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Today in show business news: NBC had a big hit last night, Showtime did pretty well too, and a deserving actress gets a big role.
Last night's Golden Globe awards were a boon for NBC, earning a 6.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic, up almost 30 percent from last year. With 19.67 million people tuning in, the broadcast was the highest-rated Golden Globes since 2007. But wait, there's more: "Excluding sports, last night’s awards show was NBC’s highest-rated and most-watched show in the 8-11 p.m. slot since 2004." Wow. The highest-rated non-sports thing on NBC in nearly a decade. That's great news for the show, but, um, really terrible news for NBC. Or at least kinda depressing. Your most successful thing since the first George W. Bush administration is a Golden Globes broadcast? Yikes. I mean, good for them, always nice to hit a high, but sheesh. They really had some bad years there, didn't they? (Although, hm, I suppose that number could simply mean the highest-rated show that was on all the way from 8-11, like a special or something, not just anything that aired during those hours? It's unclear. Either way, though, TV ratings ain't what they used to be.) [Deadline]
Speaking of ratings records, Showtime enjoyed a healthy premiere night yesterday, with the ludicrous season three premiere of Shameless (there was a battle-bots plotline, William H. Macy put drugs up his butt, someone got killed, Emmy Rossum walked around in fake poop, and Harry Hamlin had gay sex with a teenager) earning 2 million viewers, up from last year's 1.6 million. Showtime's comedies, if you want to call them that, Californication and House of Lies also did well, pulling in 1.07 million and 1.19 million viewers respectively. Californication was up 41% from last year's premiere. So, well done Showtime! They were probably helped by the fact the HBO shows premiering last night, Girls and Enlightened, are some of the network's lower-rated. Had they been up against, say, Game of Thrones, I don't think they would have fared so well. Ah well, still reason to celebrate. Gross on, gross Showtime shows! [The Hollywood Reporter]