After last week’s incredible, incredible presentation, Hannibal turned more towards a procedural this week with a regular Case of the Week.  As I’ve said in the past, the show is at its best when it doesn’t have to shoehorn these stories in (like the one about the man who saw heads on fire), because it distracts from the excellence of the rest of the series and what we are most interested in.  Still, the point of the totem pole of bodies is, as has been the case all season, to send Will further and further down the rabbit hole of his own mind, perpetuating a kind of self abuse by forcing himself into the minds of these killers when his own mind isn’t strong enough to handle it.  Hit the jump for more on on why “this is my legacy.”

Thursday evening’s TV ratings are in, and it’s season finales galore.  Here’s a brief look at the highlights:

• The emotional series finale of The Office scored a 3.0 rating in the 18-49 demo and 5.7 million viewers, which is up from last week’s 2.3 rating and marks the highest-rated episode of the show since January of 2012.
• The season finale of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, however, topped the night with a 4.4 rating and 14.78 million viewers.  That’s down half a ratings point from last week’s 4.9 rating but even with last year’s finale rating of 4.4.  The episode was the most watched program of the night, besting even the season finale of American Idol.
• Another season finale on CBS, that of Elementary, was up a tenth from last week’s series low with a 2.0 rating and 8.93 million viewers for the two-hour episode.

Hit the jump for the full ratings report for Thursday, May 16th, including Hannibal, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and more.

Another excellent episode of Hannibal, which continues to be so gorgeously and hauntingly shot.  From Will outside of his house in the snow, gazing across the dormant winter landscape, to Tobias in his violin shop with its rich wood and old world feel.  I was actually in a violin shop like that recently, and the show captured exactly the feeling of being surrounded by so many beautiful instruments, hand crafted with such expertise and beauty.  Though Hannibal‘s violence is much, much more overt than two other recent, excellent series, Top of the Lake and Rectify, they share an intensity and immersive storytelling that wraps up the darkest of horrors in the most stunningly rendered visual blanket.  How could such terrors occur in a place that’s full of such beauty and richness?  Hit the jump for more on why “life is like a musical performance. We are finite events, unique arrangements.”

One of the best written and best acted dramas currently on network (or any) television is Hannibal, from show creator Bryan Fuller.  Based on the characters from Thomas Harris’ classic novels, the series follows the unsettling relationship between psychiatrist-turned-serial-killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and gifted criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy).

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, executive producer/writer Bryan Fuller talked about how the series came about, how he gauges the level of violence on the show, how he ended up with Dancy, Mikkelsen and Laurence Fishburne as his lead actors, how fascinating the character relationships are, that knowing the eventual destination of these characters is a huge gift, when Hannibal Lecter’s famous face mask could appear, how the Red Dragon story would come into play in Season 4, adding some female characters to the mix, how they decide what meals Dr. Lecter will prepare and serve, future romantic relationships for the serial killer, and what Gillian Anderson brings to the show.  He also talked about the possibility of a Kickstarter campaign for a Pushing Daisies movie.  Check out what he had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Tonight’s Hannibal contained a line that was meant to describe that Chesapeake Ripper, but accurately defines the show: its brutalization hides elegance and grace.  “Sorbet” started off with the most elegant of scenes: an operatic performance during which Hannibal actually showed emotion.  Were his eyes welling with tears? Everything in Hannibal’s life is art — his recipes are impeccably hand-written in almost a calligraphy scrawl, his appointment book is neat and clean, as is his office and his extremely organized refrigerator.  His index card Rolodex is carefully compiled, not haphazardly arranged, and of course the neatness and perfection of his cooking brings applause from his dinner guests.  But “Sorbet” doesn’t let us forget how brutal the killings that make that meal possible are.  Hit the jump to find out which wine pairs best with human spleen.

Thursday evening’s TV ratings are in.  Here’s a brief look at the highlights:

• NBC’s Community saw a healthy rise from last week’s series low, as last night’s episode hit a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demo and 2.8 million viewers. That’s up 20% over last week’s 1.0 rating.
• Also up was the season finale of Parks and Recreation, which hit a 1.5 rating and 2.89 million viewers for a 15% rise over last week’s season low 1.3 rating.  However, the rating was down 12% from last year’s season finale’s 1.7 rating.
• The swell new NBC drama series Hannibal continues to struggle a tad, as last night’s episode notched a 1.0 rating and 2.51 million viewers, matching last week’s series low.

Hit the jump for the full ratings report for Thursday, May 2nd, including The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Elementary, The Vampire Diaries, and more.

Another great episode of the ever-stylish Hannibal, though with a very sudden ending.  To be continued?  There were also several shadows of Silence of the Lambs that appeared as well: the focus on an agent-in-training, Miriam (played by Veep‘s Anna Chlumsky), as well as the advent of the Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane’s (which everyone, including Will, always likes to say in full) Dr. Chilton, and the idea of classical conditioning.  The “Chesapeake Ripper” is also referred to as a “pure” psychopath (or sociopath), “which is so rare to find in captivity,” Chilton comments smugly.  But Will has doubts that the incarcerated Dr. Gideon (Eddie Izzard) is the true killer.  “I can see him, but I can’t feel him,” Will says after his time at the (gruesome) crime scene.  Hit the jump for why “there’s no accounting for taste … or intelligence.”

Thursday evening’s TV ratings are in, and the networks faced a sharp drop in viewership against the NFL Draft.  Here’s a brief look at the highlights:

• NBC’s fantastic new drama series Hannibal sadly saw another drop in ratings, as last night’s episode hit a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demo and 2.4 million viewers.  That’s down four tenths from last week’s 1.4 rating.
• Even though CBS stalwart The Big Bang Theory drew more total viewers than all of NBC’s programming combined (yes, really), the show hit a season low rating of 4.2 for a drop of a full ratings point from its last originals’ 5.2 rating.  Nevertheless, the comedy dominated the night with 14.38 million viewers.
• Back over at NBC, though, a Jim Rash-penned episode of Community notched a series low 1.0 rating and 2.4 million viewers.  A sad fate for what was by far the best episode of an uneven season.

Hit the jump for the full ratings report for Thursday, April 25th, including Parks and Recreation, Person of Interest, Scandal, Elementary, The Vampire Diaries, and more.

First of all, if you haven’t watched the clips from Hannibal‘s unaired fourth episode “œuf” do so now because I am going to talk about it along with “Coquilles.”  What I found so interesting about NBC’s “cannibalized” version (their pun!) of that controversial fourth episode is that by eliminating the Case of the Week, Hannibal turned into a really beautifully meditative character study.  It didn’t flow particularly smoothly (what a surprise since it was chopped up), but at the same time it was really hypnotic.  With all of the therapy sessions, it kind of reminded me of HBO’s In Treatment, plus hallucinations and eating humans.  While I also enjoyed “Coquilles,” the Case of the Week, which I thought was pretty weak, distracted from the better character moments.  Hit the jump for why I’m so excited I figured out what to do with that œ character … 

Last week it was announced that NBC would be pulling its new crime drama Hannibal‘s upcoming fourth episode “œuf” in the wake of the Boston Marathon tragedy.  The episode’s Case of the Week was about children killing other children — something that had series creator Bryan Fuller asking to have it pulled completely while the series was still in production, after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary.  The hesitation about the episode was already clear, as it didn’t appear in press packs for the series (the episode order of the press screeners went 1, 2, 3, 5, 6).

While the idea to cut the episode has been universally supported, Fuller wanted to make sure that fans were able to keep up with the character building in the episode that was separate from the crime, especially after last week’s surprising ending.  So NBC “cannibalized” the episode into webisodes for viewers, and put them online.  Hit the jump for the clips.

Thursday evening’s TV ratings are in.  Here’s a brief rundown:

• Two excellent episodes of Parks and Recreation (watch Patton Oswalt’s brilliantly nerdy 8-minute outtake right here) marked an uptick for the NBC comedy, hitting a 1.7 rating in the 18-49 demo and 3.34 million viewers and a 1.7 rating and 3.25 million viewers.  That’s a 13% rise from last week’s 1.5 rating.
• Also up was the Christmas episode of Community, which scored a 1.3 rating and 3.19 million viewers for a rise of 8% over last week’s 1.2 rating.
• Unfortunately, the fantastic new drama series Hannibal was down 18% from last week’s 1.7 rating, hitting a 1.4 rating and 3.5 million viewers.  Seriously, this show is great.  Give it a shot, folks!
• Over on Fox, Glee garnered a 2.2 rating and 6.39 million viewers, which is down 8% from last week’s 2.4 rating.
• Finally, on The CW, The Vampire Diaries hit a 0.9 rating and 2.14 ratings for a 25% drop from its last original episode’s 1.2 rating, and Beauty and the Beast was even with a 0.6 rating and 1.6 million viewers.

I can’t remember the last time I’ve so emphatically recommended a network drama.  Hannibal, a mere three episodes in, is already heads and shoulders above, say, The Following, not just because of its writing and acting, but its style.  Few people can put a visual stamp on things like Bryan Fuller, and while Hannibal and Will inhabit their own distinct spaces and looks, it’s the loathsome Freddie Lounds who really embodies that slightly cartoony / candy-colored world that Fuller built in Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies.  In Hannibal it’s more muted, but the time-lapsed establishing shots and vivid staging (the chat in the hospital’s greenhouse, or in the bright fall leaves behind the Hobbs’ house) still keep things from looking like a rote procedural.  So does the advent of Abigail Hobbs.  Hit the jump for why you should never threaten someone who thinks about murder all day (like kittens).

Thursday evening’s TV ratings are in.  Here’s a brief look at the highlights:

• Last night’s puppet episode of Community finally marked a rise in ratings for the NBC sitcom.  The show notched a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demo and 2.96 million viewers, which is up two tenths from last week’s series low rating of 1.0.
• A school shooting-centered installment of Glee hit a 2.4 rating and 6.8 million viewers for a significant rise of four tenths from its last original episode’s 2.0 rating.
• The second episode of NBC’s excellent new drama series Hannibal was even with last week’s premiere rating of 1.6 and scored 4.34 million viewers.

Hit the jump for the full ratings report for Thursday, April 11th, including the season finale of Go On, Parks and Recreation, and more. [Update: In adjusted ratings numbers, Hannibal actually scored a 1.7 rating and 4.37 million viewers, which is up a tenth from last week.]

A fellow TV critic said of Hannibal, “NBC doesn’t know what it has with this show.”  He’s absolutely right.  Though it has some of the trappings of a procedural (a case of the week, a familiar make up of quirky forensic detectives, a kind of “you can’t handle the truth!” refrain), Hannibal is elevated by three things.  It’s incredibly stylish (but not cartoonishly so, as CSI: Miami could be), it has two great leads (Mads Mikkelson and Hugh Dancy), and it has a built-in anticipation with the development of Hannibal’s character, because we know where he and Will end up, something that adds a lot of tension to the onscreen proceedings, even when they’re not overt (like that little dinner Hannibal served Jack).  NBC, don’t mess this up.  Hit the jump for more on why you should always inquire about where the loin came from. 

Thursday evening’s TV ratings are in.  Here’s a brief look at the highlights:

• NBC’s excellent new drama series Hannibal debuted to a 1.6 rating and 4.31 million viewers, which is up 60% from NBC’s average in the time slot this year but still a tad on the low side.  Read Allison’s recap here and watch the full pilot here.
• CBS’ The Big Bang Theory continues to slaughter just about everything that runs opposite the comedy, as it raked in a 4.9 rating and a whopping 16.79 million viewers.  That’s up 2% from its last original episode’s 4.8 rating.
• Speaking of getting slaughtered, a return-to-form episode of Community last night earned a series-low 1.0 rating and 2.41 million viewers, which is down 9% from its last original episode’s 1.6 rating.
• Also hitting a series low was the CBS procedural Elementary, which notched a 2.1 rating and 10.36 million viewers opposite the series premiere of Hannibal.  That’s down 9% from its last new episode’s 2.3 rating.

Hit the jump for the full ratings report for Thursday, April 4th, including Parks and Recreation, The Office, New Girl, Person of Interest, and more.