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    Outstanding Art Direction For a Single Camera Series (The West Wing- pilot); Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series (Freaks & Geeks); Oustanding Casting for a Drama Series (The West Wing), Outstanding Cinemetography for a Single Camera Series (The West Wing); Outstanding Hair Styling for a Series (!) (Saturday Night Live); Outstanding Costumes for a Series (Providence- Syd in Wonderland); Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Series (ER- All In The Family); Outstanding Multi- Camera Picture Editing for a Series (Frasier- Something Borrowed, Something Blue); Outstanding Main Title Design (The 10th Kingdom); Outstanding Main Title Music (The West Wing); Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
(Bruce Willis- Friends); Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (Jean Smart- Frasier); and finally for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series (Third Watch- Welcome To Camelot)

    HBO pounded out an equally impressive track, with 10 wins in: Outstanding Art Direction for a Movie (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge); Outstanding Casting for a Movie (RKO 281);
Outstanding Cinemetography for a Movie (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge); Outstanding Costumes for a Movie (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge); Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Special (Cher- Live in Concert); Outstanding Hairstyling for a Movie (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge); Outstanding Composition for a Movie (RKO 281); Outstanding Non-Fiction Special (Children at War); Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series (Cher- Live in Concert); Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Movie (RKO 281)

   ABC came a close second with 8 wins the following categories: Outstanding Choreography (Annie); Outstanding Cinemetography for a Multi-Camera Series (Spin City- Goodbye & Sports Night- Cut Man); Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Movie (Tuesday's With Morrie); Outstanding Make-up for a Movie (Arabian Nights); Outstanding Music Direction (Annie); Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (James Whitmore- The Practice); Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (Beah Richards- The Practice); Outstanding Technical Direction (Politically Incorrect).

    Fox, the perennially laughing stock, managed 6 wins, each for: Outstanding Multi Camera Picture Editing for a Special (A Supernatural Evening with Santana); Outstanding Make-Up for a Series
(The X-Files- Theef); Outstanding Animated Program (The Simpsons- Behind The Laughter);
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series (Ally McBeal- The Car Wash); Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series (The X-Files- First Person Shooter); Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series (The X-Files- First Person Shooter)

    The Discovery Channel raked up a surprizing 5 wins, for: Outstanding Non-Fiction Sound Editing (Walking With Dinosaurs); Outstanding Non-Fiction Cinemetography (Raising The Mammoth); Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Movie (Walking With Dinosaurs); Outstanding Animated Program (Walking With Dinosaurs); and Outstanding Children's Program (The Colour of Friendship).

   CBS fell behind the rest of the pack with just 4 wins, one each for: Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi Camera Series (Love & Money- Pilot); Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Art Program (42nd Annual Grammy Awards); Outstanding Lighting Direction (Fail Safe); Outstaning Technical Direction for a Movie (Fail Safe)

    PBS managed to get enough funding to win 3 emmys, for: Outstanding Picture Editiing (New York); Outstanding Non-Fiction Series (American Masters); and Outstanding Classical Music Dance Program (Dance in America).

    And finally (and thankfully), TNT & Nick won an emmy each for Outstanding Sound Editing in a Movie (The Hunley) and Outstanding Music & Lyrics (Nickellenium), respectively. (August 27)
 

Survivors popping up everywhere
    CBS is using it's superfluous "Survivor's" as a veritable gold mine, having them pop up on everything from The Late Show to The Early Show. But the latest shrewd moves comes on Whoppi Goldberg's "Hollywood Squares," where Rich, Sue, Jenna & Gervase will pop up during the last week of September. While Gervase, Jenna & Rich will likely tank on the tic-tac-show, Sue should have a ball. Well known for her unintentionally hilarious comments on Palau Tiga, she once said to Kelly: "I hate to turn around and see a knife being shoved into my back."
    Speaking of Kelly, in other survivor news, Ms. Runner-up will be the guest host on E!'s "Talk Soup" Monday night. Since the departure of former hosts John Henson & Hal Sparks, the show has used a myriad of guest hosts, most recently including Jennifer Love Hewitt & Ben Stein. (August 26)

"Mysterious Ways" extended
    In the no-brainer of the summer, NBC's surprise hit "Mysterious Ways" has had it's NBC run extended by at least one episode. The show has consistantly done well for NBC during it's summer run, premiering with 12.0 million viewers, then dipping to 7.9 by it's 3rd episode. Last week, however, it climbed back over the 10 million mark, greatly increasing it's chances for renewal on the peacock. The addition episode will air on September 11th, the last night of regular Monday programming before the Olympics. (August 26)

NBC dents ABC on Thursday
    Throwing "Will & Grace" up against "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" may not have been such a bad decision on NBC's part after all. Though "W&G" is by no means killing "Millionaire," it is putting a dent in it's numbers. On Thursday, "W&G" recorded a 10.5/23 versus Millionaire's 19.1/41. That represents NBC's closet margin in that slot since the regular season, and also "Millionaire's" lowest Thursday at 9 number since last August.On the night, the alphabet recorded a 12.6/30, it's lowest rating with regular fare since last fall when "Wasteland" tanked. (August 25)

"Survivor" records 51 million
    CBS knew it was going to hit big, but not this big. "Survivor," the omnipresent hit of the decade (so far) drew a 51.0/72 on Wednesday from 8-10pm, far surpassing the 40 million CBS estimated for the entire broadcast. In fact, the show didn't dip that low during it's entire run. It started at 43.5 million at 8 and grew steadily, reaching a fever pitch of almost 58 million viewers at 9:30, just in time for the final vote and Susan's bitterness. And for the first time. those not watching were actually in the minority. The show drew a 23.0/59 rating in adults 18-34; 22.4/54 in adults 18-49, and an equally massive 23.1/51 in the eye's core adults 25-54 audience. To put that in perspective, CBS hasn't had a higher rated broadcast of anything since the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding showdown at the
Lillehammer Olympics in 1994. The finale also ranked as the highest draw in a summer timeslot since the advent of Neilson's people metres in 1987. It's also the highest rated non-special network programming since the finale of Seinfeld two years ago.
    But the real winners appear to be the advertizers. CBS charged only $600 000 for a 30 second spot during the finale. That may seem like alot, but it represents real bang for the buck. Averaged out, an advertizer paid 1.12 cents for each viewer it advertized to, half as much as the amount paid for this year's Superbowl (2.27), which drew 88 millon viewers on ABC. For the two hour span, CBS brought in an astonishing 40 million in ad revenue, far surpassing the rest of the line-up combined on the week. That's not even including "Survivor: The Reunion," which aired at 10pm to the tune of 39.7 million viewers.
    Elsewhere on Wednesday, the only net not effected by all the "Survivor" mania seemed to be NBC. The net recorded an 11.1/13 at 10pm for "Law & Order," only slightly off it's summer average. The net share number is somewhat skewed due to the size of the "Survivor" audience. A special airing of "Law & Order SVU" also did well at 9pm, rounding up a 7.9/11.
    ABC was the hardest hit by the tidalwave. Drew Carey gave his viewers permission to watch "Survivor" on "Entertainment Tonight," and apparently it worked. The show drew it's lowest numbers on record, crashing to a 4.7/7. That, combined with "Spin City" (4.1/6), gave ABC it's lowest Wednesday at 9 showing ever. (August 24)

Rich is rich (abreviated version)
    So you know by now, no point in rehashing. So I won't. (August 24)

"Opposite Sex" slashed
    In the tearjerker of the week colomn, add "Opposite Sex," the latest victim of Fox's disasterous summer season. Well, you probably won't be crying, because you obviously didn't watch it just like the rest of the country. During it's 5 week run, it brought in a measly 4.6 million viewers, scoring a
4.1/10 this past week. In the slot it has just barely beaten "7th Heaven" on the WB, as well also the potent "Moesha"/"The Parkers" combo on the UPN. Fox is expected to run additional episodes of "Ally McBeal" in the slot until the fall season begins. Good, something else we won't have to worry about watching. Ally's nutty, John has a frog, blah blah blah..... (August 24)

"Mysterious Ways" rebounds on Monday
    First "Mysterious Ways" was a huge hit for NBC, then it wasn't. Now it looks like it's at least a minor hit as Monday's numbers broke the 10 million viewers mark. The show, which NBC is debuting before shipping it off to PAX, scored a 10.0/24 from 8-9pm, coming a close second in the slot to ABC's "NFL Pre-Season Football" (11.4/27). That represents it's best numbers since it's premiere episode 5 weeks ago. There is now word on whether NBC will continue to air the series this fall. (August 22)

UPN picks up the Thursday slack
    On a night when NBC & ABC got bogged down by Democratic National Convention coverage and CBS nearly got killed, UPN managed to pick up the slack to rank a very close third in homes.
In fact, second place NBC beat the UPN by only 0.3 million viewers on the night (8.2 vs 7.9), making this the latter's closest Thursday night ever. The nets staple "WWF Smackdown!" drew a
7.9/18 from 8-10, actually winning the timeslot in it's last half-hour with a phenominal 9.0/23, just beating ABC, which registered a 8.8/26 with "The Vote: 2000." That boosted the fifth net to 3.7 million viewers so far on the week, it's highest point ever during the summer months.
    On the peacock, "Friends" dived to a 8.9/17, it's worst numbers of the summer, even as "Will & Grace" soared to a 10.2/25 at 9pm. ABC had similar news with it's slate, as "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" scored a 20.3/39 at 8pm, only to have "The Vote: 200" lose 57% of it's audience at 9pm. Fox had some good news though. It's movie "Most Wanted" drew a 7.3/17, becoming Fox's second highest rated movie of the summer, behind "Powder," which aired in July. That boosted the struggling net's bottom line average so far this week by nearly a million viewers.
    Not so good was CBS, which dove to 5th place on the night, registering a measly 4.6/11. By comparsion, that was 65% behind ABC (12.6 mil), 37% behind Fox (7.3 mil), but 84% ahead of the WB (2.5 mil), for what that matters. Dragging the net down was "Republican National
Convention" (4.0/11), but also the 8pm episode of "Big Brother," (7.0/14) which fell to it's lowest Thursday numbers yet. (August 18)

"Survivor:" and then there were 4
    Tonight, something very good and at the same time very bad happened on "Survivor." The bad?
Evil triumphed over good. The good? Smart overcame dumb. And that in itself pretty much gives away who was voted off  the island tonight: gullable doc Sean.
    Although Sean cast his vote for Sue, and had assurances from Rich & Rudy that they would do likewise, he was ousted by a 4 to 1 margin. Kelly, meanwhile, promised her vote against either Sue or Sean, but delivered on the latter. The two remaining girls had a complete break-off this episode, friendly vowing to each other that they would be mutual targets. Kelly, however, gained immunity for the second straight week in this episode, as well as winning the prize: a cold beer and diner in a off-island bar. She also got to see the first five minutes of the first episode of "Survivor;" a very corny looking piece of video indeed. But maybe worth a million dollars to her.
    So that leaves 30 million viewers in anticipation of next week's 3 hour finale, when the four remaining survivors- Sue, Rich, Kelly & Rudy, are whilted down to one. And that person shall reign supreme. (August 16)

"Sammy" sucks all the way to oblivion
    It appears that "Sammy," NBC's latest entry into the animated foray, will go down as just another failed attempt by the network to record a hit in the genre. The show flamed out with a 3.5/9 on Tuesday, losing 17% of it's premiere audience and 37% of it's "3rd Rock From The Sun" lead-in.
That prompted the peacock to give the David Spade-themed cartoon it's walking papers after the ratings came in on Wednesday. Over two airings, the show averaged a microscopic 3.9 million viewers, nearly tying Fox's "Time of Your Life" for worst summer programming disaster. No wait, NBC already has that honour. It was called "The 10th Kingdom." (August 16)

All share good weekly ratings news
    For once in a long, long time, nearly all networks had a share in the ratings bragging rights last
week, led by ABC. The alphabet finished the week with an average of 9.9 million viewes, beating CBS by 1.0 million viewers, NBC by 2.1, and Fox by 4.1. That makes four weeks at the top for the "Millionaire" net, it's longest streak since the regular season. And it the battles of the Tuesday sitcoms, "Dharma & Greg" smashed "Frasier" by 41% (11.8 mil vs 8.4 mil) in total viewers and by 52% in the adults 18-49 demo (5.0 vs 3.5 rating). "D&G" also recorded tv's top sitcom spot for the first time in in months, as well as holding a best yet 86% of it's adults lead-in.
    Over on the eye, CBS had "Survivor" drawing 28.0 million viewers, continuing it's momentum as it heads into it's final episode next week. That lifted "Big Brother Wednesday" even higher to 17.7 million viewers, it's second highest total yet.
    The peacock could brag over it's "The West Wing" mini-marathon. The four episodes that aired from Monday to Wednesday averaged a 10.2/25, improving each of their respective timeslots, all except for Wednesday at 10pm, where "Law & Order" always reigns supreme.
    Fox had a bad week in general, but got a significant boost on Sunday night.Thanks to a preseason football game lead-in, "Futurama" posted a 7.0/19, breaking the top 50 for the first time since last fall. That led King of The Hill (53); The Simpsons (18) and Malcolm In The Middle (30) to their best placings in weeks. (August 15)

"American High" not high enough
    After just two weeks, Fox has decided not to continue with the critically aclaimed reality drama
"American High." The move comes after the show averaged just 3.6 million viewers last week and  dismal 93; 94 & 95th place rankings over three episodes last week. Producer R.J. Cutler told tv.zap2it.com that he was disappointed that his show was not given a chance, especially considering it was up against "Big Brother" and it's "Survivor" lead-in on Wednesday night. But he also said that he is confident the low-cost documentary show will find another home, noting that he has already had many calls. Fox plans to air "Futurama" in it's place this week, but has no further plans beyond that.
(August 14)

Could 11 new shows survive?
    That scary propostion is put forth by the MindShare media company, says The Hollywood Reporter. CBS would be in good if their predictions came true: "Bette;" "The Fugitive;" "That's Life;" and "The District" all made the A list. On Fox, "Dark Angel" and "The $treet" are expected to do well, while the WB should be happy with "Gilmore Girls" and "Grosse Pointe." ABC and NBC can claim "Geena" and "The Steven Weber Show," respectively. 11 may seem like a pretty high number,
but ironically, that's the exact number of freshman shows from last year made it to this fall's line-up.
(August 14)

Sally Field to lens "ER" episodes
    So we knew her career wasn't exactely doing backflips, but she's come to this? Oscar winner Sally Field will lens 6 episodes of the upcoming season, playing estranged mother to Maura Tierney's resident Abby Lockhart. Jack Orman, executive producer of "ER," told The Hollywood Reporter that this is a "really big" arc for Tieney's character, and Field was their first thought to play the character of her mother. Yeah, I bet she was your first thought. Three of the episodes will air in, surprize, sweeps November, while the other three will air at another time in the season. (August 14)

A UPN firesale to come?
    With recent news of the possible sale of UPN to Fox News Group and it's immenent closure, it is not unimaginable the other networks and cable outlets will move in for the kill over UPN programming. But which shows would go where?
    It's likely that BET would pick up "Moesha" & "The Parkers" to create it's first original sitcom block. "The Parkers" is tv's highest rated sitcom among African Amercians, with "Moesha" following close behind. During the regular season they averaged 3.9 & 3.6 million viewers respectively. But it is also possible that WB would want those shows to add to it's black friendly Sunday line-up, which consists of "The Jamie Foxx Show;" "The Steve Harvey Show;" & "For Your Love."
    The final season of "Star Trek: Voyager" would most likely go to first run syndication to finish out it's tenure. But it could also be attractive to FX or the Sci-Fi channel, or maybe even Fox. The show averaged 5.1 million viewers over the regular season, ranking higher than several Fox shows.
    The only other UPN show with a forseeable future would be the omnipresent "WWF Smackdown!" That show would likely go to cable outlet TNN, which recently aquired the rights to
several other wrestling shows from USA. (August 13)
 
"Funniest Videos" leads ABC
    Appearing on ABC's schedual for the first time this year, "America's Funniest Home Videos" led ABC down the path a Saturday win, beating out a strong Fox. "AFVH" brought in a 7.5/28 in the 10pm hour for the alphabet, beating out "Walker, Texas Ranger" (5.2/19) on CBS by over 2 million viewers. ABC's win was complimented by the repeat movie "Mother Knows Best," which drew a 6.2/23 from 8-10pm.
    Saturday was a nightmare for CBS, however. "Big Brother" fell to it's lowest numbers yet, dropping to a 4.7/17. The injury was added apon at 9, when "Walker, Texas Ranger" fell to a 4.0/15, it's lowest numbers ever. (August 13)

The UPN: cancelled
    Like so many of the flop shows it has debuted over it's 5 year span, the UPN will likely be cancelled, according to the LA Times. The paper is reporting that Fox's Murdoch News Group has agreed to buy out majority UPN affiliate holder BHC Communications for $3.5 billion in cash and stocks, beating out Viacom, which had also wanted the affiliates. It is widely speculated that instead of losing another $150 million on the upcoming UPN season, Fox will shut it down immediately, opting instead to air studio repeats such as "The Simpsons;" "The X-Files;" & "Buffy The Vampire Slayer." An announcement of the deal is expected on Monday.
    The UPN stations are valuable because of where they're situated. While the UPN doesn't have a wide national reach, it has all the urban markets, including New York and Los Angeles. It's likely Fox will use the stations to air news, sports, or in-studio entertainment program repeats.
    So, the Parkers are dead and there will be no more Smackdowns. Sweet dreams Moesha.
(August 12)

"Survivor" shrinks, "West Wing" kills
    "Survivor" is still huge, albeit not as huge as last week. The Wednesday episode, which saw cute Colleen get the boot 4 votes to 2, notched a 27.3/58, a slight one hundred thousand viewers
less than last week. It did, however, increase it's netshare by two points, leading "Big Brother" to a 17.6/41, it's highest regular Wednesday numbers to date.
    On NBC, "The West Wing" continued it's marathon run with two more hits out of the ballpark.
The first episode at 9pm recorded a 10.2/24, building to a 11.0/24 at 10pm. In the late hour it tied
CBS competitor "48 Hours," despite the fact the latter dropped a third of it's "Brother" lead-in.
(August 10)

Robert Downey Jr. to try "Ally McBeal"
    In an odd twist of fate, it was announced Wednesday that just released jailbird Robert Downey
Jr. will guest star in the Fox courtroom dramedy "Ally McBeal." He will play a love interest for Ms. McBeal, who will be caught in a triangle between Downey's character and James LeGros, who joined the cast late last season. Downey, well known know for his nasty drug habit, should fit in well on "Ally McBeal," most of which feels like a drug-induced hallucination. He is schedualed to lens seven episodes. (August 10)

NBC to develop daytime show for men
    NBC announced Wednesday that they are developing a daytime "strip" aimed at men, not women. The show will tacle such male-nailbiters like "lifestyle issues," "relationships," & cooking.
No, I am not making this up. NBC also said they are searching for the perfect timeslot. It's either after "Today," which draws lots of older women, before "Passions," which is number one in female teens, or after "Days of Our Lives," which draws lots of women of all ages. I only have three words: L-O-L.   (August 10)

"Sammy" sucks
    "Sammy," the long-awaited NBC cartoon based on the life of "Just Shoot Me" star David Spade,
bombed in it's first airing on Tuesday night. The show scored a measly 4.1/9 at 8:30pm, losing 20 percent of it's "3rd Rock" lead-in and falling over 20 million viewers behind ABC rival "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" But in an odd twist of fate, Spade's other show managed it's best Tuesday
ratings since the regular season with a 9.3/27, building on it's Frasier lead-in by 6%.
    But it wasn't all doom and gloom on Tuesday night. "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" & "Angel" lifted the WB to it's best numbers in months, averaging a 2.9/8 over the night. At 8pm, "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" notched a 22.7/48, it's highest Tuesday numbers in 6 weeks. The show grew from 20.6 to 24.8 million in it's second half-hour, lifting lead-out "Dharma & Greg" to a 12.1/31. That show beat NBC's "Frasier" by it's widest margin yet, opening up a 38% lead. (August 9)

"West Wing" scores on Monday
    NBC should have no worries about their "West Wing" marathon this week: the first installment on Monday was a smash. For the 10pm hour, the show scored a 10.1/26, improving the slot by 15 per cent over it's summer performance so far. It couldn't win the slot, however. That honour went to ABC's "Vanished," which scored a 10.4/26, nearly doubling the alphabets performance in the slot over last week.
    On CBS, even more viewers fled "Big Brother" on Monday. The lead-off installment has traditionally been one the series highest rated, but it too has fallen, much like the other installments. Monday's ep slid to a 8.7/23, losing about one and a half million viewers since last week. That corresponds with a similar drop for most of the other nights the series runs. (August 8)

"Everybody Loves Raymond" a winner
    It's not only viewers at home that have deemed "Everybody Loves Raymond" their favortie comedy: the group "Viewers for Quality Television" have now bestowed tthe show with that honour.
And when all the awards were given out last night, the show won another three, Best Actor for Ray Romano, Best actress for Patricia Heaton and Best Supporting Actress for Doris Roberts. The show won the same four categories last year.
    On the drama side, "The West Wing" got a boost with three wins, including Best Drama, Best Actor (Martin Sheen) and Best Supporting Actor (John Spencer) (August 8)

"10th Kingdom;" "GOP" Bring Ratings Doom for the NBC
    All the nets saw sharp ratings declines for last week, but none so severly as the peacock. At 6.6 million viewers, it fell to it's lowest weekly numbers in years, falling 2.4 million behind first place ABC. Much of the blame can be laid on the deadly mini-series "10th Kingdom," which averaged
only 4.1 million viewers, but took up a third of NBC's schedual. The ratings were so bad that NBC decided to give it a quick kill and double up on Sunday airings instead of stretching it over until Monday. Starting on Friday, the mini came in 92nd, 93rd, 93rd and finally climbing to 57th for it's 9pm airing on Sunday.
    Meanwhile, the net had more problems with it's "Republican National Convention" coverage. The Thursday seg peaked at 50th, but the Wednesday seg sunk to 57th. That wasn't as bad other some other net's numbers, however. ABC's Wednesday & CBS's Thursday coverage tied for 86th,
closely followed up by the alphabet's Tuesday seg in 83rd.
    The only nets with something to cheer about were the mini ones. UPN recorded it's highest placing for a show ever with "WWF Smackdown." The show took advantage of "GOP" coverage and zoomed to 36th. WB had "Young Americans" rebounding to 2.7 million viewers, and "Baby Blues"
staying steady at 2.5 million. (August 7)

ABC will let viewers choose
    ABC will get interactive with it's schedual opposite NBC's Olympic coverage in September.
Instead of going with a "Millionaire" marathon as some had inspected, the alphabet will let viewers choose which episodes of their favorite series they want to see. It will all start Tuesday, September 19th, with an hourlong block of the nets highest rated comedy, "Dharma & Greg," followed by an
hour of "Spin City," at 10pm. On Wednesday, it will be "The Drew Carey Show," and on Thursday
"Whose Line Is It Anyway?" On Friday, "Two Guys & A Girl," & "Norm" will take the spotlight.
    This is not an entirely bad idea. A viewer picked Tuesday marathon of "Will & Grace" boosted
that series numbers by 50 percent in July. And it sure beats back-to-back-to-back episodes of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" (August 7)

Saturday trouble for "Big Brother;" NBC
    Both CBS's "Big Brother" and NBC fell to some of their lowest numbers yet on Saturday, thanks to disinerest and a boring mini series.
    "Big Brother" wound up with a 5.0/19, it's lowest numbers to date on a week where ratings for the series have been severely sagging. After a weak premiere a month ago, CBS had hoped that interest in the series would build and ratings would grow. But so far that hasn't happened. Ratings have  continually slipped, and many times "Big Brother" has performed worse than repeat series that previously aired in the same slots.
    On NBC, viewers gave the repeat mini "The 10th Kingdom" the same treatment they gave it on Friday. From 8-10 pm, it could only muster a 3.5/14, giving NBC one of it's worst Saturday performances on record. "Kingdom" will continue Sunday and wrap up on Monday.
    The big winner of the night was Fox, which drew large crowds for "Cops II" (7.1/27) & "Americas Most Wanted" (7.8/28). (August 6)

Viewers steer clear of "10th Kingdom"
    NBC's massive mini series "The 10th Kingdom," now has the distinction of being both a regular and summer season flop. The peacock repeated the first seg on Friday, where it recorded a miniscule 3.6/15. That number represents NBC's lowest rating for any show on any night during the entire 99/00 season, including this summer. During it's original run in early March, the show drew about 11 million viewers an episode, significantly below what NBC expected. There is no word on wether the network will continue with the repeats.
    Another show that seems doomed is CBS's "Big Brother." The Friday seg of the reality show drew a 6.2/24, two million off it's average and 1.5 million lower than last week. Of all the nights that "BB" now airs, only two (Monday & Wednesday, duh) are performing above the timeslot averages for this summer.
    But one nets loss is another's gain, as the WB quickly learned. "Baby Blues," the frog's new sitcom entry, drew a 2.6/11 for the 8 pm hour, holding 96 per cent of it's premiere week audience. The 11 net share also represented the first time this summer a WB show has broken above 10. "BB"s strength also lifted the 9pm repeat of "Young Americans," (2.0/8) which drew 75 per cent of it's Wednesday audience. (August 5)

Mini Nets score on Thursday
    Both UPN & WB had something to cheer about on Thursday, much thanks to weakened competition on the big four.
    The biggest news was at the UPN, where it recorded it's first ever nightly win in adults 18-34.
"WWF Smackdown!" (7.3/17) recorded a 3.9/14 rating in the much desired demo over it's two hour span, beating second place NBC. It also won the night in men 18-34 (5.1/21); men 18-49 (4.0/14);
teens (5.2/20) and male teens, for which it recorded an astonishing 8.1/30. UPN has won every week in this demo since "Smackdown!" premiered last August.
    On the WB, double episodes of "Charmed" gave the net it's best nightly numbers since the regular season, averaging a 3.2/8 for the night. (August 4)

NBC daytime delievers
    NBC's soap line-up of "Days of Our Lives" & "Passions" beat ABC & CBS in the crucial women 18-49 demo for the first time in 13 years last week. "Days" zoomed to a 3.6/22 in the demo, it's highest numbers since January. It did even better in women 18-34, where it recorded an amazing
5.3/29, the highest number for a soap in this demo in two years.
    "Passions," which has recorded amazing viewership gains of late, cooled off a bit. The show did
record a 2.0/14 in women 18-49, it's highest number to date, but did slow down in female teens.
It declined from a 4.9 rating to a 4.5 last week. It also declined by 100,000 viewers. (August 4)

Wierd Wednesday for the nets
    Almost all network experienced either staggering highs or shocking lows on Wednesday, most even suffering from both.
    CBS was the clear winner as Survivor (26.8/55) back off slightly from last weeks numbers, although that could change in final ratings. Dateline NBC (8.8/18) also recorded it's highest viewer total in months in the 8pm hour. In this hour it was ABC taking a hit, as "Two Guys & A Girl" and "Norm" (4.6/10) averaged their lowest numbers yet
    At 9pm, CBS & NBC both got good news with their respective shows. "Big Brother" (16.0/37)
did well, even though it dropped 40 percent of it's massive lead-in. "The West Wing" (10.2/24) continued to tear up Wednesday for the peacock, even without the aid of "Law & Order," which was pre-empted for the night. WB's "Young Americans" (2.7/6) also did well, notching it's highest numbers since it's premiere. It was Fox taking the hit in this hour, as the premiere of the much anticipated "American High" (4.3/10) flopped, even falling in it's second half hour.
    10 pm was a nightmare fot all the nets as they recorded record low numbers. Each aired coverage of the "Republican National Convention," drawing a combined 14.5 million viewers. In comparison, "Law & Order" drawed just 1.6 million less than that last week by itself. The slot declined a total of 56% versus last week. (August 3)

Survivor spoilers are WRONG!
    All the Survivor spoliers floating around out there- the Gervase paste-picture theory, the final four photo, all appear to be wrong. This comes after Gervase himself was voted off the island tonight by a 4 to 3 margin over lunkhead Sean.
    The Gervase paste picture theory, brought to us by SurvivorSucks.com, listed Gervase as the only contestant whose picture did not have an "x" in the corner when it was pasted from the CBS website. Many thought this meant that he would win the million. The second theory was the picture of the "final four" in the Survivor opening a few weeks back. Gervase was in the picture, which assumingly meant he was in the  final four. Apparently not.
    Sue, Rich, Rudy & Sean all voted for Gervase, while the remainer voted for Sean. The others directely attributed their Sean vote to the fact he was responsible for booting Jenna last week.
    The episode was also very interesting because it really flushed out Sue, not Rich, as the real kniver of Rattana. She admited that she was playing the "dumb redneck" so people would tell her everything. She became surprizing emotional over Kelly, saying that she had lost her best friend 20 years ago and she was not going to "f-ck" Kelly over. She then predicted that herself, Kelly & Rich would be among the final three and vowed to Kelly that they would team up and kick Rich off. At the tribal council she admitted that there was indeed an alliance, but rationalized it by saying that's "how Americas works." She likened it to lobbists making donations to the president and somebody joining a church to sell insurance or real estate. And over the course of one hour, Sue managed to show a shocked audience that she was indeed the real brain of Rattana.
    For comic relief in what was otherwise a very heavy episode, Gervase created a new costume for tribal council. It was a "bullseye" pasted to the back of a cape, with the word "Target" above it.
Colleen also asked people to call her "sitting duck" at the council. (Aug 2)

"Third Watch" booms; "Opposite" bombs
    "Third Watch," with some help from it's NBC Monday partners, did it's best summer numbers yet on Monday, almost reaching 10 million viewers. The episode recorded a 9.8/31, best it's competiton by an average of 70%. ABC & CBS both aired coverage of the Republican National Convention.
The show also recorded the highest net share rating of the night, surpassing number two, "Everybody Loves Raymond" (11.4/27) by 4 whole points. The rest of NBC's Monday line-up also performed rather well, averaging 10.6 million viewers on the night. The second episode of "Mysterious Ways"
(10.8/26) even tied the "Hall of Fame" football game on ABC (10.8/26). That represents a smal drop of 10% from it's first episode, which bodes well for the show's future on the peacock.
    Not so well was "Opposite Sex" on Fox. The show fell to a 3.8/9, some of the net's lowest numbers in the Monday 8pm timeslot ever. The show was only 10% ahead of 7th Heaven (3.4/8) competition on the WB. It's nearest big 4 competitor, CBS, was a full 258% ahead of the teen-show. (August 1st)