News Shorts

'Fear Factor' wins for NBC
A slew of repeats on CBS and ABC last night allowed regular fare on Fox and NBC to win over viewers. The big winner for NBC turned out to be reality series “Fear Factor,” which won its hour with a 6.2, adult 18-49 rating, besting repeats of “King of Queens” and “Yes, Dear.” NBC won the night in adults 18-49 with a 5.6. CBS came in at 5.2, Fox at 5.0 and ABC at 2.3, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. The 9 p.m. hour was, as usual, secured by CBS’s duo of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Becker.” Even in repeats, the two scored a 6.4 among adults 18-49, although Fox’s “Ally McBeal” posted a strong 5.3 for second place. NBC’s freshman drama “Crossing Jordan” continued its winning ways with a 5.8 in the same demo, easily winning the 10 p.m. hour. ABC was left in the dust with the two lowest-rated programs of the night, a new “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” and an encore presentation of the 1997 movie “Alien: Resurrection.” The average household rating and share for Monday night were: CBS 9.3/14, NBC 8.2/13, Fox 6.10, and ABC 5.1/8. On Sunday night, the stars blinded the competition as the Golden Globes on NBC pushed the network to an easy win in 18-49s and households while all other shows suffered. The TV- and movie-industry awards show won all six of its half-hours while averaging a 9.4 among adults 18-49. That was good enough to give NBC the win in the demo with an 8.1 for the night. Fox had a 5.6, ABC a 3.1 and CBS a 2.8, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. Fox was buoyed by an 8.7 from a run-over of NFL action, though a new episode of "The Chamber" lost 30 percent of "Malcolm in the Middle's" audience, and its 3.9 average for the hour in adults 18-49 was down 19 percent from its debut. CBS came in last for the night behind its elderly-skewing "60 Minutes," "Education of Max Bickford" and its original movie "The President's Men: A Line in the Sand." The household rating and share for Sunday night were: NBC 13.1/21, CBS 8.5/13, Fox 7.2/11 and ABC 5.3/8.

'Six' and 'Sex' win top honors at Golden Globes
HBO once again had the best of it at Sunday night's Golden Globe awards, but a couple new shows got props as well. The awards for best dramatic series and best musical or comedy series both went to HBO shows, "Six Feet Under" and "Sex and the City," respectively. "Sex and the City's" Sarah Jessica Parker also took home the award for best actress in a musical or comedy series. Kiefer Sutherland, star of the real-time thriller "24," won best actor in a dramatic series, and the star of another new show, Jennifer Garner from "Alias," won best actress in a drama. Charlie Sheen, who replaced Michael J. Fox as the lead actor on "Spin City," was named best actor in a comedy. HBO's World War II epic, "Band of Brothers," won best miniseries or TV movie.

On second thought, NBC scraps 'Imagine That'
After just two episodes, NBC has pulled the plug on its midseason entry "Imagine That." The comedy, starring Hank Azaria as a sketch TV writer and focusing on his endless fantasies and dreams, managed only a 2.8 rating in adults 18-49 for its debut and a 2.6 for its second effort. From the start, NBC seemed to have little confidence in "Imagine That," stopping production of the show after five episodes to see how it would do, even though it initially ordered 13. The network will air reruns in the show's Tuesday 8 p.m. time slot. In last week's review of the now-failed sitcom, Ethan Alter wrote that the mediocre show was seemingly constructed "by a committee slavishly following a checklist of requisite sitcom conventions." A possible next for the dustbin is "UC: Undercover," which has not received an order past the original 13 and is no longer listed on NBC.com.

Terrorist trial won't air, rules judge
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema has officially said fuggedaboudit to alleged terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui's wish for a televised trial. In her 13-page ruling submitted on Friday of last week, Judge Brinkema denied the motion brought to the court by Court TV on Dec. 21 and supported by Moussaoui's lawyers to broadcast the trial that is to take place beginning Oct. 14. Court TV and other news organizations argued that the American public has a right to see the controversial trial. Moussaoui's lawyers claimed that a camera presence in the courtroom would help to insure the integrity of the U.S. judicial system. Judge Brinkema justified her ruling, arguing that not only does federal law prohibit the broadcasting of a criminal trial, but also that such public exposure could present security problems for jurors, witnesses and the American public. Whether or not Court TV will appeal Judge Brinkema's decision will be decided this week.

Showtime readies two new series for summer
Showtime has yet to score a "Sopranos"-sized hit of its own with original programming, but the Viacom-owned movie network will try to remedy that this year with two new series and a raft of original movies. "Jeremiah" is based on a series of science fiction novels set in the aftermath of an epidemic that has wiped out much of humanity. The 20-episode series will star Luke Perry, formerly of "Beverly Hills 90210," and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, of "The Cosby Show." Rob Morrow, who played Dr. Joel Fleischman on "Northern Exposure," will star in "Street Time," a drama series about the lives of federal parole officers and parolees. Both shows will debut in early summer.

Us picks 'Sexiest Athletes' on ESPN
Talk is kaput, but at Us Weekly, another celebrity magazine half-owned by Disney, the synergy lives on with an upcoming ESPN special and a possible new ABC series. On Sunday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m., ESPN will air "The World's Sexiest Athletes Presented by Us." The two-hour special, hosted by Molly Sims, will feature sports stars including Anna Kournikova, Jason Sehorn, Marion Jones, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. There’s also a six-page "Sexiest Athletes" spread in the Jan. 28 issue of Us. Meanwhile, Wenner Publishing is reportedly considering adapting one of the magazine's regular features, "Fashion Police," into a weekly series that would air on ABC. The show would feature second-tier comedians wisecracking about the fashion stumbles of celebrities.

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