Established series take big hits
     Thanks to some hot new shows, viewers are turning their backs on some established series bringing worries and headaches to the networks. The big hit came to "The Practice" on Monday, which landed with a thud in its new timeslot with just 9.2mil viewers. It was surrounded by "Veritas" (9.1mil) and "Miracles" (8.8mil), and although the series didn't outdraw the 7 year old drama in viewers, they did in adults. All of this has sent David E. Kelley in a fury, saying the ABC has killed the "hit" and "one of the best dramas on tv." Sorry, DEK, but "The Practice" isn't that good anymore and Sunday ratings were slipping anyway. How long would it have been until this show dropped below 10mil on Sundays? It's last original episode on the night drew about 11.4mil.
      Another show that got caught in the Monday mix was "Everybody Loves Raymond," which will have its first down season in its entire run. The series drew a puzzling 17.2mil viewers for a new episode, its lowest total in 3 years. "Joe Millionaire," meanwhile, averaged  a huge 20.3mil viewers at 9pm and an 11.0/24 rating in adults, Fox's highest ever total for the timeslot.
"Still Standing" slipped to 13.4mil viewers at 9:30pm.
      Over on Tuesday, there's wasn't much to report on with the President's address taking up most of the night. "American Idol" (24.8mil) slipped from last week, but still killed the competition by a huge margin. (January 29)

Series on hiatus & pick ups
     After only a two weeks on the air, CBS's "Queens Supreme" has been sent on hiatus, which means its cancelled. Ditto for "Presidio Med," which returned last week to more bad results.
     The opposite is true for NBC's "Meet My Folks," which lighted up the line-up last week, though it didn't hit anything out of the park. It's been picked up for 7 editional episodes. (January 29)

ABC shows strength on Thursday
     With all the other networks in repeats, ABC tried something a little different on Thursday and finished with at 3rd place on the night with its highest ratings of the season. The net air its four "dad" coms from 8-10pm to okay numbers. "8 Simple Rules" (8.9mil), "According To Jim" (8.5mil), "My Wife & Kids" (8.3mil) and "George Lopez" (7.2mil) were 3rd in viewers and adults. But the real jump came at 10pm where "PrimeTime" drew 12.3mil viewers, almost double its season average. The show was also second in the hour, ahead of "ER" (11.0mil), but significantly behind a repeat of the strengthening "Without A Trace" (16.2mil).
      Other than ABC's strength, the night was much the same, as usual. Good news came at 8:30pm as a new "Scrubs" (15.1mil) held 89% of a repeat "Friends" (17.0mil). It got even better for NBC at 9:30pm as "Good Morning Miami" drew 13.0mil viewers, a drop 4% from "Will & Grace" (13.6mil). CBS was strong once again at 8pm with "Star Search" (15.0mil), which has performed so impressively that CBS is extending its run. "CSI" (23.8mil) was tops on the night, while "Trace" held a series high 68% of that audience. Over on Fox, they fell off their high horse for the first time this week with repeats of "Joe Millionaire" (7.6mil) and "Man vs. Beast" (5.8mil). 
      The UPN was strong with "Smackdown!" (6.1mil), while the WB continued to have better luck than usual with a repeat of "High School Reunion" (3.3mil), "The Surreal House" (4.2mil) and "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" (3.2mil) (January 24)
 

"Idol" return leaves nets reeling
     There must have been some cartwheels this morning- the return of "American Idol" have the network its best ever Tuesday night ratings. the show averaged a huge 26.5mil from 8 to10pm, peaking at over 30mil at 9:30pm. In adults, the show averaged a huge 12.1 rating in adults, beating almost every single night of programing this year in that demo. Only premiere night on NBC's Thursday line-up and last Sunday's NFL playoff on CBS drew better.
     So what did this mean for the other networks? Well, for those who weren't CBS, a whole lot of trouble. If last night's numbers were any indication, its going to be a very long spring for the others on Tuesday.
     Over "Idol," CBS was tops at 8pm with "JAG" (14.4mil) doing near normal numbers. Then it was ABC with "8 Simple Rules" (11.1mil) and an hour long "Accoring To Jim" (10.0mil), which were significantly off their season averages. The WB took fourth with "Gilmore Girls," which hit a season low at 5.4mil. NBC was a very week fifth with "InStyle Celebrity Weddings" (5.0mil) while the UPN's "Buffy" (3.9mil) drew its lowest numbers in more than 5 years for an original episode.
    Things got even worse at 9pm as "Idol" only picked up steam. "The Guardian" was second (11.8mil), but it was a blurr after that. ABC took third with "Less Than Perfect" (7.8mil) not doing too badly considering the competition drew more than 30mil viewers. NBC was a weak fourth with repeats of "Frasier" (9.0mil) and ":Hidden Hills" (6.0mil). "Smallville" was fifth (6.2mil) while "Abby" (2.1mil) and a repeat of "Girlfriends" (1.3mil) were dead last.
     At 10pm, NBC finally got some traction as the continuation of "Meet My Folks" scored 12.0mil viewers. And while it won in adults, it lost in viewers to "Judging Amy" (13.3mil). "NYPD Blue" (8.2mil) was last. (January 22)

NBC set to win the week
    Baring a catastrophe, NBC will win the week in grand fashion. With a strong Friday line-up, "Law & Order" Saturday and The Golden Globes on Sunday, the net could finish the week in the 15.5mil viewer range, its highest total since the Olympics of that February. 
    But hold up... there is a catastrophe brewing.... CBS is airing the AFC championships in primetime on Sunday. could there be an upset in the air? (January 17)

ABC, CBS & NBC all win on Wed & Thursday
    Two days, three winners. Well, ABC wasn't actually a winner on Thursday, but NBC and CBS were, as well as Wednesday. The highlight of Wednesday night was "The Bachelorette," which held onto 17.4mil viewers, equalling its premiere numbers. "The West Wing" (14.5mil) continued to suffer opposite tough competition, while Fox's hyped special "Man vs. Beast" wasn't as big as hyped to be, but it did draw 9.3mil viewers, some of Fox's best numbers of the season in the slot. CBS' started Wednesday out with a strong 12.8mil for "Star Search," and those number would get even better on Thursday as the show drew a big 15.4mil, making me wonder what CBS will do with it after "Survivor" comes back.... "Celebrity Mole" was no slouch either at 11.1mil. Though it was far behind "Law & Order" (19.1mil), the gap in adults was a much less 18%. 
      Over on Thursday, outside of the usuals "Friends" (23.7mil) & "CSI" (27.6mil), there wasn't much to report. Well, "Scrubs" (18.0mil) is doing okay at 76% retention, and is actually beating "Will & Grace" (16.0mil). "Good Morning Miami," is, surprizingly, doing better. This week it drew 14.2mil, only 11% behind its lead-in. Isn't this a record for NBC? Over on ABC, "Disco Ball" (7.9mil) wasn't as bad as it could have been, while Fox aired a double "Joe Millionaire" and brought 7.3mil viewers to the night, one of its best perfs of the season. 
     But the big news of the night has to be what happened at 10pm. Last week, "ER" hit a series low 21.5mil viewers. This week, it was up slight to 21.8mil, but watch out- "Without A Trace" hit a series high 17.3mil.... that's only 21% below the one-time infalliable drama. (Janaury 17)

A bunch of renewals
     The winter press tour has produced a bunch of renewal announcements, but only three that are really noteworthy. Over in the NBC camp, "The West Wing" has been renewed for two seasons, but for how much? Certainly more than the $1.6mil the net pays now, but nobody is talking. 
     And while that show is flaming out in its fourth season, another show just keeps keeping strong. In its 14th season, "The Simpsons" is a top 20 series, the highest rated on its network, and one of the top 10 shows in most of the desirable demos. And Fox is renewing it for 2 more years. That'll bring it to at least 360 episodes. God, this show will soon be older than me....
    And while that show is still riding high, one show that has slipped down the drain is getting a reprieve. God knows why, byt ABC has decided to keep the last year on "The Drew Carey Show"s contract.
     Also renewed: King of The Hill. (Jaunary 17)

NBC has big plans
     And you thought that ABC was ambitious: NBC has rolled out a development plan for the rest of the season. If you want the full logistics, its smeared all over their website www.nbcmv.com. Here are the basics:
     "Fear Factor" will do a slew of "theme episodes" through February while NBC's Thursday line-up gets "Surper-Sized" yet again. The revivial "Let's Make A Deal" will debut on Saturday, March 1st at 9pm and go for 6 weeks (note to NBC: you're three years too late on the game show thing. The "deal" now is searching for stars and dating shows.) Thank to the success of November's movie "Hunter," the series will be back on Saturdays starting April 12 with a movie then 5 new episodes. "Watching Ellie" will come back in April, and Madonna will guest on "Will & Grace." Just in case there was one gay man out there who didn't watch the show.... 
      Oh, and the daytime soap "Passions," which seems to be setting new ratings highs every week, will be back for a fourth season. (January 17)

One show breaks 15 mil through Tuesday
    After last week's break out of the gate, the nets are stumbling through so far as only one series has managed to crack the 15mil viewer mark. That was "Joe Millionaire" (17.6mil), which knocked "Raymond" (14.6mil) down to some of its worst numbers of the season. CBS did start out strong with repeats of "King" (12.3mil) and "Dear" (12.2mil), which "CSI Miami" (12.9mil) closed out the night with weakish numbers. These weak results gave NBC ammo on the night as "Fear Factor" (14.6mil) and "Crossing Jordan" won their respective slots for the very first time this season. Elsewhere on Monday, the "2003 AMA Awards" fell to a horrible 12.8mil viewers, down significantly from last season.
     The news didn't get much better on Tuesday as the only show to break 12mil was "Frasier" at 12.3mil. But the news for NBC was bad overall on the night as "Just Shoot Me" (6.2mil) and "The In Laws" (6.3mil) fell to their worst numbers since... last week. Over on ABC, its was repeat Tuesday, though "8 Simple Rules" (11.8mil) still pulled strong numbers. The 9pm news wasn't great for "Life With Bonnie" as it dropped to 7.8mil. Fox was a demo winner as "24" hit 10.5mil viewers, its highest total in over a month. (January 15)

A few series cancelled (surprise)
     A few series have seemingly gotten the boot over the last 48 hours, though only one has been officially announced. CBS will send "Touched By an Angel" to heaven in May, where it will mingle with all the other critically panned series that have somehow found viewer success. But that success is long gone, and the show is limping along in a deadly Saturday night slot.
     Meanwhile, over on NBC, the last episode of "The In Laws" will seemingly air next week. No new episode have been ordered. "Just Shoot Me" and "Hidden Hills" have both been pulled for sweeps. The news series "AUSA" will air at Tuesdays at 9:30pm after sweeps, so it could be bye-bye "Hills" and good riddance "Just Shoot Me." (January 15)

ABC has big plans
     ABC announced on Wednesday that it's not "going to hide on Thursdays" anymore. The net will instead aggressively go after the night. While it won't get Thursday nights by a long shot, it could go for a strong third. The show "Are You Hot: the Search For America's Sexiest People" will start on February 13th at 9pm on Thursdays and run for 6 weeks. After that, the one-time special "Extreme Makeover" will become a regular series and air at 9pm staring April 3rd. So we have a search for the sexiest people, the ugliest people, and the best overall woman? "All American Girl" will go on a nationwide search for the best overall "American Girl." It will start Wednesday March 12th and air for 12 consecutive weeks. And then there's "The Bachelor 3," which will come back on March 26th.
     Oh, and did you hear about ABC winning the right to air "I'm a Celebrity... Get me Out Of Here" ? Well, if you long to see Melissa Rivers suffering (and I know you do... or at least I do), then you can watch starting on Wednesday, February 19th at 10pm right after the finale of "The Bachelorette." The series will then air for 15 straight nights at staggered times. Mondays at 8pm, Tuesdays at 9pm, Wednesdays at 9pm (expect the premiere and the last episode, which will air from 9-11pm), Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays 9pm, Saturdays at 10pm and Sundays at 7 pm, with both of those installments being 2 hours long. I don't know, but I have a feeling this could be the ratings hit of the season. Or a huge dud, who knows? (January 15)

Rejigged Friday not golden for all
    With three of the four networks rejigging their Friday line-ups, it was obvious that nto everything was going to work. And not everything did, as the early Friday returns show. What did work was NBC's new drama "Mister Sterling," which debuted to a solid 12.2mil viewers. What didn't was CBS's "Queens Supreme" which came up with a weak 8.1mil, but that still wasn't as bad as Fox's relocated "Fastlane," which sunk to 5.1mil at 8pm. Though that's high than most of the episodes of "Firefly" that aired in that slot this season, it's still a series low for the probably-soon-to-be-departed Fox drama. My roommates will be so upset when that happens. For whatever reason, their entire lives revolve around this series.
     Other than that, it was a very average Friday night with all the nets in usual order. NBC won at 8pm, ABC was second with "Funniest Videos" (9.4mil) and CBS was a close third with "48 Hours Invesitgates" (9.2mil). Fox was last. At 9pm, CBS's "Hack" (10.6mil) got its bestr numbers in over a month and beat out "Dateline NBC" (10.2mil) for the top spot. Fox was third with the sinking "John Doe" (6.0mil) while ABC got stuck with the sure-to-be-cancelled duo of "Whose Line (6.0mil) and "Drew Carey" (5.5mil). At 10pm, "SVU" (16.6mil) has a huge win over both "20/20" (8.6mil) and CBS. (January 11)

Thursday not impressive
     After not having new Thursday series for a couple of weeks, viewers did not come back to the night in droves as could have been expected. In fact, it was a week night that saw many series hit season lows and there was even a series low. The clear winner of the night was the WB's "The Surreal Life" which came online to a WB Thursday record  5.3mil viewers in the 9pm hour, way above its fading "High sChool Reunion" leading (3.2mil). but those numbers still represent by far the WB's best performance on the night this season.
     So, were they any other winners? Well, Fox aired the special "The 15 Cops Moments of All Time" (8.6mil) and got its best Thursday total of the season, and at 10pm, CBS's "Without A Trace" hit 16.2mil viewers, just 25% behind NBC's washed-up "ER."
     Going in order, at 8pm, NBC won with low numbers for "Friends" (23.5mil) and "Scrubs" (17.5mil). CBS was second with "Star Search" (13.4mil), while Fox was third. ABC aired the movie "Snow Day" (6.0mil overall) in fourth, while "WWE Smackdown!" (5.1mil) was fifth in the hour. The WB was last.
     At 9pm, "CSI" (25.4mil) is obviously hurting without that "Survivor" lead-in, and fell to a season low. But then again, so did "Will & Grace" (16.2mil) and the god-awful "Good Morning Miami" (13.1mil) over on NBC. Fox was third, ABC fourth, the WB fifth and the UPN last. At 10pm, "ER" won, but it fell to a first run series low of just 21.5mil viewers. CBS was second, while "PrimeTime Thursday" limped to just 7.1mil viewers, which is sadly above its season average. (January 11)

Reality ignites Wednesday
   With reality series running from 8 to 11pm between ABC and CBS Wednesday nights, a show could easily get caught in the hubbub. But they didn't. The clear winner was the premiere of "The Bachelorette," which smashed the 9pm competition with a huge 17.6mil viewers and an 8.5 rating in adults. "The West Wing" was a dismal second at a three season low 14.3mil viewers
and a weak 4.9 rating in adults. Third was "60 Minutes II" with a solid 10.8 and a 3.5 rating in adults, easily its best performance of the season in the demo. Fox aired the movie "Austin Powers: The Spy Show Shagged Me" (8.6mil, 3.5/9) for the night and came in fourth, while "Birds of Prey" (3.1mil) bowed out with its lowest ratings yet. "The Twilight Zone" (2.7mil) was dead last, and will probably get the boot at the end of the season, or sooner.
     Back up an hour, it was another reality series that took the winners crown, CBS's "Star Search." The show debuted to 14.3mil viewers, CBS's best performance in the slot in two months. The show also drew a 5.3 rating in adults in the hour, which will likely rank it number three or four on the net for the week. Other thank that, there were no real winners in the hour. NBC's "Ed" (11.3mil, 4.0 in adults) did okay, especially considering its rapidly declining lead-in.  ABC's duo of "My Wife & Kids" (11.4mil, 3.9) and "George Lopez" (11.0mil, 4.2mil) were solid, but obviously hurt by CBS. After Fox, "Enterprise" (4.6mil) came in with a series low, leaving the WB to sixth.
    But NBC did cap off the night with a win. "Law & Order" (19.6mil) hit a near series high, though for the first time all season, both ABC and CBS drew more than 10mil viewers in the hour. CBS went with "48 Hours Investigates" (10.3mil, 3.2) and got its best numbers since November in the slot, while the premiere of ABC's "Celebrity Mole: Hawaii" hit 10.8mil viewers and a very strong 5.3 rating in adults. (December 9)

No Tuesday winners to be found
   Tuesday nights, which last season were a competitive battle ground that CBS mastered, are pretty calm this season, even boring. Last Tuesday proved to be no exception with no series really performing overly well and a few slipping to disappointing numbers. Starting out at 8pm, "JAG" (15.5mil) was tops, while ABC won in the demos with "8 Simple Rules" (12.2mil) and "Jim" (11.7mil) while Fox wasn't that far behind with two episodes of "That 70s Show" (9.1mil overall). NBC was a deep third with new episode lows for "Just Shoot Me" and "The In Laws" (6.5mil each). The UPN was fifth with "Buffy" (4.1mil) while a two hour "Smallville" averaged a low 3.7mil for the night.
     At 9pm, CBS won again with "The Guardian" (13.0mil), though it was "Frasier" (12.3mil) and "Hidden Hills" (8.8mil) that took the demos. Well, not quite, actually. That honour belonged to "24" (10.4mil). ABC was fourth with lows for "Bonnie" (9.1mil) and "Perfect" (7.8mil) while the WB was fifth. The UPN's "Abby" started out Tuesdays with only 2.6mil, down from its "Girlfriends" (2.7mil) lead-in. 
    In the late hour, "Judging Amy" (13.6mil) won over season lows for "Blue" (11.8mil) and "Dateline NBC" (8.8mil). The ratings for Wednesday ngith will be a much more interesting affair. Tonight sees the premieres of "The Bachelorette," "Celebrity Mole" on ABC and CBS's "Star Search." (January 8)

"Joe Millionaire" : Fox's hit of the year
    Though it's still pretty early in the year, it's pretty safe to say that "Joe Millionaire" will be Fox's hit of the season (unless "American Idol" is bigger than expected). The show premiered to a huge 18.6mil viewers at 9pm and a 10.2 rating in adults, bringing up "Boston Public" (10.0mil) in the process. But did it kill the competition? Not quite. "Raymond" (20.0mil) won at 9pm, though it fell to a season low 6.5 rating in adults. "Still Standing" slipped to 15.3mil viewers at 9:30pm. Over on NBC "Third Watch" drew a solid 11.4mil and a 4.6 rating in adults. Over on ABC, the movie "Any Given Sunday" came in at a pathetic 7.1mil and a tiny 2.7 rating in adults. "Everwood" was fifth (5.6mil) at season low numbers, while "Girlfriends" (4.0mil) and the premiere of "Abby" (3.5mil) were less than impressive.
     Backing up an hour, the numbers were smaller, but there was still competition. "King of Queens" (14.8mil) and "Yes, Dear" (15.0mil) won in viewers, but "Fear Factor" (13.8mil, 6.4 in adults) won in the demos. Fox was third while "7th Heaven" (7.1mil) was fourth. After ABC, "The Parkers" (3.7mil) and "One On One" (4.2mil) were well below average. At 10pm, "CSI Miami" (17.3mil) hit a near season low, while "Crossing Jordan" (12.2mil) hit a season high at a 4.9 rating in adults.

Welcome the New Year
    A few nets were probably more than anticipating the New Year- a chance to get a fresh start. It's been a very rough year for Fox and the UPN. Fox watched as almost nothing worked on its schedule last fall, it's only breakout being "24" and renaissance of "The Simpsons." For the New Year, the net has the heavily promoted "Joe Millionaire," which should provide some ratings spark on Mondays. Then it's "American Idol," a cure for Tuesday & Wednesday. But will it kill everything in its path? Remember- last summer's finale, though made out to be the biggest thing ever, drew just over 22mil viewers, certainly not "Millionaire." And while the lead-up to the final drew increasingly higher numbers, the first going off the series struggled to break 10mil. So while the show will bring some life back into Fox's line-up, it's won't be the cure all.
    As for the UPN, the only thing it has in the bag is "Abby," a comedy set to follow "Buffy" on Tuesday. Remember how well "As If" and "The Random Years" worked there last year? It's going to be a very tough spring for the UPN.
    The other nets aren't planning anything big, but are tweaking their schedules. ABC will air "The Bachelorette" on Wednesdays to be followed by "Celebrity Mole." The combo of the both will probably spark some ratings interest, though not likely on a "Bachelor" level. "Alias," meanwhile, gets the post Super Bowl slot and then "Dragnet" takes the place of "The Practice," which moves to Monday surrounded by "Miracles" and "Veritas." The net has also promised to gradually roll out about a dozen series between now and May, so get ready for confusion. Series likely to be bumped? "Bonnie," "Less "Than Perfect," "Drew Carey," "Whose Line," Thursday night. 
     Over on NBC, there's not much planned. The net will try out a few new comedies for Tuesday & Thursday, though with "Friends" coming back for a 10th, some of the pressure is off.... for now. CBS has been fairly quite, but will try to launch "Star Search" on Wednesdays, at least unitl "The Amazing Race" and "Survivor" come back in late February. Over on the WB, there's been some movement, with "Angel" going to Wednesdays and "Sabrina" to Thursdays," but nothing substantial.
      And will the nets ever need it. This Christmas hasn't exactely been generous to the networks, especially Fox. Good luck. (January 2)

                                   December 2002 News