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Sunday saves the week
    It certainly wasn't a strong ratings week, but Sunday night did this week what it could not do last week: step in and save the day. ABC won the night by scrapping half of its regular line-up. It started at 7pm with the classic Disney Movie "Lady & The Tramp," which drew a very nice 14.3/25. But the real story came at 9pm where it took Judy Garland to break the movie ratings curse this season.
Her bio "Me and My Shadows" took in an amazing 20.3/31, beating out the next highest rated flick  of the season, "Titantic," by over 3 million viewers. And the movie equally last weeks performance by the alphabet's strongest duo, "Millionaire" & "The Practice."
    Fox also saw big gains over last Sunday. All of its series were up, some dramatically. "Futurama" (9.6/18) was up about a million viewers & "King of The Hill" (11.6/22) 2 million. "The Simpsons" & "Malcolm In The Middle" blew away the competition at 8pm, raking in a dizzingly high 18.2/30 & 17.6/29, respectively. The series did even better in 18-49's, raking up a 9.2 & a 9.1 rating. That's it's best results of the season, nearly accomplishing the impossible feat of 18-49 rating equalling household rating. The both came close, 9.8 & 9.5, respectively. In he hour, they beat out a slumping "Touched By An Angel" (14.7/24) & "Dateline NBC" (7.5/12), which added to its networks misery on the week.
    "The X-Files" (16.8/26) had its best showing of the season at 9pm, losing the hour in viewers to ABC, but killing the competition in adults. It not only beat out its household rating (9.8 vs. 9.4) for the return of David Duchovney, but killed ABC's very strong movie (5.9 in 18-49's). CBS was a distant third with "The Mask of Zorro" (12.4/19), but did manage season best numbers in 18-49's (4.2 rating). NBC tried but failed with back-to-back "The West Wing"s (9.4/14 & 9.8/15, respectively) (February 26)

CBS's all rookie Saturday
    CBS tried something on Saturday it hasn't tried in 8 years- an all-rookie Saturday. And it worked. It all started off at 8pm where "That's Life" (9.2/23) drew its best numbers since October, beating out last years numbers from "Early Edition" for the very first time. But in the slot it still came in third, beat out by Fox's "Cops II" (10.3/26) & ABC's repeat movie "Phenomenon" (9.8/23).
    At 9pm, CBS premiered the heavily hyped drama "Kate Brasher," and it too did quite well. Over it's hour long span, it drew a 11.8/26. That represents CBS's best results in the slot of the entire season and 30% jump over its results from "Martial Law" last season. It also won it slot by a handy measure, beating out "Phenomenon" and "Americas Most Wanted" (9.5/21) which also had a strong showing.
    The late hour saw "The District" (13.9/33) draw big numbers on again, taking advantage of its stronger lead-in by drawing it biggest numbers in weeks. The picture was so good for CBS on the night that it's likely its new Saturday line-up will see it into next season, especially since stalwart "Walker, Texas Ranger" will be ending in May. Compared to last year, CBS's Saturday line-up (with combined ages of just over 10 months, by far the youngest line-up in primetime) is averaging 11.6 million viewers, up 22% from last season, when the series airing totalled 14 years of age.
    The loser on Saturday night? NBC. Its flailing "XFL" venture fell to a measly 4.3/10, giving the network it lowest Saturday numbers of the season and likely dropping it to third on the week. (February 26)

WB rocks Friday
    On a Friday that drew nice numbers for only two networks, the WB was the clear cut winner,
sucking up female teens like a Clearsil display at a supermarket.
    The net started off right at 8pm, where "Sabrina" (4.6/11) & "Popstars" (5.0/12) both raced to season high numbers. That led into another season best performance, that by "Popular," which drew a 3.9/8. The 8pm ratings out of the WB were almost enough to knock off competition on ABC. That network is dying on the vine wit "Two Guys & A Girl" (5.5/13) & "Norm" (5.4/13). Don't look for either of them to be aroung for much longer.
    The reason? "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" is doing very well at 9pm, casting a poor shadow on the lowly sitcoms. Last night the gammer was off a bit, but still won its hour with a 15.8/33.
    The other winner on the night was NBC. At 8pm, "Providence" (13.3/31) beat out "Diagnosis Murder" (9.4/22), while "Dateline NBC" (11.9/25) drew at its season average at 9pm. That was better than good enough to kill CBS's slumping "The Fugitive"(8.0/17). At 10pm, "Law & Order: SVU" was the clear cut winner, raking up a 15.1/28, beating out "20/20" (12.0/22) & the eye's
weakening "Nash Bridges" (9.2/17). (February 24)

Supersized Thursday falls flat
    It was supposed to be NBC's last ditch attempt to come on par with CBS from 8-10pm, but instead "Supersized- Thursday" fell flat, drawing at or below the season averages of the show involved.
    Starting off at 8pm, "Friends" lost even more ground to "Survivor" (28.6/38), falling to a 20.8/28. That's the sitcom's lowest numbers of the sweeps period, despite its competition not being as strong as it was in it's first 2 airings. At 8:40, a big "Will & Grace" not only lost in its first 20 minutes, but also in its last twenty. It lost in that period to CBS's "CSI" (20.8/28), which was down a bit from last week. At 9:20, "Just Shoot Me" (16.4/22) nearly wound up third in its slot, losing to CBS and barely beating out ABC's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" (16.3/22). In 18-49's, CBS won from 8-9, but fell to second from 9-10pm. At 10pm, where it aired "48 Hours," it slid all the way down to 3rd. That show drew an anemic 9.0/13, off 57% from its lead-in.
    But there was some sizzle on Thursday night, and much of that was provided by the WB. Both "Gilmore Girls" (4.0/5) & "Charmed" (5.6/8) drew their highest numbers in weeks, doing well demographically against it's huge CBS & NBC competition. (February 23)

Wayans will wait
    ABC is hinging alot of its dreams for next season on this one show, but now it's going to wait.
Damon Wayans much anticipated "My Wife & Kids" will now premiere at 8:30 on Wednesday, March 27th, two weeks later than previously thought. That move it to keep it out of the direct fire of "Survivor," which will occupy the Wednesday at 8pm slot for the middle two weeks in March. That's because the NCAA's March Madness will party air on Thursdays. The basketball showdowngets underway in only a few weeks. (February 23)

Dharma slides on weak Tuesday
    ABC's "Dharma & Greg," which has been doing some major catching up to "Frasier" in the last two weeks, slid back to sub-par numbers on what was in all a weak Tuesday night. The sitcom drew an anemic 11.2/2, crushed by a climbing "Frasier" (16.6/31) That was despite getting some time-slot support in "The Mole," which rose to a 12.6/22 for it's second last Tuesday airing.
    Down numbers was the story on many of the nets. "NYPD Blue" (12.7/23) fell to it's worst first run Tuesday numbers ever up against an average "Judging Amy" (14.0/26). Fox's "Titus" (10.4/19) did marginally worse for Fox, continuing to draw lowly off the surging "That 70s Show (12.3/22),
damaging lead-out "Dark Angel" (11.0/22).
    But there was one shining example on Tuesday outside "Frasier" & "That 70s Show." CBS's
"JAG" climbed yet again, this time to a 15.8/28, it's second best performance of the season.
(February 21)

Nets feast inwards in Monday
    The network cup definitely didn't runneth over on Monday night, and that led to some of the nets feasting on each other's audiences. The most obvious example was between CBS & NBC, where the peacock scrapped its regular mix match programming to air all-comedies.
    The result? CBS still won, although ratings were well of the season average. "King of Queens" (13.4/22) took "Friends" (9.1/15); "Yes, Dear" (12.5/21) "Will & Grace" (8.4/14); "Everybody Loves Raymond" (18.2/31) "Will & Grace" (8.3/14); and by a huge margin, "Becker" (15.5/26) stomped "Just Shoot Me" (7.2/12). NBC had some luck at 10pm where back-to-back "Frasier"s
took over, coming up with a 10.6/20 and a 9.9/19. That came within a million and a half viewers of CBS's "Family Law" (11.6/22), which fell to it's lowest numbers of the season.
    Over on Fox, "Boston Public" (13.0/22) & "Ally McBeal" (13.0/22) held amazingly steading, beating out the nights only other competition, ABC's movie "Good Will Hunting" (12.8/22) & WB's
"7th Heaven" (8.4/14). The only net to show a week-over-week increase on the night was the UPN. which drew high numbers for "The Parkers" (4.6/8) & "The Hughleys" (4.3/7). (February 20)
Week ends on a whimper
    Sunday brought no relief to what was a very weak ratings week, with all nets experiencing significant week over week drops. ABC was the biggest loser, watching its Sunday viewership plunge fro 19.3 million to just 14.4. Though it did have average perfomances from "The Practice" (18.4 million) & "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" (19.2 million), the 7pm debut of "Ever After" could only stir up 10.2 million viewers, leaving the whole night in limbo.
    Fox was the next big loser, rounding up just 12 million viewers. Though that was off only a little from last week (12.4 million), it was especially disappointing because the net featured the heavily hyped return of "Sideshow Bob" to "The Simpsons." That show turned in its 3rd worst performance (14.0) of the season for the event, dragging down lead-out "Malcolm In The Middle" (14.1) & "The X-Files" (13.6).
    CBS was another net that just couldn't get started. "60 Minutes" (15.5 million) lost about 2 million viewers from last week, dragging down "Touched By An Angel" (15.1). All totalled, CBS's Sunday viewership was down about a million viewers.
    And then there was NBC. The net, which led for most of last week, watched its viewership collapse over the weekend. "NBA on NBC" got the net started all wrong, conjuring up on 4.9 million viewers. The net averaged 8.0 million viewers on the night, amazingly up from 7.7 last Sunday. That just goes to show how deadly the week-end is to the peacock. (February 19)

CBS will win next week
    Here the no-brainer of the tv season: CBS will win next week. This week it may come out with a very small win, but next week it should blow the lead wide open. Why? On it's weakest night, it'll be airing the Grammy Awards. They usually bring an average of 27 million viewers.
    So, assuming that Monday averages 15.2 million, Tuesday 14.5, Thursday 19.6, Friday 9.4 &
Saturday 10.7 & Sunday 14.2, the net should come out with a weekly average of 18.4 million viewers. That'll be it's second best of the season, right behind Super Bowl week.
    And moren importantly, that'll bring it's weekly average up to 12.8 million viewers, within striking distance of first place ABC's 13.2. Welcome home. (February 17)

Fox rebounds Friday
    It may not have won Friday night, but it sure put up a marked improvement: the net average 8.1 million viewers on back-to-back episodes of "Wildest Police Videos." That's is strongest Friday performance of the season and up 35% over last week. Typically the net has died on Thursday & Friday nights, dragging down it's entire weekly average.
    But the real star on Friday was the WB, who put up huge numbers for it's young series. "Sabrina"
(4.5/10) got started off right, leading into the second biggest "Popstars" (4.6/10) yet. That delivered a season high 3.8/7 to "Popular," the 9pm drama that's been struggling through most of the season.
    NBC too the night in total viewers & 18-49's, winning on the back of "Providence" (13.3/30)
& "Law & Order: SVU" (14.0/25). ABC had strong performances from both "Millionaire"
(16.9/33) & "20/20" (12.5/23), but CBS could get started at all. Thanks to a weak "Fugitive"
(8.3/16), it was drug down to its lowest Friday average of the season. (February 17)

"Passions" tears up tv, books
    It may be the ninth rated soap on the air (out of 10). but NBC's "Passions" is having one hell of a year. Only a few weeks ago it set a series record 2.9 rating on the week, but has since declined to
a 2.3 rating. Still, that's up 27% over the same week from last season. In the all important women 18-49 demo, the show drew a 1.9 rating, up an astounding 46% from last February.
    And now it's on the New York Times Bestsellers list. A book about the show before it began, entitled "Hidden Passions: The Diary of Tabitha Lennox" debuted at number 8 on the presitgious list, and has since jumped to 6th. Many book stores are sold out, and in one chain in Canada, the book has become the second best seller.
    To add to all of that, the show recently celebrated being only one of two soaps nominated in the daytime category of the American Writer's Guild. The other was "All My Children." And now the soap looks to the Daytime Emmy's. Last year it was completely shut out. Can the academy ignore the blosoming hit this year? (February 17)

"Survivor" slips, "Friends" grows
    It wasn't supposed to happen this way: in their third match up, this time an hour long "Friends" against the hour long "Survivor," the NBC sticom actually took a bite out of the Austrailian outback.
Though "Survivor" still won the hour, its 27.0/37 was off about 7 percent from last week. Most of that loss went right to "Friends." The hour long special drew a 22.3/31, up 10 percent from the 8-9pm hour last week. Another winner in the 8pm hour was WB's "Gilmore Girls," which returned to an average 3.9/5, despite an expected loss of younger viewers.
    At 9pm, "CSI" was a winner once again. Despite "Survivor"s slip, the freshman drama drew a 22.0/29, up a slight 3 percent from last week, holding a very nice 81% of it's lead-in. "Will & Grace" was another strong winner with guest Ellen DeGeneres. That show drew a 20.2/27, putting the boots to "Millionaire" (16.7/22) by its second widest margin of the season.
    10pm saw "ER" win once again (27.3/39), but the real story was with CBS's "48 Hours."
That show could only manage an 8.6/12, dropping a unimaginable 61% of its lead-in. (February 16)

"Haven" dies, "Carey" lives
    The bad year for movies continued on Wednesday night- the highly hyped movie "Haven" failed to draw viewers for its second part on Wednesday. Despite having an okay lead-in with "Everybody Loves Raymond" (8.3/15), the movie could do no better than a 7.3/13, coming in fourth in it's slot and dead last among the younger demos. And even worse, the 7.3 million viewers it drew was only 57% of the weak 12.9 million it brang in for it's Sunday debut. It'll go down as one of the worse rated mini series ever on CBS, and of the major nets in the last few years. On the major nets, the highest rated movie so far this year belongs to the "Disney" franchise on ABC. "The Santa Clause" drew almost 18 million in December.
    But not all series were hurting on Wednesday. "The Drew Carey Show" took advantage of not having "Temptation Island" competition, racing to a 16.3/28 for the episode where Drew comes out of his coma. That was second in it's slot to "The West Wing" (18.6/33), but it did best Fox's hyped special "Barbra Streisand: Timeless" (10.1/18). "Law & Order" also had a good Monday, putting up it's best numbers of the season (20.0/37). That beat "Millionaire" (19.0/33) for top honours on the night. (February 15)

"Dharma" gains on weak Tuesday
    For the second week in a row "Dharma & Greg" gained on its "Frasier" competition, a highlight on what was otherwise a ho-hum Tuesday. "Dharma" posted a 12.7/30 for the second episode of it's Kevin Sorbo themed arc. That put it in comparably ground to NBC's "Frasier" (14.6/26), that sitcom that's been whalloping it all season. "Dharma" also built on "The Mole" (11.7/21) by it's highest margin yet (9%) and placed it's best results in 8 weeks.
    Another winner on Tuesday was the UPN. It premiered the movie "How Stella Got Her Groove
Back" to a groovy 4.1/7, its second best reults of the season. "That's 70s Show" was another strong performer, putting up a 12.4/22 and winning the night in 18-49's.
    Overall, "JAG" (15.2/27) put CBS on top, while "NYPD Blue" (14.1/24) & "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (5.5/9) helped their respective networks. Shows taking a tumble were "Dark Angel" (10.3/19), which posted its worst first run numbers yet, and "Three Sisters" (11.4/21), which
accomplished the same feat. (February 14)

"70s" until 2004
    Viewers yearning for their weekly trip back into the 70s will be able to take that voyage for the next two season: Fox has renewed "That 70s Show." Carsey-Warner (Roseanne, The Cosby Show) locked up a deal for the show that will keep it on the air through the 2003/2004 season.
    It's currently going through a renaissance in its third season. Ratings are up 20.5 per cent, avergain 11.3 million viewers. It frequently rated first on Tuesday nights in all the younger demos and the all important 18-49's. It's the 11th rated show in male teens, the 14th in males 18-49 & 18-34, and 16th in female teens. It's also made hits out of lead-outs "Titus" & "Dark Angel" (February 6)

ABC shuffles line-up
    Every week it's becoming more and more apparently that ABC has more holes in its line-up than a an 8 gallon hat after a gun-fight, and now it plans to do something about it. Starting March 6th, after "The Mole" completes it's runs, "Millionaire" Wednesday will move to Tuesday, replaces by rookie sitcoms "My Wife & Kids" (starring Damon Wayans) & a Wednesday edition of the cult-hit "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" At 9:30, "Spin City" will go on hiatus, to be replaced by Denis Leary's antipated
"The Job."
    So that's "Millionaire" Wednesday moving to Tuesday. "Millionaire" Tuesday currently airs on Fridays. Got that? (February 6)

Monday to CBS; demos to Fox
    CBS took it's umpteeth Monday in row, despite season low numbers. "King of Queens"
(13.0/20) & "Everybody Loves Raymond (18.8/28) made the net a lock for the night, despite drawing season lows and not winning in adults. That honour went to Fox, whose "Boston Public"
(13.9/22) & "Ally McBeal" (13.9/22) combined for a 6.4/15 in the demo, beating out CBS's
5.6/14. "Raymond," however, won it's slot with a 7.8/18, the only slot CBS won on the night.
    ABC also got some strong numbers on the night with "These Old Broads." The movie, which maybe the last chance to ever see mega-legends Elizabeth Taylor & Debbie Reynolds together, drew a 16.6/25 for its two hour span. That easily put it in first from 8-10pm, raking it as ABC highest Monday movie of the season. But in adults it was another story. The movie drew a season low 3.0/7, even getting beaten by "7th Heaven" (8.0/13) on the WB, which drew a 3.3/7 in the demo.
    The race at 10pm was a lock on Monday, tied between "Third Watch" (12.6/25) & "48 Hours"
(12.6/25) on CBS. "Gideon's Crossing" managed it's best Monday numbers yet, which still put it at a pathetic 9.1/18. In adults, "Watch" ran away with a 5.2/14, way above "48"s 4.4/11 & "Gideon"s
3.0/8. (February 6)

ABC's huge Sunday
    It may have been a slouch for most of sweeps so far, but ABC finally flexed it's muscle on Sunday, knocking off it's competitors in grand style. It started out at 7pm with the premiere of
"Dr. Doolittle." That brought in a very nice 15.7/27, though it came in second, after "60 Minutes"
(17.3/31). At 8pm, ABC once again came in second with the Disney Movie, right after "Touched By An Angel" put up it's biggest numbers of the season (16.5/27). the Fox combo of "The Simpsons"
(14.0/23) & "Malcolm In The Middle" (14.3/23) were considerably off their 18.6 million viewers average last week, but still eeked out a win in adults and the younger demos.
    But the alphabet really took off at 9pm, where "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" (23.0/35)
grabbed it's highest non-celeb numbers of the season. That whalloped "The X-Files" (13.5/21) & CBS' highly anticipated movie "Haven" (12.7/19). The icing on the cake came at 10pm, where "The Pratice" grabbed some of its highest numbers ever (23.2/36) for the birth of Kelli Williams character's baby. That put the show in third place for the week, right behind "Survivor II" & "ER."
    The only net that couldn't get started at all was NBC. Thanks to the "NBA All-Star Game" (6.8/12) & "The Truman Show" (8.8/13), its hopes for winning the week were dashed, and it fell behind CBS in viewers for sweeps (13.7 vs 13.4). (February 12)

Friday hits season high
    Friday night is no longer starting to look like the second weakest link in the chain as it usually is.
After averging in the low 40 million viewer range for most os the season despite huge hit "CSI,"
viewership is finally starting to take off. Last Friday the six nets combined for an average of 49.3 million viewers, about 10 under the weekly average, and about 5 below perceived stronghouse Tuesday.
    The night started off right for NBC, where "Providence" grabbed a season high 14.0/31. That killed "Diagnosis Murder" (9.5/21) on CBS & "Wildest Police Videos" (8.3/19) on Fox. But the real victory was had by the WB. Not only did the combo of "Sabrina" (4.5/10) & "Popstars" (4.6/10) run away with almost all the young female demos, but they came close to beating out ABC's dead-duo of "Two Guys & A Girl" (6.0/13) & "Norm "5.8/13." That must be music to "Sabrina" star Melissa Joan Heart's ears: in the Entertainment Weekly's Fall TV preview, she said she was pissed that "Two Guys" got alot of promotion and her show didn't. Now she can honestly say she deserved it more.
    At 9pm, the lock down was between NBC & ABC. "Millionaire" (16.5/32) took the hour, but "Dateline NBC" (14.6/29) won in 18-49's. Yet another season high was to be had at 10pm, where "20/20" (13.1/23) made significant tracks against NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" (15.0/26) (February 10)

"CSI" superhit, "SNL" getting there
    Thanks to a huge "Survivor II" (29.1/39) lead-in, "CSI" cemeted itself at new superhit of the season on Thursday. The show drew an equally huge 21.3/27 at 9pm, winning its slot against "Will & Grace" (19.5/25) & "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" (16.9/21). Numbers that high put in in line to be CBS's biggest new drama hit since... well, you have to go back to "Dr.Quinn" in 1991. That show consistantly drew over 20 million viewers when it premiered, making it a top 15 show at that time. "CSI" currently sits in 20th position on the season, languishing thanks to a fall average of 14.7 million viewers on Friday.
    Meanwhile, there is another success story on Thursday nights. The 26 year olf "Saturday Night Live" is having a renaissance in its Thursday at 8:40 slot, drawing a 17.7/24 on Thursday. That's only slight below the 19.0 it drew last week. Its dropping a considerable chunk of it's "Friends" (22.1/30)
lead-in, but it's drawing above what "The Weber Show" drew in the slot and is doing extremely well considering it's competiton is "Survivor," which draws more than 31 million viewers from 8:30-9pm.
    So far this has been a very good week for the nets, and 19 shows are drawing more than 15 million viewers. Up to nine more series could be added to that list before the week is out. (February 9)

"Dharma" gains on "Frasier"
    After a half a season of crushing defeats against the NBC goliath, ABC's "Dharma & Greg"
finally seems to have found the key to ratings success: Kevin Sorbo. Although the sitcom couldn't take "Frasier" in total viewers, (14.1/25 vs. 12.4/22), it did make "Frasier" slide to it's worst first run numbers ever. It also came very close to defeating the bohemoth in adults, 5.8 to 6.0. That represents "Dharma"s highest demos since it's season premiere in October. To show also built on "The Mole" (12.2/22) for only the second time in 5 tries.
    Other than that tight race, it was all CBS on the night. The net won every slot from 8-10pm. "JAG" (15.3/28) easily defeated "That 70s Show" (12.0/22) & WB's "Buffy The Vampire Slayer"
(5.7/11), although that show saw some of it's highest numbers of the season. At 9pm, "60 Minutes II" soared to it's highest numbers of the season (14.4/25), crushing Fox's "Dark Angel" (10.5/19), which in turn threw up all over WB's "Angel" (4.5/8). At 10pm, "Judging Amy" (15.5/26) once again sailed over "NYPD Blue" (13.8/23).
    The weekly race is so far a run-away for the eye. The net is averaging 15.4 million viewers, way above Fox's 12.0 and ABC & NBC's 10.7. The network also owns the top 7 series, and 8 of the
top 12. (February 7)
 
"Ally" all that on Monday
    Fox solidified it's self as the early week warrior on Monday, usually scoring big numbers Sunday through Wednesday. "Boston Public" (13.2/22) led that way at 8pm. providing a decent lead-in for "Ally McBeal" (14.2/23), which scored it's best numbers of the season.
    But that still wasn't good enough to overtake CBS on the night, which scored with "King of Queens" (14.4/24), "Everybody Loves Raymond" (20.3/33) & "Becker" (17.3/29). In fact, that net won all the slots from 8-10, losing at at 10pm with "Family Law." That show continued to disppoint, falling under NBC's "Third Watch" (13.2/27) with a 12.2/25.
    But even those disappointing numbers are still way better than those over on ABC, whose "Gideon's Crossing" fell to a season low 7.1/15. Calling Dr. Kevorkian.... (February 6)

Five winners on Sunday
    Five different networks could claim victories on Sunday, while three reached new heights in
viewership on the season. "60 Minutes" got the ball rolling at 7pm with a 16.6/32, steamrolling over
"King of The Hill" (11.4/21), "Dateline NBC" (9.3/16) & ABC's airing of the "Pro-Bowl" (8.6/15).
    The CBS victory was short lived, however, as Fox rose to season highs at 8pm. "The Simpsons"
easily won it's half-hour with a season best 18.6/29, while lead-out "Malcolm In The Middle" built on that (18.8/30), recording it's best ratings since it's third episode reached 19.3 million last year this
week. In fact, "Malcolm" was the night's second highest rated show, trailing only "Millionaire"
on ABC. The two shows also combined for a huge 8.9/21 in adults18-49, their best reuslts of the season. But another network also thrived in the hour- the WB. "The Steve Harvey Show" (4.7/8)
bested it's previous season best results by 12 per cent, even though "Hype" (3.5/6) dopped a quater of that audience at 8:30.
    At 9pm, it was all "Millionaire" (18.9/28), as that show crushed "The X-Files"(14.5/23), CBS's
movie "The Flamingo Rising" (12.9/19) & NBC's feature "The Fugitive" (11.9/19). The luck continued for the net at 10pm, where "The Practice" (18.7/28) coninuted it's winning ways.
    But the biggest winner if the night was eprhaps the UPN. The net followed NBC's lead on
airing XFL games, cashing in on the night with a huge 5.5/9. (February 5)

CBS to score a threesome?
    Now that "Everybody Loves Raymond" is only a step away from becoming tv's top sitcom, and "Survivor II" sure to become the top reality/movie, will CBS use "CSI" to score a threesom at the top of tv's ratings categories? The sophmore drama, which drew 22 million viewers in it's new post "Survivor" slot, held a very nice 75% of it's lead-in. As "Survivor" marches towards it's finally, numbers are sure to grow, and it will likely take "CSI" up with it. Will that be enough to overtake "ER?" Certainly not on the season, the drama is still stuck with a fall average of 14.7 million viewers.
But when "ER" collapses in repeats this spring as it always does, expect "CSI" to come out on top for the warmer season. (February 4)

X-treme busts out
    Nobody quite new how big it would be, but the "XFL" proved it chops in it's Saturday premiere,
drawing a huge 15.1/28. That beat out all of it's competitors and ranks as NBC's highest Saturday numbers since it aired the Olympics in September. The show also scored extremely well in, not surprizingly, the younger male demographics. Could NBC finally have the plug it needs on it's lowest rated night?
    If so, the other networks were showing no signs of being hurt. ABC scored high numbers with "My Best Friend's Wedding" (10.1/18) and CBS did even better with "Walker, Texas Ranger" (10.8/19) & "The District" (13.8/24). Only Fox got slowed down a but, with "Cops II" (8.2/18) &
"Americas Most Wanted" (8.8/16) drawing just below average. (February 4)

CBS survives loss of "CSI"
    Some though CBS's rocking Friday line-up might collapse with the loss of "CSI," but it didn't turn out to be that bad. Friday newcomer "Diagnosis Murder" got the ball rolling at 8pm with a solid 10.0/23, drawing the highest numbers in that slot since October. It did get beaten, however, by a strong "Providence" (13.2/30) and lost most of the demos to "Police Videos" (7.9/18), "Sabrina"
(4.3/10) & "Popstars" (4.2/10). Those shows could brag a combined victory: the unwelcomed ABC's "Two Guys & A Girl" back to it's 8pm timeslot, were it fell to a 6.3/15, just above 8:30 partner "Norm" (6.2/14).
    "The Fugitive" finally found a footing in it's new 9pm slot, taking in a 10.0/20. I did lose soundly to "Millionaire" (17.0/34) & "Dateline NBC" (11.0/22), but it scored it's highest numbers since it's third episode in October. At 10, the news wasn't so good for CBS, but one net's loss is two other's gains.
"Law & Order: SVU" continued it's10pm tear, raking up a 15.1/26. ABC's "20/20" finally found a
decent lead-in, drawing some of it's ighest numbers of the season with a 12.7/22. And "Nash Bridges?" it couldn't handle the competition, but still came up with a decent 11.0/19. (February 4)

Friends big, Survivor bigger
    It didn't turn out ot the big the blowout that was expected, but the "Friends" vs "Survivor" battle turned out to be the big versus the bigger. "Survivor" won the hour with a amazing 27.5/39, outdoing an extended "Friends" equally amazing 21.8/31. Although the aging NBC sitcom lost the 40 minute battle, it still drew above it's season average (20.5 million viewers) and recorded a very nice 10.7 rating in adults 18-49. "Survivor" won the hour with a 12.0 rating. But "Friends" did win in the younger demo 18-34. And the special 20 minute "Saturday Night Live" didn't do too shabily either, recording a 15.0/21, not too far off the season average for "The Weber Show" (15.5 million).
    The 9pm war was no less compelling, with "Will & Grace" (19.0/25), "Just Shoot Me" (17.0/23) & "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" (16.4/22) all putting up strong fronts. But Friday import "CSI" took them all, racing to it's highest numbers yet, a 20.5/27. "W&G" won in adults with a 11.4 ratings, beating out "CSI," which done a very high 8.4. "ER" took 10pm with a 28.0/38, beating out a strenghtened "48 Hours" (11.0/15). Even the WB looked fine against "Survivor." A repeat of "Charmed" drew a 3.7/5, coming in only slightly lower than the performance of last week's new "Gilmore Girls."
    In fact, only two shows really got stung by "Surivivor." ABC's "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" fell to it's worst numbers of the season at a 7.3/10, and UPN's "WWF Smackdown" was off about 17% from last week with a 6.6/9.
    With no nets really losing on the night, network viewership zoomed. Combined, the nets averaged 73.4 million viewers on the night, making it's the seasons highest rated night ouside of Super Bowl Sunday last week. (February 2)

"Temptation" arrives at 18.1 million
    In just it's fourth week on the air, "Tempatation Island" has cracked 18 million viewers, something which many series never acheive in this new tv age. The show reached a 18.1/31 at 9pm, taking advantage of a repeat "The West Wing" (13.0/24) & "The Drew Carey Show" (12.0/21). The show also scored a huge victory in adults 18-49, reaching an amazing 10.1 rating. That virtually doubled second place "Carey" (5.1), and will likely put it in the top 5 on the week in the demo.
    The night went to "Millionaire" in total viewers though. That show grabbed it's highest numbers since it's celeb edition, reaching a 21.5/36. But the hour went to Fox in the younger demos, though. "Grounded For Life" (11.1/19) is settling into the hit Fox couldn't buy on Wednesday night, while a repeat of "That 70s Show" (10.7/18) is proving that show is having a renaissance in it's third season. Ratings are up 20 percent so far this season, and last Tuesday it drew 12.9 million viewers, a million shy of it's all time high, recorded when the show occuped the post "Simpsons" slot. (February 1)