‘Ride Along’ cruises. Super Bowl ads. R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman.

After the coffee. Before seeing how many watched the Super Bowl.

The Skinny: Man that was one ugly game. I’m going to guess that this year’s audience will be smaller than last year’s, which was just over 108 million people. How about that episode of Ford Fusion that followed the Super Bowl? That’s a crack at Fox’s “New Girl� for the blatant product placement in Sunday night’s episode. Monday’s headlines include the weekend box office recap, a look at Super Bowl ads and the sad death of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Daily Dose: It was a tough night for Time Warner Cable. It spent big bucks on an ad that ran in the Super Bowl featuring Sean Combs and the casts of several hit shows including “Duck Dynasty� but its Los Angeles system had technical difficulties and lost coverage of the game on the standard definition carrying the game for about an hour. Most people were watching in high definition, which was fine but there were still some pretty angry viewers out there.

Still cruising. You may recall last Friday that the box office projectionists quoted in the stories I linked to thought “That Awkward Moment� would finish first. You may also recall that I said that “Ride Along� would stay in first place. Guess who was right? Me! “Ride Along� took in $12.3 million, more than enough to stay on top. Coming in second was “Frozen� with $9.3 million while “That Awkward Moment� had an awkward $9 million and finished in third. Box office recaps from the Los Angeles Times and Hollywood Reporter.

GRAPHIC: Super Bowl history: A timeline of the NFL’s championship game

What was your favorite ad? With the Super Bowl pretty much over at halftime, it was up to the commercials to entertain us. Did they do the job? Not in my opinion and I’m still in the crucial demographic for a little while longer. I guess the Radio Shack ad was cute but I’m a little tired of ‘80s nostalgia. Here are Super Bowl ad critiques from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Ad Age. Also, the Los Angeles Times looks at how that Budweiser puppy ad came together.

A new night. Jay Leno bids farewell to NBC’s “Tonight Show� this week and Jimmy Fallon will debut in a couple weeks after NBC wraps up its Winter Olympics coverage. That means it is time for a slew of articles on the end of one era and the start of another. Here’s the Los Angeles Times on Leno’s exit and what it means for Los Angeles. Also, New York Magazine talks with Fallon and executive producer Lorne Michaels.

Start your engines. Cable mogul John Malone’s Liberty Global is working on a deal to acquire a 49% stake in Formula One, according to the New York Post. Also involved in the bid, according to the article, is Discovery Communications, which has been spending heavily on sports programming assets overseas.

R.I.P. Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, was found dead Sunday in a West Village apartment and all signs point to a drug overdose. His memorable movies are too many to mention here but my short list would include “Boogie Nights,� “Capote,� “Charlie Wilson’s War� and “Before the Devil Knows Your Dead.� Sadly, every addict thinks they have one more high in them. What they don’t always have is one more recovery. Obituaries and appreciations from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Variety.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Mary McNamara on that Super Bowl “Seinfeld� reunion. A review of the Bruno Mars/Red Hot Chili Peppers halftime show.
Follow me on Twitter. I stand above the crowd. @JBFlint.