Fall winners and losers: ‘NCIS’ reigns supreme; ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is most-watched reality show

Image Credit: Eric McCandless/ABC; Justin Lubin/Fox; Richard Cartwright/CBS; Eric McCandless/ABCWe’ve already seen the death of six new shows (Lone Star, My Generation, The Whole Truth, Undercovers, Outlaw and Running Wilde, though Fox hasn’t officially canceled the latter) as well as the departure of some old ones (So long, Medium! Looks like you’re out the door, too, Life Unexpected!) So it probably shouldn’t come as any surprise that HUT levels among CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC (that’s “homes using television”) are down 3 percent this year (from 39.7 million to 38.5 million).

Does that mean there weren’t enough good shows to watch on the Big Four this fall? Glee, Modern Family and The Good Wife fans would probably disagree, but it’s never good when so many freshman series tank before the holidays. Here’s how all the shows ranked in total viewers from Sept. 20 to Nov. 28:

1. NCIS (CBS) 21.3 million
2. Dancing with the Stars (ABC) 21.2 million
3. NFL Sunday (NBC) 20.2 million
4. Dancing with the Stars results (ABC) 18.5 million
5. NCIS: LA (CBS) 17.4 million
6. The Mentalist (CBS) 17.3 million
7. Criminal Minds (CBS) 16.2 million
8. CSI (CBS) 15.9 million
9. Two and A Half Men (CBS) 15.5 million
10. NFL Sunday pre-kickoff (NBC) 15.2 million
11. The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 15 million
12. Modern Family (ABC) 14.7 million
13. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) 14.6 million
14. Hawaii Five-0 (CBS) 14 million
15. 60 Minutes (CBS) 13.9 million
16. The Good Wife (CBS) 13.7 million
17. Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS) 13.3 million
18. Blue Bloods (CBS) 13.25 million
19. Desperate Housewives (ABC) 13.22 million
20. Castle (ABC) 13 million
21. Undercover Boss (CBS) 12.8 million
22. Glee (Fox) 12.7 million
23. Mike & Molly (CBS) 12.6 million
24. The OT (Fox) 11.9 million
25. The Amazing Race (CBS) 11.7 million
26. CSI: Miami (CBS) 11.6 million
27. CSI: NY (CBS) 11.5 million
28. The Defenders (CBS) 11.49 million
29. $#*! My Dad Says (CBS) 11.48 million
30. House (Fox) 11.19 million
31. Bones (Fox) 11.16 million
32. Football Night in America (NBC) 10.8 million
33. Private Practice (ABC) 10 million
34. How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 9.6 million
35. Law & Order: SVU (NBC) 9.66 million
36. The Middle (ABC) 9.64 million
37. Brothers & Sisters (ABC) 9.4 million
38. Skating with the Stars (ABC) 9.3 million
39. Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC) 9.2 million
40. The Office (NBC) 9.2 million
41. Rules of Engagement (CBS) 8.9 million
42. No Ordinary Family (ABC) 8.9 million
43. The Event (NBC) 8.66 million
44. Law & Order: LA (NBC) 8.63 million
45. Cougar Town (ABC) 8.62 million
46. Family Guy (Fox) 8.60 million
47. The Simpsons (Fox) 8.47 million
48. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC) 8.42 million
49. Better With You (ABC) 7.6 million
50. The Biggest Loser (NBC) 7.55 million
51. Medium (CBS) 7.53 million
52. America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC) 7.2 million
53. Hell’s Kitchen (Fox) 7.06 million
54. Undercovers (NBC) 7.02 million
55. Outsourced (NBC) 6.75 million
56. The Cleveland Show (Fox) 6.73 million
57. Raising Hope (Fox) 6.7 million
58. Fringe (Fox) 6.69 million
59. Lie to Me (Fox) 6.60 million
60. Human Target (Fox) 6.59 million
61. 48 Hours Mystery (CBS) 6.55 million
62. Chase (NBC) 6.52 million
63. Hell’s Kitchen Wednesday (Fox) 6.51 million
64. 30 Rock (NBC) 6.50 million
65. Parenthood (NBC) 6.4 million
66. Chuck (NBC) 6.2 million
67. American Dad (Fox) 6.08 million
68. Dateline Friday (NBC) 6.04 million
69. ABC Saturday Night College Football (ABC) 6.01 million
70. Outlaw (NBC) 5.8 million
71. 20/20 Friday (ABC) 5.6 million
72. The Whole Truth (ABC) 5.5 million
73. Crimetime Saturday 9 p.m. (CBS) 5.4 million
74. Primetime: What Would You Do (ABC) 5.46 million
75. Community (NBC) 5.4 million
76. Crimetime Saturday 8 p.m. (CBS) 5.34 million
77. The Simpsons — Sunday at 7 p.m. (Fox) 5.33 million
78. Football Night in America (NBC) 5.2 million
79. My Generation (ABC) 4.88 million
80. Law & Order: SVU — Saturday (NBC) 4.87 million
81. COPS — Saturday 8:30 p.m. (Fox) 4.85 million
82. America’s Most Wanted (Fox) 4.81 million
83. Supernanny (ABC) 4.81 million
84. Lone Star (Fox) 4.5 million
85. The Apprentice (NBC) 4.52 million
86. COPS — Saturday 8 p.m. (Fox) 4.47 million
87. Family Guy encore (Fox) 4.45 million
88. Chase — Saturday (NBC) 4.2 million
89. Running Wilde (Fox) 4.19 million
90. Grey’s Anatomy — Thursday at 8 p.m. (ABC) 4.18 million
91. Outlaw — Saturday (NBC) 4.10 million
92. Modern Family — Friday (ABC) 4.019 million
93. ABC Saturday Night College Football pregame (ABC) 4.016 million
94. The Simpsons encore (Fox) 3.9 million
95. The Vampire Diaries (CW) 3.79 million
96. Law & Order: LA — Saturday (NBC) 3.76 million
97. American Dad encore (Fox) 3.5 million
98. America’s Next Top Model (CW) 3.3 million
99. Smallville (CW) 3.29 million
100. Human Target — Friday (Fox) 3.24 million
101. House — Friday (Fox) 3.04 million
102. Supernatural (CW) 3.02 million
103. The Middle — Friday (ABC) 2.97 million
104. The Event — Saturday (NBC) 2.95 million
105. Nikita (CW) 2.91 million
106. School Pride (NBC) 2.5 million
107. Hellcats (CW) 2.3 million
108. 90210 (CW) 2.05 million
109. Gossip Girl (CW) 2.04 million
110. One Tree Hill (CW) 1.9 million

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‘Dexter’ renewed for sixth season

Image Credit: ShowtimeShowtime has renewed Dexter, its top-rated drama series, for a sixth season. The network made the announcement in advance of Dec. 12's season 5 finale. The show scored its second-best audience ever on Nov. 28, with 2.54 million viewers. That’s just shy of the 2.57 million who tuned in for the shocking season 4 finale, and up 43 percent from its season 5 premiere (1.77 million).

More Dexter:
Latest Dexter recap: Losing It
All Dexter recaps and headlines

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Oprah hosts Franzen, makes new book club pick - Chicago Tribune

Oprah Winfrey and author Jonathan Franzen have put their rocky past behind them.

Franzen appeared on Monday's "The Oprah Winfrey Show," embracing his host after she chose his bestselling novel "Freedom" for her popular book club. Winfrey did not have Franzen on her show nine years ago, when his previous novel "The Corrections" was a book club selection, because he called some of her choices "schmaltzy."

Winfrey said Monday she didn't have Franzen on her show then because she didn't want him to feel "uncomfortable."

Franzen, 51, who is widely regarded as one of his generation's leading fiction writers, was branded as a snob for the comment even though he apologized quickly and repeatedly.

On Monday, he told Winfrey he considers himself a "Midwest egalitarian." The pair discussed Franzen's writing process and his visit with President Barack Obama.

"Bottomline is, I'm happy to have you," Winfrey said.

"I'm happy to be here," Franzen replied.

Winfrey said in September that she read "Freedom" after Franzen sent her a copy during the summer along with a note. She said she considered it a "tour de force" after the first chapter and called it a "masterpiece." Released in late August, "Freedom" was virtually canonized by critics before publication and has topped best-seller lists. Franzen was the subject of a Time Magazine cover story, titled "Great American Novelist."

Also Monday, Winfrey announced her 65th book club selection would be a combination of two Charles Dickens classics, "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Great Expectations."

The two novels have been issued in a single bound Penguin paperback edition of about 800 pages with a list price of $20. The electronic version, also from Penguin, sells for $7.99.

Because the copyright has long expired on the 19th-century novels, they are available through a variety of publishers and retailers. "Great Expectations" can be downloaded for free on Amazon.com's Kindle reader. "A Tale of Two Cities" costs 99 cents on Barnes & Noble's e-book device, the Nook. The novels also can be downloaded for free through the new Google bookstore.

The Associated Press reported the picks Sunday after purchasing a copy of the new Dickens volume, which has Winfrey's book club logo on the cover. Winfrey said on Monday's show that she has never read Dickens before.

"It's the best of times, readers," Winfrey said and called the books timeless classics.

Oprah's Book Club has nearly 2 million online members, according to Harpo Productions. Winfrey has said she will take the book club with her when she moves to her new cable station, the Oprah Winfrey Network, which launches Jan. 1.

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AP national writer Hillel Italie contributed to this report.

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Online: http://www.oprah.com

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'Terriers' canceled by FX

Image Credit: Jessica Brooks/FXFX has canceled its fledging series Terriers, a show starring Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James that follows two best friends who become become unlicensed private investigators in San Diego County. The series from Ted Griffin (Oceans 11), executive producer Shawn Ryan (The Shield) and Tim Minear (Dollhouse) ran for 13 episodes but only averaged about 500,000 viewers per episode.

For more on Terriers:

Terriers season finale: What did you think of the ending?

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'Tangled' Locks In Weekend Box-Office Victory - MTV.com

Although Harry Potter was able to beat Rapunzel last weekend, the boy who lived was unable to fend off the long-haired princess for a second week in a row.

Disney's "Tangled" was the big winner at the box office this past weekend, securing a solid $21.5 million total from showings on Friday through Sunday. But victory for "Tangled" came at the expense of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1," which lost to the animated Disney film by a $4.8 million margin. It was the first time that "Deathly Hallows" has slipped from first place since it opened in theaters three weeks ago.

"The Warrior's Way" was the weekend's only new wide release, but the ninja-versus-cowboys action flick landed without so much as a thud, bringing in only $3.1 million for a ninth-place finish. With a reported production budget of $42 million, "The Warrior's Way" has quite a long way to go before it comes close to recouping its costs, let alone making a profit.

Two highly anticipated movies marked their limited-release debuts this weekend, including director Darren Aronofsky and actress Natalie Portman's critically acclaimed "Black Swan." The Fox Searchlight picture, which has generated some serious Oscar buzz for Portman's performance, earned $1.4 million across 18 theaters, taking home the weekend's highest per-screen average at $77,444 per location.

"I Love You Phillip Morris" finally arrived in theaters after numerous delays, earning $113,000 across a mere six theaters. The Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor-starring romantic comedy expands to more locations next weekend.

The Box-Office Top Five

#1 "Tangled" ($21.5 million)
#2 "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" ($16.7 million)
#3 "Burlesque" ($6.1 million)
#4 "Unstoppable" ($6.1 million)
#5 "Love and Other Drugs" ($5.7 million)

Upcoming Releases

"The Chronicles of Narnia" franchise continues next weekend as moviegoers embark on "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie go for a thrilling European getaway in "The Tourist," while Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale's "The Fighter" gets a shot at the title with a limited release in four theaters.

Check out everything we've got on "Tangled" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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