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CBS’s broadcast of the “Country Music Awards” wasn’t enough to upset NBC’s Wednesday night lineup, as “The West Wing” and “Law and Order” swept their time periods and NBC won the night in both households and adults 18-49. CBS placed second in both categories for the night. On ABC, “My Wife and Kids” won the 8 p.m. half-hour among adults 18-49, but the rest of ABC’s lineup, including “Two Guys and a Girl” at 8:30 p.m. and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” at 10 p.m., fell to third behind NBC and CBS. Fox was in fourth place the entire night, as “Boot Camp” dropped nearly 20 percent from last week’s rating. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Wednesday night were: NBC 10.5/17 and 6.0, CBS 9.4/15 and 4.4, ABC 7.0/11 and 4.2, Fox 4.7/8 and 3.5. Meanwhile on Tuesday, ABC easily won both households and adults 18-49 with a celebrity edition of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and the departure of Kim Delaney from “NYPD Blue.” ABC’s midseason show “What About Joan” also showed some sweeps strength, building upon last week’s rating and tying NBC’s own midseason show “Three Sisters” for the household win at 8:30 p.m. CBS placed second in households and fourth in adults 18-49 for the night, while Fox did the opposite—second in adults 18-49 and fourth in households. NBC finished third in both categories, despite sweeping the 9 p.m. hour with “Frasier” and “Three Sisters.” The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Tuesday night were: ABC 9.8/16 and 5.2, CBS 9.0/14 and 3.3, NBC 7.0/11 and 4.1, and Fox 5.9/9 and 4.6.
CNBC plumps 'Biz Center' as Dobbs returns
In an effort to steal some of Lou Dobbs's thunder, CNBC has announced it will expand its "Business Center" financial news program to two hours beginning Monday. The show will start at 6:00 p.m. instead of 6:30 p.m. Arch-rival "Moneyline," hoping for a ratings rush as Lou Dobbs returns to the anchor chair Monday, begins at 6:30 p.m. "Business Center" will be on the air from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and stay at 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Friday. CNBC obviously hopes that "Business Center" viewers will be disinclined to switch to "Moneyline" a half-hour into the program. This thinking of course presumes that people are ready and willing to begin watching their financial news show a half-hour earlier in the first place. In the two years since Dobbs left CNN, "Moneyline" and "Business Center" have flip-flopped in the ratings, with the CNBC show moving into first place. During the first quarter of 2001, the average audience for "Business Center" during the hour it competed head to head with "Moneyline" was 327,000 people, compared to 254,000 for "Moneyline." Before Dobbs left, "Moneyline" had an average audience of 366,000 with "Business Center" down at 238,000.
Congresswoman: Enough already with 'Sopranos'
Marge Roukema is from New Jersey, and her grandparents were Italian immigrants, but unlike a number of New Jerseans of Italian heritage she doesn't watch "The Sopranos" and thinks it does a disservice to all Italian-Americans by portraying them as thugs and gangsters. Roukema, who is a Congresswoman, is drafting a resolution praising Italian-Americans for their contributions and condemning movies and TV shows that depict them in a negative light. Roukema says she is repeatedly stopped in the supermarket by people objecting to the HBO mob drama. Appearing on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" the Congresswoman admitted she had never actually seen the show. But, she said, "I had heard enough about it, I heard enough about it, I've known about it. That's why, quite frankly, I'm boycotting it, quite frankly." "The Sopranos" has been the object of similar attacks by politicians around the country, but this may be the first case where it is being attacked in Congress. Congressional resolutions are only statements of opinion and do not bear the weight of law.
E! Entertainment adding eight new shows
E! Entertainment TV is adding eight new weekly series for the 2001-02 season for full 13-episode runs. "Totally True TV Tales" is a half-hour behind-the-scenes show looking at popular television series. "Rank," whose series premiere covers the sexiest men in entertainment, counts down the best and worst in movies, television, music and sports. "Making It," which sounds very similar to ABC’s "Making of the Band," follows young, wannabe stars in pursuit of their showbiz dreams. "The Women of...," not surprisingly, profiles female actors, comedians, and entertainment executives at the top of their game. "Assignment E!" hosted by "E! News Daily's" Steve Kmetko and Jules Asner, features hour-long reports on the big entertainment news stories of the week. "Star Style," whose first subjects are Michelle Pfeiffer and Cher, features the styles and fashion tastes of major stars. "Close Encounters" puts cast members, writers and directors of television series before studio audiences to discuss and answer questions about their shows. "E! POV," whose premise appears similar to MTV’s "Diary," has celebrities document their days with digital cameras.
'Survivor's' Burnett: Fakery was harmless
Turns out reality TV guru Mark Burnett has been skimping somewhat on the reality part. On Monday, while at a Museum of Television & Radio panel in Los Angeles, the "Survivor" creator admitted to reenacting portions of the show in order to get certain shots without the television audience seeing any of the cameras. On "Survivor: Australian Outback," Burnett said he filmed overhead shots of a swim race using body doubles dressed in the same bathing suits and swimming at the same pace as the real-life castaways. Burnett is unapologetic about the reenactments, saying they never affected the outcome of the show. Ditto for a segment on the "live" special that followed last Thursday's "Survivor" finale. Sharp-eyed viewers noticed that when host Jeff Probst made his dramatic helicopter entrance into CBS Television City in Los Angeles, the sky was dark though it would have been only 6:45 p.m. local time. A spokesperson for the show told reporters that the show was live from the moment Probst walked onstage.
Jackass: Pleeeze, don't do what I do
Johnny Knoxville has a message for impressionable young viewers: Do as I say, not as I do. The fearless (or witless, depending on how you see it) "Jackass" star has taped an interview that he hopes will discourage excitable adolescents from trying to replicate his intrepid (or imbecilic) stunts. "Stop doing it," says Knoxville in the interview with MTV News correspondent Chris Connelly. "You’re going to get hurt, and, on a lesser level, we’ll get canceled." Portions of the tape will be interspersed among segments on "Jackass." Already this year several minors have been seriously injured trying to recreate bits from the stunt-comedy show. Two boys have burned themselves attempting a human grill routine without the necessary flame-retardant garb, and a third youngster was taken to the hospital after being hit head-on by a moving car.
Senate torpedoes Pearl Harbor 'Millionaire'
Plans for a special "Pearl Harbor" edition of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" featuring U.S. senators were shot down by a Senate ethics committee last week. The idea, conceived by Walt Disney chairman Michael Eisner and former presidential nominee Bob Dole, was to show lawmakers with war experience duking it out on the Disney-owned ABC game show during the week of Memorial Day. The special episode would have coincided not only with the last week of sweeps but also with the theatrical launch of the multi-gazillion-dollar Disney flick "Pearl Harbor." All winnings would have been donated to the WWII Memorial Fund. The ethics panel forbade the appearance, citing rules prohibiting members from receiving honoraria of over $2,000, even if they would go to charity. In addition to "Pearl Harbor" stars like Ben Affleck, Sen. John McCain, Sen. John Warner, Sen. Daniel Inouye and Dole himself were in talks to appear. Plans are still on by Disney for a special Washington screening for politicians who served in the U.S. military.
May 10, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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