The fast national ratings are in for Friday, October 18, 2002:

"At 9 p.m., Dateline NBC averaged 8.2/15. CBS' Hack, 6.0/11, took second but was off significantly from last week. Another edition of Funniest Home Videos gave ABC third, with FOX's John Doe, 4.0/7, in fourth." (10/19)

Here's an amusing story, No more pretty boys... TV'S Unlikeliest Hunks. Thanks, Yoshiko! (10/18)

More on the Golden Horse awards. Yoshiko, from the DMFSJ, checks in with this:

"There is a Chinese article about the Taipei premiere of Double Vision, and it mentions David Morse's nomination. Then it says, 'David Morse can't attend (the premiere), but the possibility of his coming to Taiwan next month for the Golden Horse awards ceremony fills the movie fans with anticipation.'

Although, if Hack is going to be picked up, by CBS, which is almost a no-brainer, David will probably be too busy filming Hack episodes.

But, I guess we'll just see what happens! (10/18)

In this Hollywood Reporter story, Morse film nom fuels controversy. Seems people are questioning David's Golden Horse nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Double Vision because his role was in English. Here's an excerpt from the story:

"Golden Horse executive committee official Ya-Mei Li admitted that the choice of Morse had been contested, but she said jury members found Morse's performance compelling enough to take a chance.

She added, however, that "there are no rules about the language used by actors, only about the main language of the movie, and on that count, Double Vision conforms to the regulations." (10/17)

Yoshiko of the DMFSJ reports this news flash from Taipei:

And to recap those Double Vision release dates; October 17, 2002 is the Taipei premiere of the movie, with most likely the filmmakers and major cast members in attendence. Next, Double Vision screens in Japan on October 25, 2002 at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival, with a wide release in Taiwan on October 25, 2002. On November 7, 2002 Double Vision opens in Australia.

Thanks, Yoshiko! (10/16)

In its' Freshman Results in Primetime section of Media Week's 10/15 Programming Insider column, MW sums up Hack as follows:

HACK -- CBS/Friday 9 p.m.

Households: 7.5/13 (#2), Viewers: 11.22 million (#2), A18-49: 3.1/10 (#2)

Grade: B+

Although it was a given that the network's CSI: Miami and Without a Trace would score, consider the early success of Hack a real bonus for the growing Eye net. Compared to former time period occupant That's Life on the year-ago night (Nov. 12, 2001), Hack is up by 63 percent in households, 4.45 million viewers and 41 percent among adults 18-49. Full season pick-up, where are you? (10/15)

The Slaughter Rule will be showing at the AFIFEST 2002 in Los Angeles, CA from November 7-17. Slaughter will be showing Sat Nov 9, 1:30pm at ArcLight Theatre 11 and Sun Nov 10, 9:15pm at ArcLight Theatre 10.

And rumor has it that shortly after the festival, the film will be distributed theatrically! Thanks, Brenda! (10/15)

Mediaweek.com is reporting these final ratings for Hack for Friday, October 11, 2002:

"In surprisingly good news for CBS, Hack looks like a keeper with a competitive 8.6/14 at 9 p.m. -- 26 percent above its 48 Hours Investigates lead-in (#2: 6.8/12), equal to its week-ago delivery and 54 percent ahead of former time period occupant That's Life (5.6/9) on Oct. 12, 2001. Although lead-out Robbery Homicide Division picked up some steam with a 5.9/10 (5 percent above the prior Friday's 5.6/9), the new crime drama still ranked third at 10 p.m., 12 percent below ABC's second-place 20/20 (6.7/10). " (10/14)

After totally deriding Hack in their September 27, 2002 issue, Entertainment Weekly featured Hack in their summary of the Nielsen ratings in their October 18, 2002 issue, with the headline, Big 'Hack' Attack.

Well, how could they argue the point. For the series that almost every critic had written off, including EW, before it even premiered, it had done rather well.

Although, they apparently couldn't resist getting their digs in with this blurb in their "What to Watch" section in that same issue:

HACK (CBS, TV-PG-LV)

Olshansky gets pinched for assault, but truth be told, the only reason we're writing this show up is because we just like saying the word hack. Go ahead, try it. You'll feel good. (10/12)

The fast national ratings are in for Friday, October 11 and this week Hack came in second:

"At 9 p.m., NBC pulled another win with Dateline NBC, 8.2/15, beating CBS' freshman drama Hack, 7.5/13. Baseball on FOX managed to beat ABC's substitute for the freshly cancelled That Was Then -- another episode of AFHV, 4.9/9. "

Still a respectable showing. And these are only the fast nationals. The final ratings should be in Monday. Let's see where it ends up, then. (10/12)

Happy Birthday to David Morse, who turns 49, October 11, 2002. (10/11)

This Reuters story reports that ABC has already cancelled one of Hack's competitors at 9:00 PM Friday, That Was Then after only two episodes. It will be replaced October 11 and for the next two weeks with additional episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos.

Starting November 8, Hack's ABC competitor will be two comedies, The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line is it, Anyway. Interesting. We'll have to see how these line-up changes affect the ratings landscape. (10/11)

Hack Central has been updated with the complete Hack episode listings for Episode 4, My Alibi that airs on October 18 and Episode 5, Bad Choices that airs on October 25. (10/10)

This Hack review which gives the show a fair shake. (10/10)

The DMFC has found the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital web site that features some great behind-the-scenes photos from the shooting of Hack's 2nd episode, Favors. (10/10)

In the Freshman Report card section of their 10/9 Programming Insider column, Mediaweek.com summarizes Hack's ratings as follows:

Hack: CBS/Friday 9 p.m. (#29: 12.46 million; A18-49: #44, 3.4/10): B+

And in the New Series Scorecard section of their 10/8 Programming Insider column, they list Hack in their "A Shoo-In For a Full-Season Pick-Up" section. (10/9)

In its' October 7, 2002 The Programming Insider, Mediaweek.com checks in with these updated ratings for Friday's episode of Hack:

"At 9 p.m., new CBS crime drama Hack posted its second consecutive time-period win with an 8.6/14 -- 26 percent above NBC's competing Dateline (#2: 6.8/10) with retention of 91 percent from its week-ago series opener (9.5/16 on Sept. 27, 2002). If Hack holds up, consider this the biggest positive surprise of the new season." (10/7)

Actor Jonah Wanicur was featured in Hack's second Episode Favors playing Skinhead #2 (shown in the center of the photo at left, one of the two guys in the garage where Marcellus and Olshanksy find Olshansky's stolen cab). He has this to say about that experience:

"I recently worked with David Morse on Hack and I must say he is one of the nicest guys that I have met in the business - so is Andre Braugher. I was definitely very lucky to work with both of those actors. 

"Besides their tremendous talent, I couldn't have asked for a more down-to-earth pair of actors to guide me through this new, somewhat nerve-wracking, but incredible experience.  They made both Derik Frymire (Skinhead #1) and I feel very comfortable while shooting the scene."

Click here or on the photo for a larger image.

Thanks, Jonah! (10/6)

Friday nights Nielsen ratings are in based on fast national data:

Fast Affiliate Ratings for Friday, Oct. 4, 2002

"The new CBS drama Hack continues to thrive at 9 p.m., winning the hour with 8.1/14. Dateline NBC was in second with 6.8/12 as FOX's John Doe took third, 4.8/8. That Was Then still hasn't found an audience on ABC, trailing at 2.8/5."

A very strong showing for Hack, losing very few viewers from it's September 27th debut. (10/5)

Hack - Episode 2, Favors.

Wow, what a great follow-up to the pilot! Without having to take the time to establish, everything, this episode cut right to the chase. And it did it well. Very well.

A great sophomore offering. Now, just waiting for the ratings .. (10/4)

Bruce Paltrow, formerly executive producer and director for St. Elsewhere died Wednesday in Rome at the age of 58.

That's really sad news, our hearts certainly go out to his family, friends and colleagues. He will be missed. (10/3)

Detailed Hack episode listings are now available for the Hack Pilot, which aired on September 27, the second episode Favors, which airs on October 4, and the third episode Domestic Disturbance, which airs on October 11. (10/2)

Here are two stories from the Orlando Sentinel. This one from December, 1998 was published when David was fliming The Green Mile. The second story was published in October 2000 when Dancer in the Dark was released theatrically. Thanks Laura! (10/2)

Mediaweek.com has this to say about Hack in their October 1 Programming Insider column:

Freshman Results in Primetime

Grading the Friday Entries

Wondering how the prime-time freshman class fared this past Friday? Take a look:

HACK -- CBS/Friday 9 p.m.

Households: 8.4/15 (#1), Viewers: 12.89 million (#1), A18-49: 3.3/11 (#1T)

First Episode Grade: A

If Hack can hold about 80 percent of this initial tune-in, consider the show a keeper (and, obviously, a potential sleeper). (10/2)

Here are three more stories from the late '80s.

This one from The Ottowa Citizen was published in November 1989 when David was filming Desperate Hours. This one from the St. Louis Times-Dispatch was published in December, 1989 at the time of the first airing of Brotherhood of the Rose. And finally this one from the St. Petersburg Times in January, 1988 was published as St. Elsewhere was winding down.

Thanks, Laura! (10/2)

A mention in this Philadelphia Inquirer story by Gail Shister, Hack Rules, gives a nice write-up of Hack's Friday night ratings win. (10/2)

Mediaweek.com is reporting these ratings for Hack on Friday night, with the show now placing first in the Friday, 9:00 PM time period:

"On a positive note for CBS was the series premiere of Hack with a first-place 9.5/16 at 9 p.m. -- 86 percent ahead of lead-in 48 Hours Investigates (season premiere: #3, 5.1/9) and 83 percent above the year-ago season premiere of former time period occupant That's Life (5.2/9 on Sept. 28, 2001). Based on fast nationals, Hack ranked second in the hour among adults 18-49 (3.3/11), 74 percent ahead of lead-in 48 Hours Investigates (#4: 1.9/7) but 15 percent below NBC's competing Dateline (#1: 3.9/12)." (10/2)

This story NBC, 'SVU' Win Friday; CBS' 'Hack' Starts Strong give the fast National ratings for Friday, Sept. 27, 2002, which says about Hack:

"Dateline kept its lead at 9 p.m. with an 8.4/15. Close behind was CBS' Hack, which premiered to an impressive 8.2/15. FOX's John Doe, 4.4/8, dropped off some in its second week, and few people ventured back to the '80s with ABC's That Was Then, which averaged a meager 3.0/5 in its debut...

Ratings information is taken from fast national data. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change." (10/2)