Year 2003 in television was largely a dud ratings-wise, at least for broadcast.
  But it was nonetheless a year of great events and drama,  from the emergence of pop culture phenoms the Fab Five to the untimely death of a Hollywood sitcom star to the mysterious--or not-so-mysterious--disappearance of male 18-34 viewers.
  Indeed, no scripted program or contrived conflict garnered as much attention as the unscripted moments that shaped television.
   To put 2003 in perspective, Media Life turned to its readers in the remaining days of the year, asking them to rank the best and worst of 2003. Plenty responded, some 800.
  Our first question: What was the really big TV story of the year?
   The clear leader was the death of actor John Ritter of ABC's "8 Simple Rules," with 36.6 percent of the votes.
    A distant second was the disappearance of men 18-34 from the primetime viewing audience, with 13 percent of the vote.
   Ranking third was the flap over CBS pulling "The Reagans" from its November sweeps lineup, at 9.8 percent. (See chart below for all the rankings.)
   Interestingly, readers, looking back over the full year, gave very little weight to Michael Jackson's alleged pedophilic philanderings, at just 4.1 percent.
  And who was really bad in 2003?
  Readers' choice for media bad boy of 2003 was Oxycontin-gulping talk radio star Rush Limbaugh, who hit the headlines first for getting booted as an ESPN analyst for dissing Donovan McNabb in racially charged comments and then for buying illicit street drugs near his Florida mansion, reportedly after becoming addicted following a botched bit of surgery. Limbaugh's public lashings drew 30 percent of the votes.
  But just behind Limbaugh as No. 2 bad boy was Spike Lee, who drew 29.6 percent of the vote for his legal maneuvers to stop TNN from renaming itself Spike TV.
  The best new show of 2003?
   Easily Bravo's “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” which drew 26.5 percent of votes, nearly double the votes for second-place contender Fox teen drama “The O.C.” 
   And the worst new show? 
  Answer: ABC’s widely dissed ratings dud “Are You Hot?” A third of respondents--33.6 percent--picked the beauty contest as the year’s worst new series.
  Moreover, that show, to its dubious credit, beat out a show that got far more bad press, NBC's "Coupling," which skidded in at No. 2 with 25.9 percent of the vote.
   The year's best TV movie or miniseries?
   The clear winner was "Angels in America," which earned the largest single response in the survey. Nearly half the respondents--44.9 percent--voted the six-hour series about people living with HIV and AIDS the best movie or mini-series of the year. 
   Despite being shuffled to Showtime from CBS, “The Reagans” won 2.9 percent of respondents vote in the category.
  Year 2003 was also one of comebacks, so we asked our readers to pick the shows that gave the best comeback performances.
  It was close among the top four, but the winner was “Survivor: Pearl Islands” with 26.3 percent of the votes. Coming in not far behind were "24," "The Practice" and "West Wing."
   When asked which show should have quit while it was ahead, the votes went to “Joe Millionaire,” whose sophomore season was an international bomb, with 36.5 percent of respondents voting zero tolerance for a second dupe-off (and a second doofus).
  CBS topped the list for best network of the year, after a year with surprising growth in younger demos and a continued strong Thursday night that further eroded NBC’s must-see lineup.
   Bravo drew the most votes for best cable network, buoyed by the success of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.”
  TV is a business of second chances, and so one of our questions was which person or show most deserved a second chance. The answer: not many at all.
   Aaron Sorkin deserved another shot at “West Wing” in the minds of some readers but not all that many, just 17.2 percent of respondents. 
  Media Life readers were even less forgiving of newsies Connie Chung and Phil Donahue, booted from CNN and MSNBC respectively. Chung received 8.1 percent of the votes, while Donahue scored just 5.4 percent.
   As for what lies ahead, respondents indicate that reality may survive another year. 
  While nearly a quarter of respondents predict 2004 will sound the death knell for reality dating shows, even more people – 34.7 percent – think the most noteworthy development will be the failure of “Friends” spin-off “Joey.”
   The show won’t be helped by the absence of young men, who Media Life readers say won’t make a return to television anytime soon.