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5 nets post gains
    It's not very often this happen, so when it does it's big news- for the week of May 21-27, 2001, 5 of six networks posted ratings gains over the previous season. The biggest benefactor was the WB, which jumped 25.8% of last week in 2000. It owed it's performance to big finishes from estabished series, like "7th Heaven" (+19% over last week in 2001); "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (+30%); "Angel" & "Felicity" (both +12%). "Heaven" also posted its highest chart finsh ever- finally breaking the top fifty at 50 even. Fox was next with a 17.6% ratings increase, getting a big boost from Saturday (+18%) & Sunday (+48%).
    UPN used the "Star Trek: Voyager" series finale to push numbers up 15.7%, "Star Trek" itself was up 76%, jumping from 71st in the ratings to 43rd. Not to be left out, weekly winner NBC was up 9.4%. It was led by strong outputs on Tuesday (+17%), Wednesday (+9%) and Sunday (+56%). The gain on CBS was somewhat muted (+2.9%), although "JAG" (+24) broke into the top 5 for the very first time and "Everybody Loves Raymond (+9%) claimed tv's number one spot for the first time in-season.
    And that left ABC. Thanks to its rivals posting such huge gains, ABC skidded 29% in the ratings. But on top of a season full of huge ratings declines, it probably doesn't even hurt anymore. (May 30)

"The Geena Davis Show" return ugly
    A two month vacation for "The Geena Davis Show" was apparently not enough in the eyes of viewers: it dropped to a 6.9/18 despite almost all repeat competition. The show also slid to its worst viewer retention rate yet- just 69%. It lost in the hour to a repeat "Frasier" (9.2/24) and to CBS's "60 Minutes II" (10.0/26).
    But that and "NYPD Blue" (7.2/19) were the only disappointments that ABC suffered on the night. "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" won the 8pm hour with even stronger numbers than last week, despite this week's installement being a repeat. The gammer drew a 15.5/36 at 8pm, up 5% from last week. That beat out everything by a near two-to-one margin. "JAG" (8.5/20) fell to second in the hour, followed by "That 70s Show" (7.6/18). But just like "Geena Davis" at 9:30, viewers shunned "DAG" as it returned from a two month hiatus. The show slid to a 5.0/12 for a new episode at 8:30, 17% off "The Fighting Fitzgeralds" and comedy competitor "Titus" (both 6.0/14).
    ABC's good luck continued at 9pm where "Dharma & Greg" (10.0/26) beat "Frasier" (7.8/20) by 28%, it's highest margin ever. "Dharma" also held 65% of "Millionaire"s audience, besting many in-season "Dharma"s and significantly above the rate of all the episodes that aired last summer. But what "Dharma" gained, Fox seemed to lose in the hour as "Dark Angel" skidded to a 5.4/14, by far its worst numbers yet.
    On the mini nets, the WB had extreme success, the UPN extreme failure. The frog net dumped "Buffy" and tested movies, and it worked- the flick "Witchblade" drew a 4.8/11 from 8-10pm, beating all but 6 "Buffy"/"Angel" airings of last season. But the UPN more htan made that up with the series finale of "7 Days." The show sunk to a 2.4/6, barely above last week's dismal performance. (May 30)

"Girlfriends" tops UPN
    The most ignored of UPN's Monday comedies, "Girlfriends," has for the third week in a row topped its Monday companions, this time by a comfortable margin. The comedy drew a 2.9/7 at 9:30, 7 percent more than its lead-in, Monday flagship "The Parkers" (2.7/7). This is even more impressive considering the show was only down 17% from its last original episode, aired two weeks ago. The summer season typically brings heavy ratings declines.
    That was a lesson all the networks learned on Monday, although some came away with a few success stories. CBS's "Everybody Loves Raymond" (14.2/32) lead the night, though lead-out "Becker" (12.0/27) fell steeply. That could be attributed to its tough comeptition- NBC's "The Weakest Link." The gammer, which looked dead a few weeks ago, roared back with a 12.2/27, building significantly on its "Dateline NBC" (9.2/23) lead-in. The newsmag did perform well in its hour, though it couldn't top the return of ABC's "Amercias Funniest Home Videos" (9.6/23), which won both viewer and demo crowns.
    But then came the lessons. NBC's "Third Watch" (7.4/18) crashed in the ratings, holding on to only 60 percent of its lead-in. ABC's presentation of the "World Music Awards" (8.5/20) was DOA. But the biggest less came to Fox. Viewers apparently don't take too kindly to repeats of its Monday dramedy block- "Boston Public" (5.9/15) & "Ally McBeal" (4.7/11) both faded out to some of their worst ratings ever. (May 29)

"Sabrina" beats... "Sabrina"
    In one of the wierdest programming moves in recent network memory, ABC's 1998 movie spin-off of "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," "Sabrina Down Under" was put up against... "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" on the WB. Guess which "Sabrina" won?  ABC's "Sabrina." The movie drew 6.0/20 from 8-10pm on the alphabet, 500,000 viewers more than the highest rated "Sabrina" drew on the WB last season. The WB wiccan took a 2.5/4 at 8pm last night, suffering from its cannibalistic competition. But the thought behind the airing of the movie is shakey. Will the six million viewers who watched the movie now realize how much they miss the series and start watching it? Is ABC stupid?
I think we all know the answer to that one.
    CBS took the number on spot on the night, winning two thirds of the timeslots. A new episode of "Diagnosis Murder" (8.2/27) & back-to-back episodes of "The Fugitive" (7.4/26 & 7.5/21) overcame weak competition such as "Dateline NBC" (7.9/26) & NBC's NBA Playoff coverage (6.6/21). The only show to overtake the eye by a significant margin was ABC's "20/20" (10.1/28), which proved it didn't need a "Millionaire" lead-in to do well.
    The one big loser on the night was Fox. Thanks to the repeat special "Barbra Streisand: Timeless," the net sunk to a lowly 3.9/13 on the night. (May 26)

CBS takes repeat Thursday
    CBS took the first Thursday of the summer season thanks to "CSI"- which is proving to be more powerful than anything NBC has to offer. The show took a 14.2/31 at 9pm, significantly over its competition, NBC's "Will & Grace" (10.7/23) & "Just Shoot Me" (9.6/21). It was also the highest rated program of the night by far, beating second place "Friends" (12.3/30) by a very comfortable margin. The eye also had support from its bookmark timeslots- "Funny Flubs & Screw-Ups" (9.8/24) came in second at 8pm and "48 Hours" (10.2/23) repeated the ranking at 10pm, slipping behind "ER" (12.0/27).
    ABC remained in third on the night with its first "Millionaire"-less Thursday since the Christmas season. Four episodes of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (7.1/17; 7.6/18; 8.3/18 & 8.2/18) were actually up 42% from "Line"s performance of last week, bringing the series its best numbers since the winter. And in an even more impressive feat, despite slipping 37% in viewers from "Millionaire" last week, the episodes acutally beat the gammer in adults.
    The only real loser of the night was Fox's airing of the "2001 Image Awards." The telecast tumbled to a 4.3/10, only a million viewers above what the WB averaged. That net had good results with both "Gilmore Girls" (3.1/7) & "Charmed" (3.4/7) (May 25)

Sorry- CBS wins the season
    We goofed- again. While we said Thursday that ABC won the season, that honour actually belonged to CBS. The eye won the season with an average 12.51 million viewers versus 12.49 for ABC. We're sorry for any inconvenience this may have cause. And if this caused you an inconvenience, you have more to worry about than tv ratings. (May 25)

ABC wins the season
    It came down to the wire- but ABC managed to eek out a small win on the season. Though our final numbers may not be correct due to estimation and rounding, ABC won the season with an average 12.544 million viewers per timeslot versus CBS's 12.493 million. That despite the fact that only one of ABC series posted an increase in viewers ("The Practice"), and "Millionaire" was down as much as 40% in viewers. NBC took third with 11.656 million viewers, although it won the season in adults. Fox was second in adults, but could only muster 9.474 million viewers. That was up 6% over last season. In the other big race of the season, the WB took the tinest margin of victory over the UPN, winning 3.914 million viewers to 3.905.
    What will change next season? The UPN will add "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" to its weakest night- Tuesday, while the WB will have to try and fill that void. Good luck. (May 24)

CBS takes May sweeps
    Though it ran away with May sweeps at first, CBS has some serious competition towards the end of the month. The net finished off with a 13.0 million viewer average, much of that powered by the early "Survivor II" finale. NBC finshed in second with 12.4 million viewers, only a 600 000 viewer gap. That impressive considering the peacock spend the first two weeks of sweeps about 2 million viewers behind the eye. But the last week has proved ratings gangbusters for NBC. The finales of "The West Wing," "Law & Order" and NBC Thursday drove the ratings upwards, at one point coming to within a half a million viewers. One more Must-See Thursday probably could have put the net over the eye, but it just ran out of time.
    For CBS, this is its second sweeps win in a row, though it dead finish 3rd in adults. NBC won first in that demo. ABC slipped to 3rd in viewers (11.0), but tumbled down to 4th in adults, a far cry for the double first place wins it posted last May sweeps. Fox zoomed to second in adults, but couldn't manage higher than 4th in viewers (8.7). On the mini nets, sweeps were especially good to the WB, it averaged 4.3 million viewers. UPN was sixth with 3.8 million. (May 24)

"Trek" 2nd on Wednesday
    "Star Trek: Voyager" went out with a bag for UPN, propelling it to a second place finish in its 8-10pm timeslot. The show drew a 9.8/18 for its two hour span, UPN's highest ratings since "Voyager"s second season in 1995/1996. That was more than enough to beat weak performances on all the other networks, with the exception of NBC. CBS's stalled with the movie "Conspiracy Theory" (9.5/16), while Fox's finale of "Boot Camp" (10.0/16) merely boosted numbers 5% over last week. On ABC, one hour finales of "Spin City" & "The Drew Carey Show" were nothing special, merely drawing a 8.8/17 and a 10.0/16, respectively. Even "Millionaire" flopped in the 10pm hour, sinking to a 12.6/19.
    The only networks earning success against UPN (how many times do you hear that?) were the WB & NBC. "Dawsons Creek" ended its season with a strong 5.1/10, though "Felicity" (4.0/7) slipped off a bit from that. On NBC, "Ed" (10.1/20) may have started the evening off slow, but back to back episodes of "Law & Order" (18.1/30 & 22.0/33) zoomed to the top of the ratings charts, with the 10pm edition outranking last week as the 11 year-old drama's highest rated episode ever.
On top of that, if no other show outrates it on the week (which is likely- there are no more original episodes left of any series), "L&O" will take top spot for the first time ever. (May 24)

NBC sweeps win out of reach
    CBS's big performances of the last 3 days have virtually sealed CBS's viewer win during the May sweeps period which concluded on Wednesday night. So far, CBS leads NBC 13.1 million viewers to 12.2. In order for NBC to even pull a tie a this point, if CBS's Wednesday night movie "Conspiracy Theory" drew only 10 million viewers, NBC's Wednesday night line-up would have to average more than 35 million viewers. While back-to-back "Law & Order"s will certainly power the peacock to more than 20 million viewers, a sweeps win is 99.99% unlikely. But don't cry for NBC: it leads in adults by more than one full ratings point. (May 23)

Big 3 big on Tuesday
    The big three networks were working for their titles on Tuesday, with dog fighting breaking out in each hour. The closet hour was the usually stable 8pm, where CBS's "JAG" nearly knocked off "Millionaire" for the very first time. The CBS drama took a 15.2/26, a mere 100 000 viewers behind the ABC gammer (15.3/26). But in adults, it was an entirely different story. The series finale of "3rd Rock From The Sun" came out of nowhere, earning a 11.9/20 in viewers, but taking a 5.0 rating in adults. It wasn't the highest rated "Rock" of the season though. That honour belonged to the series finale which drew 12.6 million viewers and a 5.2 rating in adults. Tuesdays other Turner production, "That 70s Show," was fourth in viewers (9.8/17), but took first in adults, drawing a 5.9 rating. But "3rd Rock" pulled a ahead at 8:30 when "Titus" (8.0/14) fumbled its lead-in. Also taking advantage of that was WB's "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," which drew a 6.0/10 for its last original WB airing.
    The 9pm hour belong to "Frasier" as usual, which aired its second hour long episode in a row. The show took a 18.6/32 average, but did have some tough competition ABC's "Dharma & Greg."
The cliffhanger of that series took a 14.6/25, keeping more of its "Millionaire" lead-in than it ever has- 96%. It also came close to "Frasier" in the half-hour, which started off with 17.1 million viewers. Besides beating the NBC comedy in most of the younger demos, "Dharma" came very close in adults- a 5.9 rating versus "Frasier"s 6.8. But what ABC gained with "Dharma" is lost with "What About Joan?" That show slipped to a 9.2/16, holding only 60% of "Dharma"s viewers and slipping 30 per cent in adults with a 4.1 rating. Fox's "Dark Angel" was fourth in the hour in viewers (9.2/16), but took a strong second in adults with a 4.5 ratings. "60 Minutes II" (10.4/18) picked up whatever was left.
    At 10pm, "Judging Amy" (15.6/24) beat "NYPD Blue" (15.3/24) for the second straight week, but NBC's "The Weakest Link" was the real dark horse. Though it only took a 12.1/19 in viewers, the show nearly took first in adults with a 5.7 rating versus "Blue"s 6.2. "Amy" was a distant third, sinking to a 4.5 rating.
    When all was said and done, ABC & NBC tied for top spot with 14.1 million viewers. CBS was close behind with 13.7 million. Fox took fourth (9.1), while the WB slammed UPN 5.6 million viewers to 2.2 million. (May 23)

"Raymond" slams Monday competition
    "Everybody Loves Raymond" when out with a big bang on Monday, drawing its highest ratings in 15 weeks, and 9-10pm timeslot's highest ratings since "Raymond"s 1-hour premiere last fall. The show drew a 20.1/30 for the one hour finale, beating out its closest competition by almost seven million viewers. "The Weakest Link" took second in the hour, taking a 13.3/20. The show was up 32 per cent over last week, much thanks to a later time-slot and a special celebrity edition. Part II of ABC's movie "Anne Frank" drew 12.4 million viewers in the hour, leaving Fox's "Ally McBeal" in fourth for the first time since its first season. The show only fell per cent from last week's performance, taking a 10.9/18, but the glaring drop was in adults, where the show tumbled to its lowest rating since 1997.
    Definitely not falling was "King of Queens," which wrapped up its season with a bang-on one hour finale. The show drew a 14.2/24, taking a close second in its slot behind "Millionaire" (14.8/25) on ABC. Fox's "Boston Public" (11.3/19) came in third, but was second in adults. "King" too that honour, increase its adults rating by an amazing 42 per cent over last year's finale. Over on the WB, "7th Heaven" managed a 4th place finish for the first time in months, taking an 8.0/14. NBC's special "Corcodile Hunter" slumped to 5th, sinking to a 6.9/12, 32 per cent below the results "The Weakest Link" took at 8pm last week.
    Just like at 8pm, ABC won the 10pm hour too. "Anne Frank" increased to 15.7 million viewers, averaging a 14.2/24 for its wo hour span. That was 30% more than "Third Watch" (12.0/21) could manage on NBC, though the spread was a mere 3% in adults. CBS's slumping "Family" fell behind both, taking a 11.7/21. (May 23)

No losers on Sunday
    The final Sunday on sweeps turned out to be the best of all: viewership climbed to the 54 million mark, one of the highest levels of the season. The big winner was CBS, which win the night for the first time in ages with an average of 14.2 million viewers. "60 Minutes" led-off the night as always, winning its hour with a 14.0/26, though it did have some serious competition from NBC's NBA playoff game between Toronto and Philadelphia, which drew a 12.7/24 from 6:30 to 8:30. Fox was a deep third at 7pm with back to back repeats of "The Simpsons" (8.6/16 & 10.3/19), although it's average of 9.5 million viewers was up 16% over last week's original episodes of "Futurama" and "King of The Hill." That was still better than ABC, which fell to a 7.7/15 with a "TV Bloopers" special.
    CBS couldn't win the 8pm hour, but it was a very close race. Fox ultimately won out, starting out with a 14.2/23 for "The Simpsons," and growing to a 15.2/24 for the season finale of "Malcolm In The Middle." ABC moved "Millionaire" to an earlier hour to disappointing results. It couldn't even win its hour, taking a 14.5/23. CBS's soon to be moved "Touched By An Angel" slumped to a 12.5/20, but still came well ahead of NBC "Dateline NBC (9.2/14).
    Scully had a baby- and the "X-Files" won its timeslot for the first time this season, drawing up a 15.4/23. Though it was its best result of the season, its movie competition seemed to cancell each other out. CBS's "Like Mother Like Son" won, taking a 15.2/23, followed closely by ABC's "Anne Frank" (14.0/21). NBC's movie "Submerged" seemed to be the odd movie out, though it was strong in its own right, taking a 11.1/16.
    There was one loser on the night- the WB. The recently cancelled "For Your Love" continued to take the best WB numbers of Sunday night, drawing up a 3.4/5 for what will be its series finale. That more than beat out renewed running mates "The Steve Harvey Show" (3.1/5) & "Nikki" (3.0/4).
(May 21)

"Walker" finale no boon
    The series finale of "Walker, Texas Ranger" proved to be no boost to CBS on Saturday. The 9 year-old series put in a 10.4/28 for its two hour span, only 8% above what back-to-back episodes drew last week. That's a sad cry from what "Walker" drew in its top 10 hayday in the 1995/1996 season. Then it frequently drew 24 million viewers for new episodes, but this season it could barely muster 10 million. But that performance, coupled with a strong "The District" (12.4/32), was enough to give CBS a comfortable 66% margin of victory over second place Fox (11.1 million vs 6.7).
    That network tried its best, but maxed out with an episode of "Americas Most Wanted" (7.3/20)
NBC, meanwhile, took on step back in the sweeps race, falling to a 6.3/17 with the Steven Segal movie "Under Seige." ABC was deadlast with the millionth repeat of "The Bodyguard" (5.9/16).
(May 20)

CBS gives NBC sweeps jump
    It probably wasn't intentional, but CBS's dismal Friday performance shaved 300 000 viewers off its fragile 800 000 viewer lead over NBC. That dismal performance was the fault of the movie "Batman & Robin," which crashed to a 5.0/13, the eye's worst Friday performance in years. NBC, meanwhile, had some luck with the season finale of "Providence" (12.4/35) & the "2001 Daytime Emmy Awards" (11.1/27). Though together they weren't enough to effect the peacock's sweep average, the did hold the net steady at 12.5 million. CBS fell to 13 million. If NBC can put together a decent Sunday and fend off CBS on Monday, big Tuesday and Wednesday performances could put May in NBC's pocket.
    One net definitely out of the running was ABC, but it didn't perform too shabbily on Friday. Back-to-back episodes of "Whose Line Is It Anyway" drew an okay 6.6/19 & 7.0/20, good enough for second at 8pm. "Millionaire" increased to a 13.2/32, while "20/20" held onto most of that lead-in, drawing a 12.1/29.
    Fox had middling results with the movie "There's Something About Mary" (6.6/17). while the WB had mediocre results with the series finale of "Popular" (2.5/6). (May 19)

NBC goes out big- CSI up
    After struggling in the ratings for well over two months, NBC's Must-See Thursday bounced back in the ratings in grand fashion, averaging a season high 27.3 million viewers. The Monica-Chandler wedding got it started at 8pm, pulling a 30.7/49, tying last season's finale in which the two become engaged. "Will & Grace" couldn't hold that lead-in, falling to a 20.9/29, but "ER" brought up the rear with a strong 30.3/43.
    But even despite the strong performances by NBC, there was more than enough room for the other networks. In fact, the night drew an average of 68.3 million viewers, by far the highest total of the week and the highest since February sweeps. "CSI" was the big winner outside of NBC, more than proving than it can survivor without "Survivor." A repeat of the drama drew a 12.4/20 at 8pm, increasing to a 20.2/28 at 9pm for the season finale, almost knocking off "Will & Grace." That's actually up 6% from last week, amazing considering the competition was much weaker and it has a strong lead-in in a "Survivor" special.
    ABC didn't do too badly with "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" (13.8/19), considerig its two main competitors drew over 20 million viewers. WB had some good ratings news with Shannon
Doherty's last "Charmed" (5.5/8). Fox was really the only network that just couldn't get started, falling to a 5.4/8 thanks to a 2 hour "Americas Most Wanted" special.
    Thanks to strong Wednesday & Thursday line-ups, NBC has the top 5 ratings spots locked up ("Friends," "ER," "Law & Order," "Will & Grace," "The West Wing,") and is leading with 16.6 million viewers. CBS is a distant second with 12.1 million, while ABC is stuck in 3rd with 10.7.
Fox is deep in fourth at 8.6 million viewers, while WB has the lead over UPN 4.8 to 4.2 million.
    Through 22 nights of sweeps, NBC has cut a deep swath into CBS's lead. At the beginning of the week it stood at 2 million viewers, it's now down to just 800 000 viewers. CBS is averaging 13.3 million, NBC 12.5, ABC 10.8 and Fox 8.5. In the race for fifth, the WB leads UPN 3.9 million to 3.7. (May 18)

Fox line-up predictable
    Fox unveiled its new fall line-up on Thursday, but there were no huge surprizes. The only move to come close was the net moving tempting success by moving "Temptation Island" to Thursdays at 9pm, against 3 other established hits in "Will & Grace," "CSI" & "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"
Fox calls it strenghening a weak slot. We call it series suicide.
    Fox's Saturday, Sunday & Monday line-ups will remain the same, while "That 70s Show" will be the only Tuesday mainstay. "Undeclared" will air at 8:30pm, while the new drama "24" will take the 9 pm slot.Wednesday will be given over to sitcoms, leading off with the "Fox Family Comedy Wheel." Repeats of Fox's tops series ("The Simpsons," "Malcolm In the Middle" & "That 70s Show" will air there. That will be followed by 3 year comedy "Titus" and the new show "The Bernie Mack Show" at 9:30pm.
    Thursdays will mark the return of "The Family Guy" to the season schedule, followed by the delayed "The Tick." The aforementioned "Temptation Island" will take the 9pm slot. "Dark Angel" moves to Fridays, followed by the primetime soap "Pasadena."
    For a look at all the fall schedules,  check out JustTV's Fall Coverage. (May 17)

ABC comedies hit lows
    It was another record breaking night on ABC- record breaking lows. The most jaw dropping numbers came from one-time hit "The Drew Carey Show," which fell to a measly 8.4/15, its lowest numbers ever. Even "Spin City" (8.6/16) built on its audience, the first time it has done that this season. "Carey"s low numbers could be attributed to its non-existant timeslot support- the series finale of "Two Guys & A Girl" couldn't only manage a 7.2/17 at 8pm. The only winner for ABC on the night was "Millionaire," which aired to a weak 13.3/21 at 10pm.
    But as always, one network's loss was a bonus to many others. The season finale of "The West Wing" drew a 18.8/33 at 9pm, leading in to a top-rated episode of "Law & Order" (19.5/31).
"Star Trek: Voyager"s penultimate episode drew very strong 6.7/12, nearly doubling the audience of its main competitor "Felicity" (3.9.7) on the WB. But that show did do a very good job of holding on to its "Dawsons Creek" lead-in. Even CBS had a winner in "48 Hours" (10.1/24), which drew its highest numbers in months at 8pm. It even tied for first in the hour with NBC's "Ed" (10.1/24)
    The only other loser on the night was Fox. Viewers are showing little interest in "Boot Camp" (9.2/17), and its recently renewed lead-in "Grounded For Life" (7.5/18) was no prize either.
    So where does this all lead? Next weeks big finales on last last night of sweeps. Both "Drew Carey" & "Spin City" will expand to one hour, the series finale of "Star Trek: Voyager" will goble up two hours and the always big "Law & Order" will occupy the 9-11pm slot.
    Through 21 nights of sweeps, CBS leads with 13.3 million viewers. NBC has cut its lead to 1.5 million viewers from 2 million on Sunday, avraging 11.8 million viewers. With a big Thursday performance coming this week, the peacock could still catch the eye in total viewers. ABC is out of the race with 10.9 million, while Fox is deep in fourth with 8.6 million. On the mini nets, WB leads the UPN 3.9 million to 3.6, although UPN still has a huge "Star Trek" finale coming up next week. (May 16)

UPN picks up WB series
    "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" won't be the lone WB show on the UPN this fall: "Roswell" is also making the trek. Tvinsite.com is reporting that the net picked the show up at the last minute after the frog-let dropped it off its fall line-up.
    UPN's new line-up is not a huge surprize, but does mark the end of it's two cornerstone series, "Star Trek: Voyager" & "Moesha." "Voyager" was already scheduled to end its run at the end of this season, but "Moesha" is somewhat of a surprize. The show is up 6% in the ratings so far this season, leading off UPN's equvilent of "Must-See" tv- its Monday night comedies. But star Brandy Norwood has said that she would not be returning for another season and it would be impossible to continue "Moesha" without Moesha. Moreover, it has been eclipsed in the ratings by all three of its Monday compadres: "The Hughleys," "The Parkers," and more recently the surging "Girlfriends."
    UPN's Monday night line-up will consist of "The Hughleys," the new sitcom "One on One," "The Parkers" and "Girlfriends. Tuesday will lead off with "Buffy" followed with "Roswell." Wednesday will bring the new "Star Trek" series and the sophmore drama "Special Unit 2, while Thursdays and Fridays will remain the same.
    For a look at all the fall schedules,  check out JustTV's Fall Coverage. (May 16)

CBS line-up vastly different
    CBS announced its fall line-up on Wednesday, and it was not what anybody expected. Gone are "Diagnosis Murder," & "Nash Bridges," staying is "That's Life," and moving is "Touched By An Angel."
    So as not to mess with success, CBS will leave its Monday line-up alone. Tuesday changes somewhat: at 9pm the new drama "The Guardian" will air. CBS's current flailing Wednesday night line-up will be trashed, making way for "60 Minutes II" at 8pm and the new dramas "The Amazing Race" and "Wolf Lake." Thursday night remains intact with the new drama "The Agency" airing at 10pm. Friday night will also be drastically different, with the new comedies "Ellen Again" airing at 8pm, followed by "American Wreck." At 9pm, Saturday night cast-off "That's Life" will air at 9pm. The night will be topped off with "48 Hours."
    "Touched By An Angel" will make it's return to Saturday after a 5 season absence. Following that will be "Citizen Baine" and "The District." Taking over for "Angel" on Sunday will be "The Education of Max Bickford," staring Richard Dreyfuss.
    For a look at all the fall schedules,  check out JustTV's Fall Coverage. (May 16)

"Dharma" takes bite out of "Frasier"
    To show just how much they share an audience, a special hour-long "Frasier" zoomed on Tuesday- after 9:30pm. The first half-hour drew an below-average 14.4 million viewers, not too far ahead of "Dharma & Greg"s 12.7/24. The spread was even closer in adults. But as soon as "Dharma" was done, "Frasier" zoomed to 16.9 million viewers, crushing the alphabets fledgling "What About Joan? (8.8/17), bringing it 17% behind its prevous low. In the hour, "Frasier" also did away with "60 Minutes II" (10.2/19) & "Dark Angel" (9.5/18), though ratings for that show have stabilized after weeks of falling.
    NBC didn't have as much luck in the bookmark hours, coming in last for both hours. In the early hour, "The Fighting Fitzgeralds" (7.0/14) and the penultimate "3rd Rock" (6.3/12) fell behind "That 70s Show" (9.5/18), "JAG" (12.0/24) & a resergeant "Millionaire" (16.0/32). And pity "3rd Rock:" the show even fell behind the WB's "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (5.0/10) in adults.
    At 10pm, "Dateline NBC" (10.1/17) couldn't hold its own against its sparkling competition: "Judging Amy" (14.8/25) & "NYPD Blue" (14.1/24). "Amy," meanwhile, beat out "Blue" for the first time in over 2 months. (May 16)

Downey can't juice "Ally"
    Robert Downey Jr's last appearence on "Ally McBeal" wasn't enough to juice it's numbers- it still wound up in second in the slot. The episode drew a 12.2/21, the third highest rated show on the night, but behind both "Everybody Loves Raymond" (18.1/31) & "Becker" (15.8/27). It did win out over NBC's "Dateline NBC" (10.4/18) & ABC's repeat movie "Con Air" (10.0/19).
    Earlier in the night, another show was having trouble boosting its numbers: NBC's "The Weakest Link." Despite airing in the post "Friends" slot last Thursday, the gammer could manage no better than a 11.1/20. NBC apparently has faith in the show- its scheduled twice weekly for the fall, but the ratings just aren't picking up. It got beatn in the hour by CBS's "King of Queens" (12.0/24) & "Yes Dear" (11.4/22), but did beat out Fox's "Boston Public" (10.8/21). "Public" did, however, win the hour in most of the younger demos. At 10pm, both "Family Law" & "Third Watch" (both 11.4/23) ground to a halt, although the NBC drama did eek out a win in adults.
    On the mini nets, "The Parkers" (4.0/7) reclaimed top Monday spot from last week's winner "Girlfriends," but that show was no slouch itself, taking a 3.8/7 at 9:30. But "7th Heaven" crushed them all, increasing to a 7.2/14, its highest rated episode in two months. (May 15)

NBC rumours right
    The rumours circling last week about NBC's fall schedule where completely correct, the network confirmed this morning. On Monday, "The Weakest Link" will lead off the night, followed by "Third Watch" and the new Jill Hennesey drama "Crossing Jordan. Tuesday will see the four sitcom block as always, this time the new sitcom "Emeril" will start off the night, followed by the off-the-bubble "Three Sisters." "Frasier" will follow that, along with the new hospital comedy "Scrubs." Topping off the night will be "Dateline NBC." Wednesday remains the same, and the only change on Thursday will the the addition of "Inside Schwartz" at 8:30. Friday & Saturday both remain the same, while Sunday is completely overhalled. "Datelines NBC" will lead off the night, followed by "The Weakest Link" the new spin-off "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and the drama "Undercover" at 10pm.
     For a look at all the fall schedules,  check out JustTV's Fall Coverage. (May 14)

"Once & Again" comes back again
    Tv.zap2it.com is reporting that ABC's drama in limbo, "Once & Again" will be on the net's fall schedule, to be announced Tuesday. In other big news, "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" will be reduced to twice weekly and all of it's mid-season dramas will be renewed. Monday night leads off with "Millionaire" followed by "Monday Night Football." Tuesday, as we predicted, will lead-off with "Dharma & Greg," followed by "What About Joan?" Jason Alexander's new comedy "Bob Paterson" will take on "Frasier" at 9pm, followed by the returning "The Job." Kim Delaney's new drama "Philly" will air at 10pm.
    On Wednesday, not much changes, except for the untitled Jim Belushi project airing at 8:30 and "20/20" taking over at 10pm. Tv.zap2it.com is also reporting that if "Philly" takes off on Tuesday,"
"NYPD Blue" could return- this time in November and on Wednesday. It would be the first time in the series 8 year run that it would not be on Tuesday night. It could be "Blue"s last season.
    Thursday will remain the same as we predicted, while Friday will be dramatically different. "The Mole" will take over at 8pm, while the new drama "Thieves" will air at 9pm. "Once & Again" moves into 10pm, it's fourth night in three seasons.
    Sunday is the only other night changing, with the drama "Alias" taking over from "Millionaire" at 9pm. For a look at all the fall schedules,  check out JustTV's Fall Coverage. (May 14)

The WB keeps Angel
    Though it isn't official yet, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the WB will keep "Buffy"s companion drama "Angel," but will drop "Roswell." Also gone will be "Popular," "Jack & Jill" "Grosse Pointe," "The PJs," and more surprizingly, the top rated Sunday show "For Your Love."
    Under the tentative schedule, "Angel" will followed "7th Heaven" on Monday, Tuesday will belong to the "Gilmore Girls" (against tough comeptition in "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," on UPN) followed by the new drama "Smallville." The Wednesday schedule remains intact, while Thursday will lead-off with "Popstars" followed by old stand-by "Charmed." On Friday, "Sabrina" will anchor an entirely
new night, at 8:30 "Maybe I'm Adopted," followed by "Deep In the Heart" and "Raising Father."
    Sunday is the major overally, featuring six sitcoms, 4 new. "Lost In The USA" will air at 8pm, followed by "No Boundaries," "The Steve Harvey Show," "Men Women & Dogs," "Nikki" and
"Off Centre."
    For a look at all the fall schedules, check out JustTV's Fall Coverage. (May 14)

CBS only victor on Saturday
    Saturday was a disasterous night for all the networks save CBS as total viewership crashed to just 27.9 million viewers, its worst result of the season. CBS had no problem winning the night, thanks to the "Dr.Quinn" (9.6/29) movie and the Saturday stand-by "The District" (11.7/33).
    ABC fell to second by default, drawing a weak 6.6/20 for the bomb movie "Speed 2." That crushed NBC's movie "Sphere" (5.0/15), which gave NBC its worst Saturday movie result of the season. Fox fell somewhere in the middle with an average of 6.1 million viewers, reaching a high with "Amercias Most Wanted" (6.8/20).
    Perhaps the drop in viewers had something to do with the little choice viewers had on the night.
The networks aired a combined 3 movies, and only programmed 6 different shows out of a total
of 22 timeslots. (May 13)

Could NBC win sweeps?
    Despite its wide lead in adults 18-49, NBC is still trailing CBS in viewers 12.1 million to 14.0. But could NBC use the last week and a half to catch up? Consider the big nights of programming it still has in its pocket. The "Frasier" finale will surely draw big numbers on May 22nd, while back-to-back episodes of "Law & Order" will take Wednesday night by storm on May 23rd. Couple in the Daytime Emmy's on Friday, May 18th (not to mention the "wedding"), and NBC might just have a shot of winning a sweeps period for the first time in 2 years.
    The nights of "big" programming left on the other networks? None. CBS has already played its "Survivor" card to superb results, while ABC's big thing ("Celebrity Millionaire") was a huge flame-out. And Fox? Don't make us laugh. (May 12)

"Providence" the weakest link
    NBC night-time soaper "Providence" has been called alot of things- namely pathetic and sugary, but one thing it was never called was NBC Friday's weakest link. But on last night, all that changed as "Providence" slid to its worst ratings ever. The show took in a measly 9.5/18, down 11% from last week, the previous low. The show also dipped under a 3.5 rating in adults for the first time ever. But all this was without an apparent reason. The only change in competition was ABC moving "Millionaire" to 8pm, where it won the hour with a 13.0/33. That more than crushed its weak competition- "Diagnosis Murder" (7.0/18) & "Wildest Police Videos" (5.0/13), both of which fell to season low numbers.
    After 9pm, NBC owned the night, killing what little competition it had. "Dateline NBC" (12.1/33) had its strongest showing months at 9pm, while "Law & Order: SVU" (14.7/32) ended its season with a bang. CBS saw a little lift at 9pm, drawing a 8.7/21 for the "Miss Universe Pageant," while ABC ground to a halt with the Paul & Linda McCartney special "Wingspan" (7.7/19). But there was a silver lining to that dark cloud. Thanks to replacing ABC's dismal Friday sitcom block, the net's nightly average of 9.5 million viewers was unchanged from last week.
    Another big loser on the night was Fox's "Lone Gunman." Despite a special guest appearance by now occasional X-Filer Davis Duchovny, the season (and most like series) finale could do no better than a 4.4/12, up a mere 100,000 viewers from last week. (May 12)

"CSI" holds its own
    The biggest surpirse on the first post-"Survivor" Thursday was not that Must-See Thursday's numbers didn't bounce back- it was that "CSI" managed to hold its own in the most combative timeslot on tv. The forensics drama drew a 19.1/29, inceasing on its "Survivor: Return From The Outback" lead-in (17.1/30) by 11%. It also won its timeslot by a comefortable margin over second place "Millionaire" (16.2/24). An 11pm repeat of "CSI" also performed well, taking a 14.8/20.
    The secnd biggest news of the night was the fact that Must-See Thursday's numbers didn't bounce back post-"Survivor." "Friends" started off the night with a 18.2/32, up 16% over last week, but down 14% over this week last season. A special "Survivor" themed "The Weakest Link" performed not too badly at 8:30, taking a 15.3/27. But at 9pm, "Will & Grace" (14.1/21) couldn't lift itself above third, while "Just Shoot Me" (13.1/20) performed slightly worse at 9:30. "ER" capped off the night with a 24.7/33, definitely hurting from the "CSI" repeat that also aired in the hour.
    While Must-See Thursday may not have bounced back, the WB's "Gilmore Girls" certainly did. The drama drew a 4.3/8 at 8pm, its highest rating in 6 weeks, since "Survivor" took a two week Thursday hiatus and aired on Wednesday. "Charmed" topped that off with a decent 4.8/7.
    The one real loser on the night was Fox's special "Surprize Wedding!" The series could manage no better than a 7.3/13, off 53% from the first similar special last spring which saw Darva & Rick created a tv disaster of epic proportions. (May 11)

ABC, Fox die on Wednesday
    The biggest Wednesday fight of sweeps came out last night- the season finale of "The West Wing," "Celebrity Millionaire," and the pen-ultimate episodes of both "Boot Camp" and "Star Trek: Voyager," and all but two network came out victorious- ABC & Fox.
    ABC slate of sitcoms appeared to be running on empty, averging an in-season record low 8.6 million viewers and a putrid 3.8/11 rating in adults. "My Wife & Kids," started slow at 8pm, bringing in a 9.1/20, and a 3.9/13 in adults. That was followed by the sure to be cancelled "Two Guys & A Girl" (7.0/15; 3.2/9). Since moving to Wednesday nights, "TGAAG" has bumped its ratings by only 12%, staying flat in adults. Both series lost in the hour to NBC's thriving "Ed" (9.6/21; 3.7/12) and CBS's "Country Music Awards," (14.7/26; 4.4/12). The ABC sitcom block did, however, overcome its only comedy competition on Fox. Both "That 70s Show" & "Grounded For Life" (both 6.1/13; 3.2/10) sunk to season worst ratings, dragging down the second-to-last episode of "Boot Camp" (8.0/14; 3.9/10) to fourth in its slot at 9pm.
    But the real loser in the hour was "The Drew Carey Show." This season hasn't been especially kind to the Cleveland crew: ratings have sunk steadily since the fall and it's looking more and more like next season will be the last call. The show slid to a series low 9.3/16; 4.2/11, barely providing a lead-in for "Spin City" (9.0/15; 4.0/10). All shows got beaten in the hour by the season finale of "The West Wing" (17.6/30; 6.6/17), which drew the shows best numbers in weeks. Another contender in was UPN's "Star Trek" Voyager" (5.7/10), which drew its second best numbers of the season on the heel of its finale.
    At 10pm, it was all "Law & Order" (19.1/26; 7.7/20). A surprizing non-factor was "Celebrity Millionaire," which sunk to a 15.0/21, drawing a mediocre 5.0/13 in adults. (May 10)

NBC line-up rumours
    Boy, were we wrong. If the current rumours on NBC's fall line-up come into being, we're going to look like idiots. Inside.com is reporting that the peacock's fall line-up will be heavy on new dramas, and will double "The Weakest Link." Monday would see "Weakest Link," "Third Watch" and the new coroner drama "Crossing Jordan." (Sounds alot like "Gideon's Crossing," no? That already bombed Mondays at 10pm). Tuesdays would see the Emeril Legasse comedy "Emeril," "Three Sisters," "Frasier," the new sitcom "Scrubs" followed by "Dateline NBC." Wednesday would stay the same, while Thursday would see the new sitcom "Inside Schwartz" at 8:30. Friday & Saturday will also stay the same.
    But under the rumours, Sunday would bring big upheaval. "Dateline NBC" would air at 7pm, followed by "The Weakest Link." 9pm would see the new "Law & Order" spin-off "L&O: Criminal Intent," followed by the cop drama "U.C."
    The plan sounds likely yes, but it still doesn't account for the "big surprize" that NBC promised in its line-up. Many were speculating that the surprize would be "The West Wing" moving to Sundays to help boost that night. But it must be noted that this was only a rumour, and the real thing will not be known until NBC unveils its line-up early next week. (May 10)

Celeb "Millionaire" sinks
    Celebrity "Millionaire" just ain't what it used to be- and its starting to show in the ratings. Tuesday's installment fell to a 16.8/32, a full 53% behind the gammer's first Tuesday celebrity edition last May. The drop-off was even worse in adults. This year the episode took a 4.8/14, down 60% from last season. But even despite all that, it won its slot by a huge margin over CBS's "JAG" (12.6/20; 2.6/7A), even though it got beaten in adults by Fox's "That 70s Show" (9.0/18; 5.1/16A). Not surprizingly, NBC's two sitcom block fell far behind- "The Fighting Fitzgeralds" sunk to a 6.3/12; 2.5/8A, and "3rd Rock" (6.6/13; 2.9/8A) couldn't do much better.
    NBC had also more luck at 9pm, where "Frasier" (14.1/28; 6.0/16A) more than beat out ABC's faltering "Dharma & Greg" (11.4/23; 4.8/12A). But ABC got that back at 9:30, when "What About Joan?" (10.6/21; 4.6/11A) fell only slightly behind the season finale of NBC's "Three Sisters" (10.7/21; 5.1/13A). Though the show increased its adults retention rate to 85% over last week's dismal 70%, it still dropped 24% of "Frasier"s audience. "Joan," meanwhile, held its retention at a very respectable 93% in viewers and 96% in adults.
    At 10pm, "NYPD Blue" (14.3/25; 6.2/16A) had not problem manhandling its "Judging Amy" (13.0/23; 3.8/10), coming up with itsthird best adults rating of the season. (May 10)

"Link" sinks on Monday
    Just four weeks after it took the ratings charts by storm, NBC's "The Weakest Link" couldn't even take second place in it's regular Monday night timeslot. Sinking to a 11.1/20, the gammer was behind Fox's "Boston Public" (11.2/20), and CBS's "King of Queens" (12.6/23) & Yes, Dear" (11.7/22). The S&M fest did take second in the hour in adults- capturing a 5.0 rating. That was behind only "Public"s 5.7 rating. But the performance is disappinting nonetheless. In a effort to perk numbers up, NBC will air a special episode on Thursday. The first half will air at 8:30, the second at 9:30.With CBS's "Survivor II" out of the way, it could turn out to be the highest rated Must-See Thursday of the year.
    But the real winner on Monday night was CBS. "Everybody Loves Raymond" (18.0/32) took it's highest numbers in a month, overcoming Fox's "Ally McBeal" and NBC's movie "The Judge" (11.1/20). "Becker" (15.7/28) was also up, though it lost to "Ally" in adults in the half-hour. ABC's movie "Air Force One" was a non factor among the big four, drawing a measly 9.5/18. In fact, that was the only telecast of the night on the big nets to draw less than 10 million viewers.
    But there was another winner- the often ignored "Girlfriends" on the UPN. It did on Monday what it wasn't able to do all season, be the highest rated show of UPN's four sitcom block. The show pulled a 3.7/7, up slightly from "The Parkers" (3.6/6). (May 8)

CBS sails back on Sunday
    CBS finally got some good ratings news on Sunday, drawing its best numbers of the season and winning the night for the first time of the year. It got support on all sides for the first time in a long time. "60 Minutes" (15.0/33) took the hour by a large margin. Its closest competitor was NBC's NBA playoff coverage, which took a 8.2/18. The Disney Movie "Ace Ventura" (7.6/15) was right behind that.
    At 8pm, "Touched By An Angel" made a case for itself staying on Sundays next season, taking a 15.2/28. That was its best showing since February. It couldn't win the hour in adults, in fact, it came in third. Fox took that demo thanks to "The Simpsons" (12.5/23) & "Malcolm In The Middle" (12.8/24). ABC was second with "Ace Ventura." The only non-competitor in the hour was "Dateline NBC" (9.3/17), which fell behind the rest in viewers and in the major demos.
    And finally, something that CBS has to be really celebrating. The 9pm Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "Follow The Stars Home" drew a fantastic 15.3/23, its best placing in 21 weeks. But that still wasn't enough to win in adults- "The X-Files" (11.8/18) took that demo, while the return of celebrity "Millionaire" took the hour in viewers with a 19.5/29. "The Practice," meanwhile, had no trouble in winning at 10pm, taking a 17.5/28. (May 7)

Friday slides down the drain
    Ratings for all the nets were down dramatically, more a symtom of better weather keeping people away from the tube than increasing boredom with a mindnumbing Friday slate.
    The most dramatic loss was felt on ABC, where "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" (13.0/32) slid to its worst series numbers yet, save the Thursday edition opposite the "Survivor" finale and an airing opposite this year's Superbowl. ABC can't really be surprized at the drop: the show, which had seemed to be halting its decent last winter, has been falling off dramatically of late. Even weakened, it still won the slot by a great margin, defeating "Dateline NBC" (9.4/23) and the second hour of a special "Diagnosis Murder" (9.0/24). Fox's "Lone Gunman" (4.4/11) was a non-factor in the hour, though it was up about 18% from last week's dismal performance.
    Another show losing out was NBC's "Providence," which slipped to a 10.4/30, its worst first-run numbers yet. Thhat was especially bad considering there was no real competition in the hour. CBS's "Diagnosis Murder" had some punch, but both Fox's "Wildest Police Videos" (5.8/17) & back-to-back airings of "Whose Line Is It Anyway" (5.0/14 & 5.8/17) were well out of the race.
    The only sure win on the night was had by "Law & Order: SVU." That show took a 14.0/28, crushing both "20/20" (10.0/20) & "Nash Bridges" (9.3/19). (May 5)

All survive "Survivor"
    As expected, the finale of CBS's "Survivor" swept Thursday, winning in all timeslots, although all new competition programs took a bit out of the top rated show. "Survivor" took a 38.0/50 from 8-10pm, down 27% from the finale of the first series. But it wasn't the fault of the show that it lost viewers, it was more a sign of the intense comepetion.
    No net hid from the "Survivor" finale, and they have to be pleased with the results. Back-to-back "Friends" to a 15.7/21 & a 14.5/20 at 8:30. Though the 15.7 million viewers result is a series record low, but not bad considering it was off only 4% from last week. The 8:30 edition was actually up 23% over last week's finale of "The Weber Show." Also in the hour, WB's "Gilmore Girls" (3.6/5) was flat over last week, as was UPN's "WWF Smackdown!" (5.2/7). ABC's "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" seemed to take the biggest hit (pointing out its very young audience), dropping to a  combined 5.4/7 in the hour.
    Series seemed to take the biggest "Survivor" hit at 9pm, where some fell to season, and series, lows. "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" skidded to a 12.1/15, its lowest marks yet, while a 9:30 episode of "Just Shoot Me" fell to a 11.7/15, its worst results of the season. Even so, "Will & Grace"
(14.0/18) actually matched it's results from two weeks ago, while WB's "Charmed" (4.4/6) was off about 8% from last week.The only real winner in the hour was Fox's movie "Die Hard With Avengence" (7.0/9), while was actually up 52% from the last movie Fox aired in the slot, "Set It Off."
    "Survivor II: The Reunion," took the 10pm hour with a 28.1/32, though it was off 27% from last week. It's big competiton was "ER" (22.5/26) which actually tied the show in household ratings. That performance will go down as "ER"s worst ever.
    But the even worse news is for CBS. When all is said and done, it still has to go back to coming in third on Thursday nights starting next week. Pity the poor eye. (May 4)

"Once Again" gets a boost
    Just when all things looked bad for the struggling ABC drama, it puts in a season finale performance that just may earn it a spot on ABC's fall schedule. The drama pulled a 10.1/18 at 10pm, its best performance of the season. And that despite strong competition in both "Law & Order" (18.4/33) and "48 Hours" (9.1/16).
    That looked especially well considering the rest of ABC's line-up fell apart on the night. The return of "Two Guys & A Girl" (7.6/17) to Wednesday was poor, dropping 24% of its weak-ish "My Wife & Kids" (10.0/20) lead-in and falling off 36% from last weeks 8:30 episode of "Kids." Combined, they fell to third in the hour behind both "Ed" (9.4/21) & CBS's movie "Murder She Wrote" (12.1/24). The ABC duo did, however, win the hour in adults.
    "The Drew Carey Show" (10.3/18) failed to get ABC's fire going, dragging "Spin City" to a low 9.6/17. The was enough to put down Fox's dropping "Boot Camp" (9.3/17), but both were beaten up by "The Wwest Wing" (15.8/28). On the UPN, "Star Trek: Voyager" (5.1/9) had another strong outing in the hour, though it did get some competiton from the sure to be renewed "Felicity" (4.0/7)
    On the week, things couldn't be closer. NBC leads with an average of 12.2 million viewers, just slight more than both CBS (12.0) & ABC (11.9). Despite a strong start, Fox (9.9) has fallen off considerably, while WB (4.6) is way over the faltering UPN (3.0). (May 3)

Instead of "Survivor," try....
    So you're not going to watch the "Survivor" finale, eh? Like 255 million other North Americans out there, you just haven't bought into the hype and will settle for something less... how do you say it... blunt, this Thursday at 8pm. Here's what you could be watching: 1) "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (ABC, 8-9pm) This show is one of the funniest on tv. Too bad it airs opposite of the funniest parody of "Survivor I." 2) "Gilmore Girls" (WB, 8pm) This sparkling drama is the talk of tv. Well, the talk of those who own a tv and watch this show. 3) "Millionaire" (ABC, 9pm) Nothing like a slow paced game show staring Regis Philbin to make you want to switch over to "Survivor." 4) "ER" (NBC, 10pm) Trying to convince the world that Sally Fields is insane? Take a look at Ms. Doubtfire. One would have to be insane to co-star in a movie with Robin Williams and actually expect viewers to notice them. 5) "Will & Grace" (NBC, 9pm) TV's favorite gay-com. Why? They cancelled "Ellen" three years ago. 6) "WWF Smackdown" (UPN, 8pm) Why watch the low-brow, appeal to anyone "Survivor" when you can watch the low-brow, appeal to anyone "WWF Smackdown!?" 7) "Friends" (NBC, 8pm) Monica and Chandler are... forget it, I'm watching "Survivor."  (May 2)

"Frasier" hits the Tuesday mark
    After too many mediocre placings to count, "Frasier" finally showed its true sweeps colours in Tuesday, taking honours as the nights top rated show. The veteran averaged a 17.1/33 at 9pm, blowing away its competition "Dharma & Greg" (11.7/23), "60 Minutes II" (10.5/20) and the sliding "Dark Angel" (9.1/18). The result was "Frasier"s best in 8 weeks. It even helped the struggling "Three Sisters," (12.5/24), which won its 9:30 slot for the first time since "What About Joan?" premiered 6 weeks ago. That show tumbled to a 10.8/21, its worst result yet. But comparatively, it held on to a decent 92% of its lead-in, while "Sisters" dropped an astounding 27%. The gap became even more apparent in adults where "Joan" held onto 95% of it's lead-in, but "Sisters" could do no better than 70%. In fact, the ABC sophmore nearly beat the NBC show in the demo.
    But the 9pm hour was the only once that NBC could win, coming in 3rd at 10pm and 4th at 8pm.
At 8, "3rd Rock" (6.0/11) slid to its worst numbers of the season despite the fact that it's airing its finale in just 3 weeks. That more than lost out to Marsey-Carsey's other big sitcom, 'That 70s Show." A back-to-back shot of the show drew a 10.2/19 at 8pm, improving to a 10.7/20 at 8:30.
It also won the hour in all the younger demos, beating up on higher viewership oldies "JAG" (12.6/24) & "Millionaire" (16.4/31). At 10pm, "NYPD Blue" (14.2/25) was all that ABC needed to win the hour in viewers and adults, overcoming both "Judging Amy" (13.0/23) & "Dateline NBC"
(10.7/19).
    Over on the mini-nets, it was all good- on the WB. "Buffy" continued to shine on its fourth last airing on the WB, taking a 4.8/9. Even "Angel" brought up the rear with a 4.6/9, its best performance in 10 weeks. But the poor UPN just couldn't get started. First "Chains of Love" fell to a 2.5/5, then the now defunct "All Souls" crumbled to a 1.4/3. Bet the net's really looking forward to "Buffy" now... (May 2)

No winners on Monday
    The ratings for the first Monday night in sweeps are in, and no clear winner is apparently.
On the night, CBS won slightly with an average of 12.9 million viewers, followed closely by ABC
(12.0), Fox (11.7) & NBC (11.3).
    All shows at 8pm seemed to benefit from the rapid decline of "The Weakest Link." The gammer drew a 12.0/22 at 8pm, down 15% from last week and down 20% from its premiere three weeks ago. ABC was the biggest beneficiary, coming up with a 12.0/22 average for the premiere of the movie "Armegeddon," drawing 10.2 million at 8pm. That was up 60% over last week's result for the repeat special "David Blane: Frozen in Time." The net can also count the flick as its most successful since "These Old Broads" aired over a month ago. CBS took second place at 8pm thanks to "King Of Queens" (12.0/22) & "Yes, Dear" (10.9/20). Fox's "Boston Public" came in third in viewers (10.8/20), but won the hour in adults most other younger demos.
    Fox also won the 9pm hour in adults, even though the competition was a bit more stiff. "Ally McBeal" drew a 6.6 ratings in adults, coming up with a 12.5/22 in viewers. CBS did win the hour in viewers, even though "Everybody Loves Raymond" (16.6/29) had its worst resultsof the season.
ABC did well again with "Armegeddon" (averaging 12.2 million viewers), while NBC sunk deep into fourth with "Dateline NBC" (10.8/18). Also notable in the hour was the decline of "Roswell" (3.6/6)
on the WB. It sunk to its worst ratings of the season, dropping 44% of its generous "7th Heaven" (6.4/12) lead-in.
    But the night in general was good for the four major nets. Not one of their 11 series drew below 10 million viewers, the first time that has happened all season. But even more erily, 6 of those 11 series averaged a 22 net share.... hmm.... (May 1)

"Dharma" done deal
    The Hollywood Reporter is reporting today that "Dharma & Greg" has officially been renewed- on ABC. In one of the weirdest tv deals of the year, ABC would pay 20th Century Fox $2.4 to $2.6 million an episode for the series if it remains in it's competitive Tuesday at 9pm slot. That deal would be for one more season only. But if ABC moves the series to another, less competitive timeslot, the net would pay $2.0 million an episode for a 2 season deal.
    The deal seems to been meeting both sides in the middle. 20th Century had been reported as asking ABC for over $5.0 million an episode, while ABC didn't want to pay more than $1.3 million an episode. Fox's demands were widely seen as too much: "Dharma" is down 20% in the ratings this season under the weight of its "Frasier" competition. But with the recent deal that Fox signed to send "Buffy" to the UPN, were they really asking too much? Considering: ABC is pay as much for "Dharma" as UPN is for "Buffy," even though ""D&G" draws more two and a half times more viewers.
    But recent ratings news and the "Dharma" deal makes the $5.6 million NBC is paying for "Fraiser" look ludicrus. In recent weeks, thanks to new hit "What About Joan?" "Dharma" has beaten "Frasier" in the ratings, last week putting a two million viewer cushion between the two. (May 1)