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CBS discovered a hot new property among young adults last night, the veteran comedian Carol Burnett. The network’s “Carol Burnett Special” at 10 p.m. defeated ABC’s “Monday Night Football” among adults 18-49 by 2.5 rating points and NBC’s “Crossing Jordan” by 4.3 rating points. In households, “Carol Burnett” won its hour by more than 10 shares. Helped by those strong numbers, CBS swept the night, winning every half-hour in both households and adults 18-49. With poor performances from “The Weakest Link” and “Third Watch,” NBC finished fourth for the night in both households and adults 18-49. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday night were: CBS 14.3/21 and 7.7, ABC 10.8/16 and 6.1, Fox 7.5/11 and 5.4, and NBC 7.3/11 and 4.4. On Sunday, Fox pulled off a big win with "Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace." The movie and the "R2D2" special that followed it averaged a 7.9, adult 18-49, rating, which was more than two rating points better than Fox’s nearest competitor. Fox won every one of its half-hours and had a lead that ranged from just under one rating point to nearly four rating points over its competitors. The movie’s rating went up every half-hour and was only soured slightly by a 6 percent dropoff for "R2D2" at 9:30 p.m. ABC had a 5.4, adult 18-49, rating. It was in second place most of the night with the movie "The Santa Clause" and won the 10 p.m. hour with "The Practice." Its rating dipped by 29 percent, however, at 9 p.m. with "Alias." CBS was in third place with a 4.1 rating for "Becker" and the movie "You’ve Got Mail." NBC trailed with a 3.5 for two episodes of "Weakest Link," a repeat of "Law & Order," and an original "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." CBS beat Fox in household ratings with a 10.0 and 15 share to a 9.7/15, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. ABC had an 8.7/13 and NBC had a 6.8/10.
ABC drops 'Thieves,' orders more 'Philly'
At ABC, it's in with the law, out with the lawless. The network has canceled the action/romance dramedy series "Thieves" while extending its commitment to "Philly," the new legal drama from "NYPD Blue" creator Steven Bochco. "Thieves," which stars John Stamos and Melissa George as burglars trapped into working for the government, averaged a 2.7 rating in adults 18-49, with 7.3 million viewers in its Friday 9 p.m. slot. Meanwhile, ABC has given "Philly" an order for five more episodes and four more scripts. "Philly," starring Kim Delaney, is averaging a 4.0 rating/10 share in adults 18-49, with 10.2 million viewers, but has done much better since "NYPD Blue" moved into the Tuesday 9 p.m. slot to become its lead-in.
Miramax boss fires back at New York mag
Harvey Weinstein prides himself on his ability to manipulate the press, so you can imagine his consternation upon reading the largely unflattering profile of him that ran in this week's New York magazine. In fact, you don't have to imagine it—the Miramax mogul saved you the trouble by submitting a lengthy written rebuttal to the New York Post’s Page Six. Among his points of contention, Weinstein suggests that the story was a hatchet job ordered by New York editor Caroline Miller in retribution for luring away some of her top editorial talent, including deputy editor Maer Roshan and contract writer Lisa DePaulo, to work at Talk. "Just asking: Which bespectacled weekly Gotham editor was so miffed that her most talented editor and other staff were hired away by a Brit-helmed monthly startup, that she assigned a kill piece about the dashing backer of the new magazine?" writes Weinstein. He also insists that he didn't pressure actress Gwyneth Paltrow to pose for a Talk photo shoot in S&M gear, just to sit for the cover. Paltrow, coincidentally, is back on the cover this month with an extreme cleavage shot. The New York piece also reported that Hearst, which owns half of Talk, has been trying to unload its stake in the magazine.
Jackson used digital makeup for CBS special
Plastic surgery is so yesterday for Michael Jackson. These days, the King of Pop prefers the pixel to the scalpel for his makeovers. Appearing on CBS in the recent Jackson family reunion concert, Michael had digital graphics engineers darken his skin color in the footage that was released for broadcast, according to reports in People and Entertainment Weekly magazines. After the show was taped in September, retouch artists altered each of the 100,000 frames of the footage with the aid of a device called a Henry Machine. The technique was also reportedly used to remove his sweat and flesh out his sunken cheeks, and to add virtual weight to a starved-looking Whitney Houston, who performed alongside the Jackson brothers in the special. Jackson attributes his light skin color to vitiligo, a condition in which the skin gradually loses its pigment.
Video games: The next big spectator sport?
Would you sit around in front of your TV watching other people sitting around in front of their TVs? A San Diego company called Gamecaster hopes that you would. The year-old company plans to produce video game tournaments for broadcast on television and over the internet, and it is at work on a television series in which joystick jockeys would compete in front of a studio audience. "Gamecaster: The Series" would also invite home viewers to participate against the on-screen players, according to Zap2It.com. Among Gamecaster’s aims is to "elevate champion gamers to the status of celebrities who can endorse brands and products," according to its web site. Toward that end, Gamecaster is combing the ranks of talent and modeling agencies as well as internet gaming rooms, looking for its first contestants. Plans call for a pilot to be completed in the next few months, at which time Gamecaster will pitch the series to broadcast and cable networks.
November 27, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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