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Reruns of sitcoms proved more potent than movies or miniseries last night, as CBS nearly swept the night in both households and adults 18-49. Only “Dateline” on NBC offered any competition, tying CBS’s “King of Queens” at 8 p.m. and beating “Yes, Dear” at 8:30 p.m. in households. Fox also scored with sitcom reruns, placing second among adults 18-49 in every half-hour except one last night. On NBC, the second half of “Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot,” managed to retain nearly all of its audience from Sunday night against the rerun competition, but NBC still finished the night tied for last with ABC among adults 18-49. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday night were: CBS 9.8/15 and 5.4, NBC 8.7/13 and 3.5, ABC 7.0/11 and 3.5, and Fox 5.9/9 and 4.6. On Sunday, it became apparent that the Kennedys are losing their hold on the American public, at least when it comes to garnering ratings. Part one of NBC’s miniseries, “Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot” ranked last among adults 18-49 during all four of its half-hours and just barely ahead of Fox’s “The Lone Gunmen” and CBS’s repeat of the movie “Eraser” to finish second among households. But even in second place, “Women of Camelot” averaged 8 household shares fewer than Sunday night’s first place movie, the Oprah Winfrey produced “Amy and Isabelle.” “Women of Camelot’s” disappointing performance shouldn’t surprise too many, however, since CBS’s two-part movie on Jackie Kennedy Onassis earned mediocre numbers last November. For Fox, the debut of “The X-Files” spinoff, “The Lone Gunmen,” was a so-so success. The show lost about 20 percent of its lead-in audience from “Malcolm in the Middle,” but earned about the same ratings that “The X-Files” has this season for episodes without its lead actor, David Duchovny. Fox won the night among adults 18-49, while ABC won in households. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Sunday night were: ABC 11.7/18 and 5.4, CBS 8.7/13 and 3.9, Fox 7.6/12 and 6.5, and NBC 7.0/11 and 3.3.
CBS dumps underachieving 'Bette'
CBS cancelled Bette Midler’s low-rated freshman sitcom "Bette" yesterday. The show, produced by Columbia TriStar, has shut down production after completing 18 episodes of a 22-episode order. Following a strong premiere, "Bette’s" ratings declined rapidly. Recently, the show was averaging 9 million viewers per week. CBS had previously planned to preempt "Bette" for two weeks this month to make room for an episode of "Survivor" and coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. But network executives reportedly felt it wasn’t worth it to bring back the ratings-deprived comedy after the break. The series finale, which airs tomorrow night, introduces Robert Hays as Midler's new husband. Hays replaced Kevin Dunn, who reportedly left the series owing to conflicts with Midler after only a few months of taping the comedy.
WWF prez: We may spike the XFL this year
Forget two-year commitments—if the XFL isn’t doing better by the end of the season, there may not be a next year. That’s the word from WWF President Linda McMahon. "[W]e’re taking a look at it on a week-by-week basis," said McMahon at a recent media investment conference in Boca Raton, Fla. McMahon argued that it’s too early to judge the league a flop, saying it "can’t be treated or looked at like a television pilot…It takes time to build player awareness, it takes time to develop the stars." Still, she said, despite NBC’s pledge to back the XFL for two years, if things haven’t improved by the end of the 12-week season, the WWF will consider pulling the plug.
Bloomberg steps down, eyes on mayoral run
Michael Bloomberg has resigned as chairman of Bloomberg LP, re-igniting rumors that he’s readying a run for mayor of New York. Filling his spot on the board of the business news and information company will be Peter T. Grauer, a managing director at investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston. Bloomberg will retain his post as chief executive. Announcing the move, Bloomberg said that he is stepping down to devote more time to other pursuits. His name is regularly put forth in discussions of the 2002 mayoral race in New York City, but Bloomberg reportedly hasn’t decided yet whether he will run.
Reality guru Burnett: Morning TV needs me
"Survivor" creator Mark Burnett, who brought reality television to a new level with his mega-successful adventure series, says he’s now interested in reinvigorating morning television. "Once I'm done with 'Survivor,' I think I would like to invent a whole new kind of morning news show," he recently told the New York Daily News. "I think the other ones are all tired. It's all been the same for so long." Burnett says he'd like to create an avant-garde morning show which would appeal to the "MTV generation." Who would he pick to anchor the show? "Carson Daly would be great. Jon Stewart might be fun. Craig Kilborn would be terrific," says Burnett.
Playboy: We never offered Mandy $1.5 M
"Temptation Island" star Mandy Lauderdale showed a lot of integrity last week when she turned down a $1.5 million offer to pose nude for Playboy. Except for one small detail: The magazine says no such offer was ever made, according to the New York Post. The 22-year-old aspiring actress and singer named the $1.5 million figure on Howard Stern's radio show on Thursday, along with her reasons for declining the sum. While not denying having expressed interest, Playboy says it never pays anyone that much to take off their clothes, according to the Post. Fellow reality-TV starlet Darva Conger of "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire" reportedly received approximately $100,000 when she appeared in Playboy.
'Survivor's' Richard loses civil rights suit
Richard Hatch may have defeated his fellow islanders on "Survivor," but he wasn’t able to defeat Rhode Island's Department of Children, Youth and Families. Hatch’s case against the state agency has been dismissed. Hatch filed the suit, which claimed his civil rights were violated, after being arrested last July on a child-abuse charge. Following the arrest, his adopted son, Christopher, 10, was removed from his home for a month. The case against Hatch, which was eventually dropped, alleged that the "Survivor" winner forced his son to go jogging in the middle of the night and then became violent when he stopped running. Hatch was reportedly upset the child had gained weight while he was gone taping the show.
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