Nov 27: Butler Boozer in Rehab: Witchblade and Mann & Machine star Yancy Butler has been sent BACK to rehab for her severe drinking problem after being busted for disorderly intoxication in Florida on November 22nd. If you would like to write some helpful words she is staying over at The Renaissance Institute of Boca Raton, Florida. 

Nov 27: Goonies II: Richard Donner told the Moviehole.net website that he definitely wants to make Goonies II, but Warner Bros. is being ridiculous about it. If scheduling doesn't work so that he can direct he will certainly produce with Spielberg. 

Nov 27: X-Men 3: Producer Lauren Shuler Donner, wife of director Richard Donner, is set to do the X-Men 3 feature if Fox would get off their ass and greenlight the project. She tells IGN Filmforce that The Beast will be part of the third X-Men film along with the an expensive shoot in the X-Men training center that has been deleted from the first two films. 

Nov 27: Pitt Injured: Brad Pitt has torn his Achilles tendon during the production of his epic sword feature Troy. He is now hobbled on crutches. The injury can take more than a year to fully recover from. 

Nov 27: Another CSI: For some stupid ass reason, CBS seems determined to make is current running hits CSI and CSI: Miami into common TV.  CBS is considering a third CSI spin-off series. Four big cities are being considered for the series location. CSI Miami is filmed in Florida while CSI is filmed almost entirely in LA with some elements filming in Las Vegas so than can act like it's a Vegas series. Their doing the same crap with the series Las Vegas, which is NOT filmed there either. 

Nov 27: Alien Quadrilogy: Don't forget this great box set is coming. Extended versions of all four features. A MUST have. The new individual boxes look outstanding. You can view these over at the DigitalBits.com website. Take a few minutes and check out the images and read their review on each disc in the set. 

Nov 25: Batman: All the talk has been about who will play Batman. With that settled a while ago the Dark Horizons website has learned that the part of Alfred will be played by Michael Caine. Who's to be the villain? It just might be Daniel Day-Lewis as the evil Ra's Al-Ghul. Right now Lewis is being reported as merely rumor at this point. 

Nov 25: Kutcher Not Good: Looks like Kutcher's leaving of Elizabethtown was not just a conflict of scheduling. Apparently Kutcher's reading of the script for director Cameron Crowe was so bad the actor wasn't wanted.  Of course these reports were denied. But like I said a while back this guy has played the same 70's Show character in every movie he's done. He is not a very good actor.  Ashton Kutcher is however in the running with Ethan Hawk to play KEN in his girlfriends (Demi Moore) production companies making of a live action "BARBIE" feature. Imagine that... 

Nov 25: Crocodile Dundee: After the first two decent flicks was the dismal third film. With nothing else going on in his acting career, Paul Hogan really wants to do a fourth Crocodile Dundee film to make up for the horrible Dundee 3.  (AICN)

Nov 25: Scarface: The USA Network (still for sale) is planning a Scarface mini-series based on the crime drama. 

Nov 22: Enterprise: Wednesday's episode of Enterprise earned the series highest audience this season with 4.6 million viewers. (from UPN)

Nov 22: MONK on ABC: The second season of USA Networks Monk is coming to ABC just as the first season did. ABC announced today that it has picked up the broadcast rights for the second season. Beginning January 17th Monk will take on the vacated spot left by LA Dragnet. 

Nov 22: Monk Season 3: USA will begin airing new episodes of Monk - it's third season beginning January 16th, 2004 at 10pm. 

Nov 22: Star Wars Updates: Yes there will be some changes and updates to the original trilogy, but NOT to the extent you have read on others sites that detail what will be updated in each film. There will be some updates though, you can believe and expect that. The changes will likely not be part of the first set to be released. Likely this will be in a special edition set. Remember how many Laserdisc sets Lucas released before lasers stopped printing? 

Nov 22: Jeremiah Done?: This could be  a good sign that no matter what, there will be no third season of Jeremiah on Showtime. Luke Perry's co-star Malcolm-Jamal Warner has signed on to return to the sitcom scene opposite Jason Alexander in a new comedy pilot for a CBS pilot. Warner will play the co-host of a sports talk show in the pilot. 

Nov 22: Cat In The Toilet: Might want to stay the hell away from the kitty cat. Critics and Industry folk absolutely dislike this picture calling it, "Charmless", "Pointless", and "Witless".  Humorless monstrosity was my favorite description.  What's worse... this piece of shit will cost viewers $7.50 to $10.oo and the film is only 63 minutes long, but cost Universal $90 million. 

Nov 22: Batman vs Scarecrow: Director Cristopher Nolan is planning to use the Scarecrow as Batman's villain in the new film. He will introduce Scarecrow early in the film to allow him to introduce his new Batman character (Christian Bale). 

Nov 22: Star Trek: Voyager: Fans of the Star Trek franchise can expect this series first season in its DVD boxed set on February 24th. 

Nov 22: Magnum P.I. - Clooney?:  While Tom Selleck made the Thomas Magnum classic television, George Clooney will get the gig for the big screen feature film. George Clooney has pretty much bombed with every big screen appearance since leaving television's E.R. (moviehole.net)

Nov 21: Joined at the Effects: Motion Analysis Studios ( A motion capture facility) has joined forces with Nexus Digital Studios (a 3D scanning studio). The two special effects companies have worked together for the last ten years on feature films, television and commercials and game projects. The new company has moved into a 20,000 sqft facility that now contains state of the art Cyberware Equipment and Motion Analysis Gear plus room for their new Research and Development Center. (VFXPro.com)

Nov 21: Star Wars Changes: Over at the Digital Bits website they have a rumor that George Lucas is doing some more changes to the first Star Wars trilogy. What can fans expect? An aged Hayden Christiansen when Luke pulls the helmet off of Vader. New special effects - revised and updated shots and scenes. Even a revised lightsaber duel between Darth Vader and Kenobi. The trilogy looks to be full of new material. The changes are to ensure the six films will mesh together better. 

Nov 21: Stargate: Atlantis: The Sci-Fi Channel is bringing the Stargate spin-off series into production. They are planning to air the weekly series during the summer of 2004. Atlantis will air with the 8th season of SG-1. It will air as a two-hour movie event. Fans can expect cross-overs with the SG-1 cast.  Stargate Atlantis will center on a secret Earth base left by the originators of the Stargate, buried among the ruins of the legendary city of Atlantis. A new team of explorers will travel to a distant galaxy, where a primitive human civilization is threatened by a sinister new enemy. 

Nov 21: SeaQuest Co-Star Dead:  27 year old Jonathan Brandis, who played Lucas on SeaQuest, was found dead in his Los Angeles apartment on November 19th. The young actor had been considered for Anakin Skywalker in Episodes II and III. The cause... possible suicide. 

Nov 21: Fly Girls: UPN has a new genre style series going into development from Lion's Gate and Mandalay Television. Pretty Woman scribe J.F. Lawton will write and executive producer of the series along with Peter Gruber and Elizabeth Stephen. Fly Girls focuses on the star of a sci-fi series who somehow becomes endowed with real super powers. This could be the female version of Greatest American Hero. 

Nov 21: Enterprise: Wednesday's broadcast of Enterprise was outstanding. These are the types of stories that were to be the bases of the series. Odyssey 5 (excellent series) creator Manny Coto wrote Wednesday's episode titled Similitude.  Enterprise and Jake 2.0 should move to Thursdays and move Smackdown to Wednesday and them battle with Angel and Smallville. 

Nov 20: The Dead Zone: Season three of The Dead Zone will begin production in December 2003. 

Nov 20: Terminator 4 a Go: C2 Pictures has greenlit the fourth Terminator film without the Schwartzenegger. The story or who will star has yet to be released. 

Nov 20: Family Guy Comeback: In the USA Today, today. With the huge success of the Family Guy's release on DVD and record numbers on the Cartoon Network the Ex-Fox animated series has 20th Century Fox thinking about putting it back into production for 35 new episodes. The majority of these could be ready for the 2005 season. If it happens this would be the first time that a show has been revived based on it back-end performance in home video and syndication. 

Nov 20: Farscape Return: Things look true for the reported four-hour mini-series of Farscape to tie up all the stories. The Sci-Fi Channel and/or Jim Henson Studios has yet to officially announce anything. Production looks set to begin sometime next month.  Why the hell haven't they considered doing the series (any series) in two-hour telefilms. You could do 11 telefilms a year, equal to 22 episodes. It is possible the mini-series could appear in syndication, a different channel or even be a direct to video production. 

Nov 20: Fearless Dropped: Anyone expecting to see Fearless as a mid-season replacement on the WB is going to be disappointed. The network has dropped the series from any 2003 consideration, but will consider the show for possibly 2004. It's chances are likely slim to none. 

Nov 16: Captain America: Now it's starting. The rumors that is. Brad Pitt has expressed interest, and Marvel's Avi Arad wants to see Tom Cruise in the role. Superhero Hype has reports that Val Kilmer (Batman Forever) has moved into the mix and may be the frontrunner. Kilmer does have a reputation of being very hard to work with. Val Kilmer most recently has done Alexander and Wonderland. Has played in The Saint, Red Planet, Top Gun, Real Genius (awesome comedy/drama) Top Secret, Salton Sea, Heat, Ghost & the Darkness, the Doors and many others. 

Nov 16: Sisco Drops Her Badge: ABC has had enough and yanked Karen Sisco from the Wednesday night time slot. Production will continue on what remains of its 13 episodes commitment. Sisco will get another chance to gain an audience with an ABC relaunch in March of 2004. (futon critic) Rather than give up on the series, which ABC likes, they will relaunch Karen Sisco in a new time period. 

Nov 16: Superdud: I don't think any fan, comic or otherwise, is hot for another Superman fick. Warner Bros. however is. After all the posturing an indecision from the project is appears that Henry Cavill got the nod over Brendan Fraser. Cavill is a solid choice for the role. He was awesome in the Count of Monte Cristo.  (moviehole.net)

Nov 14: Joan Scoring: While Joan of Arcadia isn't kicking ass in the ratings, the series is earning some excellent ratings with a 7.2. That's better than many quality shows that ran for several years like The Pretender (6.7) and Profiler (6.2) that eventually got canned along with The Others (6.2) on NBC Saturday nights to make room for the XFL. Joan is the reining genre chap this season so far. A distant second would be Alias with 5.9 and Smallville with 3.9. 

Nov 14: Iron Man: The marvel adaptation of Iron Man to the big screen is really dragging along, even after all the legal crap has been settled. The film is still in the scripting phase. Smallville creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough are creating the script. 

Nov 14: Spawn: With the success of Namco's new Spawn: Armageddon video game, creator Todd McFarlane has indicated a new Spawn feature film will be produced towards the end of 2004. McFarlane's script for the sequel has been completed for almost two years now.

Nov 14: Tarzan: As reported earlier Tarzan got it's walking papers by the WB. Ratings for the series are 2.6. What is amazing about the ratings is the WB use to be happy when Angel and Buffy were garnering such ratings. The series has been axed, but on UPN Enterprise is earning ratings in the 2.2 area and Jake 2.0 even worse at 1.6. UPN should pick up Tarzan - it would be one of their better rated series. 

Nov 14: Chucky Turns 5: The forever talked about fifth Chucky film looks to be a go. Creator Don Mancini is writing the script as well as taking the helm for Focus Features. The film is already pegged for a Halloween 2004 release. Filming will take place Romania at their "Cold Mountain" soundstages beginning in March. Focus Features is a subsidiary of Universal Studios. (darkhorizons.com) 

Nov 14: Highlander Again: Despite consecutive box office flops Dimension Films is going  to create another Highlander feature film. According to reports on Moviehole.net Dimension has hired scribe Joel Soisson to pen the first draft. It is expected that he will also pen the final draft and direct the film. Dimension believes he brings a new aspect and takes things in a new direction.   You can change and do whatever you wish to improve the franchise, but after so many failures, no one is going to return to the theaters and pay for what might be an exciting film. They beat the hell out of this franchise writing shit story after shit story.

Nov 14: 5 Days Trouble: The Sci-Fi Channel was so excited when they announced director Michael Caton-Jones to helm their 5 Days to Midnight mini-series. Now the director, at the last minute, has pulled himself from the project due to family problems that restrict him from leaving New York at this time. The network hopes to have a new director in place very soon. The project begins lensing next month. 

Nov 14: Matrix: Revolutions may be struggling in the United States to pull in an audience for the final film. That problem does not exist internationally however as Matrix: Revolutions has passed the five day record held by Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Matrix 3 has earned a mere $202.8 million after its first five days compared to Two Towers micro total of $201.9 million. This is the first time Warner Bros. has distributed this broadly. Hey, it's all good!

Nov 14: Return of the King: Fans will be disappointed to learn that the seven minute battle between wizards Gandolf and Saruman did NOT make it onto the theatrical release. Christopher Lee, who plays Saruman, told the UK's "This Morning" that he was shocked it was cut from the film. Yes, fans have started an online petition, which doesn't do anything anymore, to have the footage restored. Relax... it will be on the DVD extended version. 

Nov 13: MI3: Tom Cruise is finally ready to step into the role of super spy one more time. Mission Impossible III is set to go into production in January of 2004. Starring with Tom Cruise will once again be Ving Rhames along with Kelly Brook and Mark Blucas. 

Nov 13: ABC Gets Apocalyptic: ABC is partnering up with writer David Seltzer to create a six to eight hour mini-series based on the Apocalypse as foretold in the Book of Revelations. (Variety)

Nov 13: Goonies 2: Steven Spielberg and Richard Donner have purchased the sequel script and are pushing to get the film made. Donner is working on the time line. 

Nov 13: Farscape Returns to TV: Not a feature and not a TV movie. What we are hearing now, courtesy of the Dark Horizons website is that fans will get from 4 to 6 new episodes to wrap up the series. Reportedly the episodes will include ALL of the original cast and producers. The props are being dusted off and reassembled for action. The... mini-season will complete the story arc and bring closure to the series and the fans.  Where in the hell is the announcement by the Sci-Suk Channel? You would think they would be warming fans to the return as they have with the Battlestar Galactica mini-series. 

Nov 13: Ghost Rider: Fans can expect to see production on the new Ghost Rider film begin around September 2004. No official word has been released on an actual release date.  The feature is set to star Nicolas Cage and Jon Voight. 

Nov 12: Farscape: The Movie: Rumors persist that there will be a Farscape movie. Rumors were that it would be either a feature film or four hour mini-series. The latest hinting came at the United Fancon over the weekend when Michael Shanks of Stargate SG-1 told fans that he had bumped into Ben Browder in the lobby of the Sci-Fi Channel's offices. Browder told him that they were doing a Farscape movie. 

Nov 12: Wolverine: Producer Luaren Shuler Donner, who's producing the third X-Men film, told the Sydney Morning Herald that she is also planning a fourth film which will center on Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Both films will be developed at the same time but X-Men 3 will be done first. At least right now, that is the plan.

Nov 12: Talisman: Director Vadim Perelman has been asked to helm the feature film version of the Stephen King/ Peter Straub best seller "The Talisman" by Dreamworks boss Stephen Spielberg. 

Nov 12: Galactica, the Series: Should the Battlestar Galactica mini-series become a weekly series most of the actors are already under contract to reprise their roles. Look for the mini-series on Dec. 8th. Get them VCR's and DVD's recorders warmed and ready. The bigger question is just how much backing could a series expect from the Sci-Fi Channel? History shows them to be a bad investment on series. Remember Farscape, Inivisible Man, The Chronicle, blah, blah, blah, blah... No loyalty.

Nov 12: Dark Shadows: The classic ABC series Dark Shadows might be getting a revamp chance on the WB. The network has ordered a pilot for a new vampire soap opera. The co-executive producer of Smallville, Mark Verheiden, will write the script. 

Nov 12: Playmakers To Be Canned: Here another shit situation. ESPN's new series Playmakers has been a huge success for the sports channel. Great right? Nope... the NFL isn't happy with the series and how it portrays football athletes. The NFL is pressuring ESPN to cancel the series or face possible contract problems with the sports franchise. ESPN is not going to risk its $1.8 billion deal with the NFL. 

Nov 12: Expanded Two Towers: The 4 disc set will include the expanded version which totals a whopping 236 minutes (3hrs, 54min) and tons of extra material for a gander or two.  These features have got to be the highest quality trilogy ever done. Hard to fathom at times that all three films were films at the same time. Incredible. 

Nov 12: Ep. IV, V, VI: Look for the Star Wars episodes 4, 5 and 6 on DVD in September of 2004. The special editions that is, will include additional footage that Lucas has shot over the past three films to create a better tie in from Episode III to Episode IV. I'm surprised that Lucas hasn't gone back and reshot many of the special effects in the special editions. 

Nov 10: Peacemakers: The USA Network has axed it's western CSI style series Peacemakers. The series jumped to a hot start with a 5.4 ratings but faded quickly in the cable ratings until USA just gave up on the series. 

Nov 10: Tarzan Lost in the Numbers Jungle: The WB hasn't officially announced it yet, but the production office have been notified that the series is canceled. Also getting the axe is ABC's LA Dragnet. 

Nov 10: Matrix 3: The third and final Matrix: Revolutions had a disappointing weekend taking in just $50.1 million. A number that would make any other movie jump for joy. However, the second Matrix film opened to $91.8 million its opening weekend. The film however did earn $204.1 million world wide over the weekend making Warner Bros. very happy. 

Nov 10: 5 Days to Midnight: The Scifi Channel has greenlit another mini-series in 5 Days to Midnight from feature director Michael Canton-Jones. Production on the thriller is set to begin next month in Canada. Canton-Jones recently directed "The Boys Life", "Rob Roy", "City By The Seas", and "Scandal". The original script was written by Robert Zappia (Halloween H2O) and then adapted for television by David Aaron Cohen and Cindy Myers. The mini will run in one hour installments over five consecutive nights. The premiere is set for the spring. 

Nov 6: Jake 2.0: UPN has picked up the ratings challenged Jake 2.0 for a full season. 

Nov 6: Tarzan Doomed: The trade paper is reporting that the cancellation of the WB's Tarzan is imminent. The ratings for the series have been poor. I must be one of the only viewers watching the show. 

Nov 6: Revolutions: The third and final Matrix film opened around the world to sold out theaters. Despite mixed reviews, the film should do well at the box office over the next few weeks. 

Nov 6: Carpenter Gets Remade: As if John Carpenters flicks were good enough the first time, some of his films look to be getting the remake treatment too. Word floating around is that Michael Bay may be getting ready to take on a remake of John Carpenter's Halloween while Carpenter himself is considering a remake of his own film "The Fog". 

Nov 6: Shrinking Man a Go: How fucked up is it when a horror classic like the Incredible Shrinking Man get a comedy make-over with Eddie Murphy in the lead. First the serious Starsky & Hutch becomes a stupid comedy vehicle for the horrible acting Ben Stiller and now Eddie Murphy and crew will bring comedy to a shrinking man. This stuff is screwed up. 

Nov 6: Kutcher's Full of Shit: The 70's Show star actor Ashton Kutcher has his name mixed with nearly every big role floating around Hollywood, but continues to choose roles that are the same character he plays on his television show. He's now backed out of the Cameron Crowe film Elizabethtown, stating conflict of scheduling problems. He had at one time been mentioned for the role of Batman and Superman. Luckily he hasn't landed any roles like that. The actor is smart though throwing his name at every big role that comes along. He does nothing but keeps his name floating from everyones lips. 

Nov 6: Karen Sisco: ABC's Karen Sisco is the only ABC not picked up for a full season and the rating show why. The series has a dismal 5.7 rating and 38% of its lead-in audience moves to another channel at 10pm. The writing on the series is pretty lame and the stories very easy on the mind, if you know what I mean. The characters however have potential.  Damn, I watch this one too. I must be a sucker for crappy television... I watch CSI, CSI Miami, Jeremiah, Tarzan, Carnivale, Enterprise, Jake 2.0, Karen Sisco, Navy NCIS and sometimes Threat Matrix. 

Nov 6: Jeremiah Cut Short: After waiting so long for the second season to finally air, Showtime will stop airing new episodes after this seasons seventh episode. The reason is unknown and Showtime has given no timeline for the remaining  8 season 2 to resume, or if it will. Production problems are not the culprit however since all 15 episodes are in the can and ready to go. If you want to let Showtime and MGM know how you feel then simply CLICK HERE and visit a website with all the phone numbers, email and snail mail addresses you need to be heard.

Nov 6: X-Men 3: The actors, with the exception of Halle Berry (she wasn't very good as Storm anyways), are ready to return for a third X-Men feature. Fox and Marvel are planning to do a third film as well. But no one is willing to step up and get things rolling. Rumors are that Fox may be looking at a Wolverine feature rather than a third X-Men film. 

Nov 6: Flash Gordon: Comic 2 Film has a more secure hold on a rumor that Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Deep Rising) will be taking on a Flash Gordon feature once he wraps post-production on his current film Van Helsing which stars X-Men's Wolverine, Hugh Jackman. 

Nov 6: Sony Trouble: Sony Pictures seems to be in some serious financial trouble as they continue to lay off workers as an expected earning decline. What do these guys spend their money on? Spiderman alone grossed Sony over $1 billion dollars world-wide. There is no way that any production costs were near that much money. Someone somewhere is getting a huge kickback, but no one ever investigates that. No one cares when workers get laid off. 

Nov 6: Cat in the Hat: Stan Winston Studios digital division "SW Digital" recently delivered 52 shots for the Cat in the Hat feature. Shots ranged from 3D character animation to a comprehensive collection of composites. SW Digital is also working on shots for the upcoming features "The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam" and "Because of Winn Dixie". 

Nov 6: Marvel Projects: The Dark Horizons website has a huge update on the Marvel Projects that are currently in hot development. Captain America is actively searching through the top script writers and directors. It has a 2005 release date. Hulk 2 is slated for a 2006 release. Fantastic Four is getting the hot and heavy with Marvel and Fox to move forward. X-Men 3 is in development but there is no release date or time schedule for the project. Electra will be released before Daredevil 2. 

Nov 5: Artisan: The studio does not have the 15 Marvel properties that everyone believed. Everything with Artisan hinges on The Punisher project being successful. If it is, Marvel could release other projects to Artisan for development. Punisher is slated for a budget for just $35 to $40 million. 

Nov 5: The Howling: The classic 1981 Joe Dante werewolf flick is getting a remake - just like so many other features and television series. (creature corner)

Nov 5: xXx 2: Samuel L. Jackson is back on board for the sequel, which is set to star Ice Cube. 

Nov 5: UPN Sweeps Scifi Under Rug: UPN has plans for the November Sweeps on all their comedies, but there are NO plans for special guests or stories on Enterprise or Jake 2.0. 

Nov 3: Superman V: Brendan Frasier of the Mummy features says he is still in the running for the lead in the upcoming Superman feature. He's read the script and is interested in the role, despite the possible problem of being locked into a character. 

Nov 3: Flash Gordon: The Dark Horizons website reports a rumor that after wrapping up Van Helsing, starring Hugh Jackman, director Stephen Summer might be looking at a possible Flash Gordon film. 

Nov 3: V for Villain: Matrix brothers, the Wachowski's, drafted a script for the movie based on Alan Moore's classic novel "V for Vendetta" for producer Joel Silver several years ago. The Wachowski's are interested in producing with Silver while someone else takes the helm. 

Nov 3: Resident Evil - It's a Wrap:  Principal photography on Resident Evil: Apocalypse has wrapped. The film is slated for a September  2004 release. 

Nov 3: Strange Detective: With Adventure Inc. closed down,  there is room for another series. Tribune Entertainment is teaming up with Daniel Baldwin for the supernatural cop series "The Strange Detective". The project was original developed for syndication but Tribune is shopping the project for possible cable distribution. The series centers on a San Francisco detective who survives a plunge off the Golden Gate bridge, but begins to experience "rips in time," with visions of events that have occurred in the places he visits. 

Nov 3: Namor: The Submariner project has rumors that The Rock may be up for the lead role of Prince Namor in the Marvel based feature. Actor Mark Dacascos (Crying Freeman, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven series) would be a much better choice for the lead role. Better actor, and has the look of the character. 

Nov 3: Alien Quadrilogy: The nine disc box-set is still slated for a December 2nd release. This is a must have for any video collector. Over 45 minutes of total restored footage between the four films. Gotta have it, gotta have it, gotta, gotta, gotta. Reports are that this new incredible set ranks up there with the Lord of the Rings: Extended Editions - the best DVD releases to date. Over one year was spent by DVD Producer Charles de Lauzirika and his production team putting all the material together. There is over 44 hours of material on the nine disc set. 

Nov 3: Threat Matrix Lives: The struggling new series "Threat Matrix" on ABC will at least get a full season to find an audience. ABC reported that the show is very competitive in its time slot and is growing creatively. The series has improved by about 3% through it first several episodes.