March 3, 2011 - 5:42pm
May sweeps week promises good TV for all
BY CAROLYN KLARECKI
Happy May sweeps! Yesterday marked the beginning of one of television’s four most important months. Ratings and shares will be crunched, market research will be performed and budgets will be built around who watches what this month. So choose wisely!
With so much on the line during sweeps weeks, the networks will pull out all the stops from today until May 26, giving us only the most enticing programming in order to bolster their numbers. Here’s just a small sampling of what we have to look forward to.
FOX's “Glee” has already played host to a multitude of famous guest stars, including rapper Eve and Broadway favorites Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. Still, May will bring Olivia Newton-John to the “Glee” set and Neil Patrick Harris in a much-anticipated episode directed by Joss Whedon. Between the guest appearances on “Glee” and Lady Gaga’s appearance on “American Idol” on May 5, FOX has got a solid schedule for May.
ABC has the “Lost” finale, of course. May 23rd is going to be a huge night for television, marking the end of an era and raking in some incredibly impressive numbers. We also have a no-doubt dramatic season finale for “Grey’s Anatomy” and an appearance by Disney favorite Demi Lovato as a patient with schizophrenia.
NBC has found its own Disney star, Kevin Jonas, to help ratings and charity by competing on the network’s latest game show, “Minute To Win It.” All the money he wins will go to the JoBros’ own charity organization, The Change for the Children Foundation. Celebrity Apprentice is also coming to a close in May, and with Bret Michael’s recent brain hemorrhage, it’s not unlikely that people will tune in to root him on.
CBS is the only network that doesn’t seem to be doing much. “Undercover Boss,” which dominated its timeslot, just aired its season finale seemingly a few weeks too soon. Of course, CBS is the master of reality TV with “Amazing Race,” “Survivor” and “Big Brother” — another season of the former culminates soon. The network also has all three versions of “CSI” and two versions of “NCIS." It will probably roll out plenty of guest stars on those, but whether anyone notices is a different story.
It seems like FOX and ABC will have the best month, but TV all around should be damn good this month. Finals are over, so sit back, relax and take in the shamelessly rating-concerned programming.
