News Shorts

NBC leads ABC on premiere Sunday
Sunday was a night of season and series premieres on ABC and NBC, with both networks generating a mix of encouraging and disappointing results. NBC ranked No. 1 on a competitive night with a 4.1 adult 18-49 rating, based on Nielsen fast nationals. CBS had a 3.8, ABC had a 3.7 and Fox had a 3.2. NBC’s new series “American Dreams” ranked No. 1 and beat its nearest competitor by a full rating point at 8 p.m. In another positive sign, its 18-49 rating went up 25 percent in its second half-hour. “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” had its season premiere, but fell behind the season premiere of ABC’s “Alias” in head-to-head competition. NBC’s new “Boomtown” got off to a rough start. It lost 4 percent of “Criminal Intent’s” lead-in rating, ranked No. 2 behind ABC’s “The Practice,” and fell 6 percent in its second half-hour. While ABC’s premieres at 9 and 10 p.m. beat NBC’s, the network stumbled a bit. The second season premiere of “Alias” lost one-tenth of a rating point in its second half-hour and, despite averaging a higher rating for the hour, fell two-tenths of a point behind NBC’s “Criminal Intent” at 9:30 p.m. The season premiere of ABC’s “The Practice” only had good news. It was No. 1 at 10 p.m. and went up nearly 6 percent in its second half-hour. NBC ranked No. 1 in households for the night, though, with an 8.6 rating and 14 share. CBS had a 7.4/12, ABC had a 6.5/11 and Fox had a 4.5/7. Meanwhile, ABC ranked No. 1 in the 18-49 and household demographics on Saturday. ABC’s movie “The Green Mile” ranked No. 1 in every half-hour and improved its 18-49 rating by 88 percent from beginning to end. Fox was competitive with “Cops” and “America’s Most Wanted.” CBS trailed with season premieres of “Touched by an Angel,” “The District” and “The Agency,” while NBC stumbled with the movie “Kiss the Girls.” ABC averaged a 3.8 adult 18-49 rating and a 6.7/13 among households. Fox had a 2.7 and a 4.5/9, CBS had a 2 and a 6.1/12 and NBC had a 2 and a 3.6/7.

Take that, Chiklis: Zucker sounds off on cable
Jeff Zucker, feeling envious? Well, yes, but don't expect him to admit it. The NBC entertainment chief says the success of cable networks like HBO and FX has been way overhyped. "Just because you can use an expletive doesn't make a show groundbreaking," Zucker, taking an apparent swipe at "The Sopranos" and "The Shield," told the New York Post. Zucker has still more unkind words for the latter series, whose star, Michael Chiklis, beat the odds to win outstanding actor in a drama series at last week's Emmy Awards. "Nobody in America has seen 'The Shield,'" Zucker said. In fact, he says, the most innovative series have always come not from cable but from -- you guessed it -- NBC. "In their times, 'St. Elsewhere,' 'Hill Street Blues,' 'ER' and 'The West Wing' all broke more ground in terms of dramatic television than anything." Of course they did, Jeff.

AOL TW and Disney looking to sell sports teams
If you’re in the market for a professional sports team, now's the time to buy. AOL Time Warner and Walt Disney Co. are both said to be looking to unload sports franchises as a means of raising cash without letting go of core assets. AOL Time Warner, through its Turner Broadcasting subsidiary, owns three Atlanta teams: the Braves (baseball), the Hawks (basketball) and the Thrashers (hockey). Disney owns baseball's Anaheim Angels and hockey's Mighty Ducks. AOL Time Warner has also indicated that it is open to selling its stakes in Comedy Central and Court TV.

The skinny on Hewitt's future at '60 Minutes'
Wondering what the real deal is with Don Hewitt's status at "60 Minutes"? Hewitt, the show's creator and executive producer, has long said he plans "to die at my desk," but recent rumblings have CBS intending to push him out next spring. The most likely scenario is a compromise under which the successor will be chosen ASAP, with Hewitt, who turns 80 in December, staying on for a period to groom him or her, according to a report in The New York Times. Even after that, he could remain at CBS News indefinitely as a sort of journalist emeritus. A leading candidate to succeed Hewitt is "60 Minutes II" executive producer Jeffrey Fager.

'The Surreal Life': Leftover stars, reheated
Too bad there was already a series called "That ‘80s Show," because the WB could use the name right about now. The network has announced the cast list for "The Surreal Life," its new "reality sitcom," and if it's not a particularly impressive group, it's at least one whose members will be familiar to anyone who lived through the Reagan era. Bankrupt rapper M.C. Hammer is the star attraction, and it's pretty much downhill from there. We're talking "Webster" star Emmanuel Lewis, "The Facts of Life" alumna Mindy Cohn and former "Baywatch" lifesaver Brande Roderick. The new show will be a hybrid of a "Big Brother"-style reality competition and a sitcom. A semi-sendup of MTV’s long-running reality show "The Real World," "The Surreal Life" will debut later this season.

Randy Canadians bare it all for sex show
What is it with Canadians lining up to have people photograph their private parts? Around 200 people volunteered recently to have pictures of their genitals taken and broadcast on "Sex with Sue," a Canadian TV show hosted by sex educator Sue McGarvie. The idea was to give viewers a realistic idea of what other people's equipment looks like, thus allaying their concerns about whether or not they’re "normal." "Whenever you see a whole bunch of penises and a whole bunch of vaginas, you are bound to say, 'Oh, that's what they look like,'" McGarvie told the Press & Journal, Scottish newspaper. About 200 people showed up for the photo shoot, and more than 150 stuck out a three-hour wait in line to participate.

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