NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Viewers found relief from grimness with TV’s fun-and-games

NEW YORK

The news was awful again last week, but viewers found some refuge in TV’s fun-and-games.

In the Nielsen Top 20, no fewer than 11 programs were reality-competition and game shows (including the week’s most-watched series, two editions of “America’s Got Talent”).

Boosted by “America’s Got Talent,” NBC led the networks overall with a prime-time average of 4.9 million viewers. Runner-up ABC had 4.7 million, while CBS had 4.4 million. Fox, with 3.3 million, got a much-needed shot in the arm with its All-Star Game telecast (which drew 8.71 million viewers).

For the week of July 11-17, the top shows, their networks and viewerships: “America’s Got Talent” (Wednesday), NBC, 11.85 million; “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 11.54 million; MLB All-Star Game, Fox, 8.71 million; “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.17 million; “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 7.77 million.

Garry Marshall, writer, director dies at 81

LOS ANGELES

Writer-director Garry Marshall, whose TV hits included “Happy Days” “Laverne & Shirley” and box-office successes included “Pretty Woman” and “Runaway Bride,” has died. He was 81.

Publicist Michelle Bega said Marshall died Tuesday in at a hospital in Burbank, Calif., of complications from pneumonia after having a stroke.

Marshall also had an on-screen presence, using his New York accent and gruff delivery in colorful supporting roles in movies that included “Lost in America” and “Soapdish.”

Marshall was the brother of actress-director Penny Marshall.

He began his entertainment career in the 1960s selling jokes to comedians, then moved to writing sketches for “The Tonight Show” with Jack Paar in New York.

Associated Press