV, according to this, 6.5 million male adults 18-49 watched CSI. But what if, the people with the boxes, aren’t very constant with how they view TV, and if they switched out people every so often (which I think I read they did), and the next 5,000 people, what if it was 4% that did, bringing the number down. I can’t really put it into words well, but what I’m basically trying to say, you can’t say that a majority of women in this group watch Desperate Housewives, ’cause, guess what, I’m a female between 18-49, and I don’t watch Desperate Housewives, or Grey’s Anatomy, or Private Practice. No, I watch CSI, and Chuck, and Smallville, Supernatural, those targeted towards men. I don’t fit into any of the generalizations, and there are others that don’t either.

This is why I think, with new technologies out there, there’s no reason that these can’t be more accurate numbers. I am tired of good shows getting canceled based on flawed numbers, aren’t you?