Sunday's Emmys up on 'Housewives' buzz
   “Desperate Housewives” didn’t win the Emmy for Best Comedy, but all the buzz over its chance to win may have helped revive the Emmys.
   Sunday’s Ellen DeGeneres-hosted telecast on CBS averaged 18.8 million total viewers from 8-11 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, the award show’s best showing since 2002.
   That’s based on preliminary numbers that measure time slot performance. Final ratings, which will be out tomorrow, will measure the actual ceremony’s performance, though for once it stayed in the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. timeframe.
   It's nearly 5 million more than the 13.96 million last year's telecast on ABC averaged, according to overnights.
  That was down from 17.94 million on Fox in 2003 and 19.99 million on NBC in 2002. In 2001, the last time CBS aired the event, it averaged 17.12 million total viewers.
   The telecast averaged a 6.0 rating among viewers 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights, a 27.7 percent increase over the 4.7 overnight rating ABC averaged for the Emmys last year.
   The telecast also led CBS to No. 1 for the night in the demo with a 5.8 average rating and a 15 share. Fox was second for the night at 3.9/10, ABC third at 2.6/7, NBC fourth at 1.8/5 and the WB fifth at 1.3/4.
   CBS swept all four primetime hours last night, starting with a 5.0 average at 7 p.m. for NFL football runover and “60 Minutes.” Fox was second that hour with a 3.0 average for a repeat of “The Simpsons” (2.8) and the season premiere of “King of the Hill” (3.2) and NBC third with a 1.7 average for “Dateline.”
   At 8 p.m. CBS jumped to a 6.3 average rating for the first hour of its Emmys telecast. Fox maintained second place with a 4.3 average rating for “The Simpsons” (4.7) and “The War At Home” (3.9), which held up well against strong competition, while ABC took third with a 2.1 average for the second hour of the movie “Pearl Harbor.”
   CBS led again at 9 p.m. with a 6.2 average. Fox was second with a 4.2 average for “Family Guy” (4.5) and “American Dad” (4.0) and ABC third with a 3.3 for “Pearl Harbor.”
   CBS completed the sweep during the 10 p.m. hour with a 5.6 average. ABC moved into second place with a 3.5 average for the last 60 minutes of “Pear Harbor” and NBC was third with a 2.4 average for a repeat of “Crossing Jordan.”
   Among households, CBS led the night with an 11.8 average rating and a 19 share. NBC was second at 4.8/8, just edging ABC’s and Fox’s 4.7/8, with the WB fifth at 2.0/3.

Rumor: Garrett's 'Raymond' spinoff is back on
Minutes after “Everybody Loves Raymond” took home several Emmys in a farewell salute to the longtime CBS sitcom, star Brad Garrett told The New York Times that he might be sticking around for awhile. After winning his third Emmy for his role as Ray Romano’s fictional brother Robert Barone, Garrett told the Times that “there's been some major movement [towards a spinoff] over the last few days, and it's looking promising. We're all very close." Garrett’s would-be status as leading man is a significant departure from his set walk-off a few years back to protest his salary. Garrett suggested that Phil Rosenthal, co-creator and executive producer of "Raymond," would run his new show. Calls to CBS this morning were not returned.

On the eve of 'Apprentice,' Martha dishes on jail
Martha Stewart is back, and once again she has got some tips to make life easier. Last night Stewart spoke to David Letterman on the “Late Show” in one of her first late night talk show appearances since being released from prison. She said her coping mechanism for dealing with prison was to call it by the name of a far freer place -- “Yale.” She admitted the prison experience was rather horrifying but didn’t let herself get depressed. Looking back, Stewart believes jail time taught her how strong she really is. She also told Letterman that she chose to serve her prison term rather than appeal the decision so that she could get on with her shows. She has a new daytime talk show, which began last week, and will also host an “Apprentice” spinoff premiering tomorrow. CBS is also airing an unauthorized, made-for-TV movie this weekend called “Martha: Behind Bars,” though it’s doubtful any Yalie references made it in.

Iraqi journalist working for NY Times brutally slain
The violence in Iraq is getting worse, and those who are covering news continue to be in danger. Fakher Haider, an Iraqi reporter and photographer who worked for The New York Times in Basra, was discovered dead Monday after being taken from his home by men with weapons claiming to be police officers, according to relatives and witnesses. Haider is at least the 77th journalist slain since the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003, according to Reporters Without Borders. The group said that about two-thirds of the dead journalists have been Iraqis. Haider, 38, lived in Basra and worked for the Times for about two and a half years. His reporting recently focused on the growing conflict between Basra's warring Shiite militias, who many believe have filtered into the local police force. Haider is the second journalist murdered in Basra during the last two months. In August, Steven Vincent, a U.S. freelancer working on a book about Basra, was kidnapped and found dead.

Don't call it a 'Comeback:' HBO dismisses Kudrow 
Lisa Kudrow’s comeback wasn’t a very successful one. The former “Friends” star’s HBO mockumentary “The Comeback” has been canceled after ending its season Sept. 4. The show premiered to 1.5 million viewers, but that dropped to 920,000 for the finale. In other programming, Spike TV will launch the reality gambling show “King of Vegas” sometime during the first quarter of next year, which will feature some in-show advertising for Schick through a segment called The Schick Quattro Poker Face of the Night. Si TV has picked up a second season of “Urban Jungle” launching Oct. 9 at 10 p.m. The show takes 13 sheltered kids and moves them into a tiny two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment. King World and Harpo Productions are producing a lifestyle/cooking show starring Food Network personality Rachel Ray. If picked up, King World will distribute it to Scripps-owned broadcast stations. And Terrence Michael Productions and Gilbertson Entertainment are shopping a series called “Super Sizemore,” a reality show following actor Tom Sizemore, the dad of twin boys who endured stints in court and drug rehab.

Yogi settles with TBS over naughty 'Yogasm'
Scratch “yogasm” from the list of yogi-isms. The term, which comes from “Sex and the City,” was used by TBS to advertise the syndicated show with a tongue-in-cheek reference to former baseball great Yogi Berra, but it so offended him that he filed a $10 million lawsuit against TBS. ESPN.com reported yesterday that the two sides have now reached a settlement. In the ad, hyping Tuesday and Wednesday night syndicated episodes of “SATC,” viewers were given a multiple-choice quiz to define “yogasm.” It was either: (a) a type of yo-yo, (b) sex with Yogi Berra, or (c) what Samantha has with a guy from yoga class. (Correct answer is, you guessed it, c.) Berra, who referred to himself in court documents as “deeply religious,” was disturbed to be linked to racy commentary. He is famous for such head scratchers as, “The future ain’t what it used to be” or “I didn’t really say everything I said.”