'What About Joan' shows hit stuff for ABC
ABC’s “What About Joan” just might be the sitcom hit that the network has needed all season to complete its Tuesday schedule. Last night the show won both households and adults 18-49 again, despite slipping a little in the ratings from its premiere episode last week. “Joan” also built on its lead-in audience from “Dharma and Greg,” which won its half-hour against a repeat of “Frasier” on NBC. NBC struggled all night without a new “Frasier,” since its midseason replacement shows have not been very successful. One, “The Fighting Fitzgeralds,” finished dead last in its timeslot last night, while the other, “Three Sisters,” received mediocre ratings without a strong “Frasier” lead-in. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Tuesday night were: ABC 10.8/18 and 5.3, CBS 8.0/13 and 3.8, NBC 6.5/11 and 3.8, and Fox 5.1/8 and 3.6. On Monday night, CBS easily won the evening with its coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball championship game between Duke and Arizona. The game averaged a 13.9/22 household rating and share and an 8.8 adult 18-49 rating during its 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. time slot. The other networks conceded the night and ran mostly repeats. NBC’s “First Years” took advantage of the repeat competition to improve its ratings slightly, but the midseason drama still finished fourth in its 9 p.m. time slot. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday night were: CBS 12.4/19 and 7.6, NBC 6.5/10 and 3.3, ABC 6.0/9 and 3.1, and Fox 5.1/8 and 3.2.

'Cops' producer arrested for drunk driving
An idea for a new reality show: "World's Most Ironic Moments Caught On Tape." This week, while in Atlanta to meet with local police about an episode of Fox’s "Cops," one of the show’s producers was arrested for drunk driving, according to the Associated Press. Murray Jordan, 64, was pulled over on Monday night after making an illegal left turn, and subsequently failed a sobriety test. Like many drunk drivers featured on the show, the “Cops” producer was unable to recite the alphabet, could not hold his leg up for more than a second and could not walk heel-to-toe. Jordan admitted to the arresting police officer that he had had four glasses of wine with dinner and his blood-alcohol level was measured at .136 percent. The legal limit for operating a motor vehicle in Georgia is .08. Jordan was released on Tuesday morning on $1,000 bail. A spokesperson for the police department says they still plan to meet with Jordan about taping an episode of “Cops” in Atlanta.

'First Years' gets thrown out by NBC
“First Years,” NBC’s new legal drama was canceled yesterday after just three poorly-rated episodes. Produced by NBC Studios and Studios USA TV, "First Years" averaged an audience of 6.1 million viewers. The show, which premiered on March 19, received a 2.5 rating among the important demographic of adults 18 to 49. The network will air a repeat of "Law & Order" in the show's Monday 9 p.m. time slot next week and will move "Dateline NBC" into its place on April 16. "Dateline," which normally airs at 8 p.m. on Mondays, will be bumped back an hour to make room for the much-hyped game show "The Weakest Link." 
   See Wallenstein's review of "First Years."

Ex BET-er Smiley in talks for new show with CNN
Two weeks after getting dropped by BET, Tavis Smiley may be set to make a television comeback. Smiley, the former host of "BET Tonight," reportedly met with CNN executives yesterday about getting his own talk show or contributing to programs including "20/20" and "Primetime Thursday." Meanwhile, Smiley is weighing an offer to host a two-hour daily program on ABC Radio. A leading African-American television journalist and recipient of several NAACP Image Awards, Smiley was fired from BET after conducting an interview with Symbionese Liberation Army fugitive Sara Jane Olson for a segment on "Primetime Thursday." BET head Robert Johnson said he ordered that Smiley be fired for not offering the interview to BET first. But Smiley’s supporters decried the impersonal way Johnson carried it out—a fax to Smiley’s agent—and charged that Johnson was under pressure from Viacom executives, who felt the interview should have been on CBS. Viacom bought BET for $3 billion last year.

Confess your secret for $$$ during NBC sweeps
Thinking about admitting to the hubby your baby isn't his? Don't waste it on daytime audiences--do it on primetime, and get paid for the massive humiliation. That's seems to be the logic behind "NBCi Live Surprise Contest," which will let four people confess secrets during commercial breaks of NBC dramedy "Ed," one for each week in May. Prospective exhibitionists can go to www.nbci.com/livesurprise to apply until 5 p.m. EST April 8. Forty semifinalists will be chosen and asked to send up to 40 seconds of their announcements on VHS tapes. Four finalists will be chosen to appear on live TV. Viewers will choose the best one of the four by voting through the web site. The winner will receive $5,000.

Royal family in a dither over tabloid sting
For the British royal family, the tabloids are always a nuisance, but the latest tabloid escapade has proven more embarrassing than most. Its victim was Sophie, Countess of Wessex, the wife of Prince Edward. The Countess recently sat down for a chat with an Arab sheik who expressed interest in hiring her public relations firm. Unbeknownst to her, the "sheik" was a reporter from News of the World in disguise. Thoroughly taken in, the Countess produced a number of utterances that would have been considered coarse even for a commoner. She reportedly said that Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles are waiting for the Queen Mother, dubbed "the old lady," to kick the bucket so they can get married; called Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife "Horrid, absolutely horrid, horrid;" and described Conservative Leader William Hague as "deformed." Acting fast once it learned of the scoop, the Royal Family is thought to have struck a deal with the paper in which the Countess granted a formal interview in exchange for killing the ill-obtained one. Alas, The Mail, a rival of the News of the World, got its hands on the sheik interview and published excerpts. Buckingham Palace furiously denied the quotes were true but did not deny Sophie had sent handwritten letters of apology to all those she insulted. 

'Survivor' reef thief in trouble Down Under
CBS’s reality series "Survivor" is once again in trouble with Aussie officials, this time for a possible ecological violation. Authorities in Australia are reportedly investigating whether contestants illegally removed coral from the Great Barrier Reef. The investigation was ordered after officials watched last week’s episode, during which two contestants were flown to the reef and returned with pieces of coral as gifts for the other participants. Penalties for removing material from the reef without a permit include fines of up to $52,800. Australian authorities say they are also looking into complaints from viewers in the United States about an aircraft shown on the series flying too close to seabird rookeries on the reef. Last week, the country’s air force was reprimanded by its government after giving "Survivor: The Australian Outback" contestants a free ride on an air force transport plane. The ride cost Australian taxpayers approximately $150,000.

April 4, 2001 © 2001 Media Life

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