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LOS ANGELES TIMES WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2000 F11 Richter: Sidekick Leaves late Night' Friday TODAY ON TV 10:00 a.m. Continued from Fl run on the show during which he established himself as a goofy, unassuming presence on the talk-show couch and a versatile co-medic performer in various "Late DISN Bear in the Big Blue House ESPN America's Horse ESPN2 Legends of the Road FSN2 Yoga Zone HIST In Search Of (TVG) MTV Tom Cruise: An MTV Movie Special 249960 NICK Franklin 321750 SCI-FI The Twilight Zone (TVPGI TLC Jay Jay the Jet Plane (TVY) TMC "Captive" '98 1hr32 USA Fired Up (TVPG) CHANNELS Lot Angeles EB KVEA (Tele) 23 Orange County E3KD0Clnd.56 KCBS ICBS) 02 03 KJLA (Ind.) 25 aKNBCNBC)04 H3 KtCS (Edu.) 17 HKTLAIWBI05 S3 KflCA lnd. 20 KABC (ABC) 07 Palm Springs 36 KMIR (NBC) 04 mKTTVFox11 a KESQ (ABC) 7, EKC0PUPN13 25 BDKCETPBS28 0QKPXNIPAXI3O San Bernardino 24 KVCH (PBS) 24 CD KTBN (Ind I 40 Ventura County BO KOCE (PBS) 50 JKADY(UPN)16 Cable Services tween the two. All in all, it was a dynamic that developed organically, and Ross doesn't want to force the process now that Richter is leaving. "It would be insulting to Andy to think that we could actually find somebody and sit them in the seat," Ross says.

But while noting that "three-quarters of the show is O'Brien talking to guests," Ross conceded that the show faces new questions with Richter's departure. "I'm the last one to minimize the effect of his leaving. There will be a lot of adjustments. The writers will have only one character to write for instead of two." Interviewed last fall while he was in Los Angeles taping a week's worth of shows, O'Brien said he'd 11:00 a.m. AMC BET 39 El 63 NICK 38 35 ESPN 34 SCI-FI 87 57 ESPN2 84 SHOW 41 CO KTTV Divorce Court SB KCOP Montel Williams 48732 0 KSCI I Can Do Itl KWHY "En las Garras de la Muerte" 2hr 42057 841 KVCR Sesame Street 34502 BD KCET Barney (TVYI 80144 03 KTBN Dr.

Cherry 03 KOCE Instructional TV 03 KVEA Monica 36960 03 KDOC Life in the Word EH KJLA Mike Russell (TVG) BO KLCS Reading: Basic to Success AMC "Tarzan's Savage Fury" '52 1hr30 401908 Night Court BETVideolink BRVO Moonlighting CNBC Power Lunch 28415 CNN Newsday COM Whose Line Is It Anyway? DSC Assignment Discovery (TVG) Otter (TVY) El Talk Soup (TVPG-D) 607076 ESPN SportsCenter ESPN2 NBA Today FAM It's Itsy Bitsy Time (TVY) FSN Sports Geniuses FX Picket Fences (TVPG-D) HIST The Real West (TVG) LIFE Designing Women (TVPG-D) NICK Little Bear 226386 SCI-FI Highlander (TVPG) TBS Matlock TLC Bingo Molly (TVY) TMC "Tourist Trap" '79 (PG) 1hr25 6955502 (9:15) TNN Dukes of Hanard TNT Lois Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (TVPG) USA Hearts Afire TVPG) BRVO 54 FAM CNBC 31 FSN COM 79 FSF2 CSPN 29 FX CMAX 45 HBO 47 TBS 27 TCM 59 TLC 89 TMC 33 TNN 30 TNT 46 USA 48 VH1 and he will engage in one more staring contest with O'Brien (a recurring bit). From there, it's on to fame and fortune in TV and film, or some facsimile thereof. A former performer in various Chicago improv companies, Richter played Mike Brady in the New York and Los Angeles productions of "The Real Live Brady Bunch," a staged spoof of the 1970s sitcom. He met his wife, actress Sarah Thyre, in the LA production. "I'm a frustrating interview right now because I don't know what I'm doing," Richter says, though he will be seen as one of Richard Gere's hunting buddies in the upcoming Robert Altman comedy "Dr.

and the Women." Beyond that, he would like to push his profile past the "fat slob roles" he says he's offered on screen. Like "Late Night" itself, Richter has a strong cult following while remaining unknown to most of the country. But who's to say that others will catch on, now that Richter lacks a comedy platform to say nothing of the regular paycheck that "Late Night" afforded him? "I have moments where I'm a little nervous about it, but I still want to see what's out there," Richter says. For starters, he may have to explain to people what he was doing on TV these past seven years. Even many in the entertainment industry think he's just been an announcer all these years on "Late Night," Richter says, some guy standing in the wings, his arms clasped politely behind his back.

"Like I'm Gary Collins," he says. KCBS The Price Is Right (TVG) 1 3 KEYT Home Improvement II KNBC EXTRA (TVPG) 66908 El KTLA Sally Jessy Raphael (TV1 4 35540 KABC 42 KESQ The View 37908 KCAL Jerry Springer (TV1 4) 55328 KTTV Queen Latifah (TVPG) Absent parents. 73724 (B KCOP Forgive or Forget 56182 241 KVCR Creative Living BO KCET Sesame Street 29618 Bl KMEX Maite 36! KMIR Judge Mills Lane EH KTBN Behind the Scenes KVEA "Cazador de Tiburones" '81 2hr 23429 03 KJLA Richard Saxton (TVG) BO KLCS in Me; Entrepreneur in You: World of Work (10:15) KRCA Cine Murder. She Wrote BET Hits From the Street BRVO "The River" '84 (PG- 13) 2hr45 97212881 CNN CNN Today COM "Little Darlings" '80 (R) 2hr 9957892 DSC Home Matters (TVG) DISN Rolte Polie Olie (TVY) El The True Hollywood Story (TVPG-DL) "Divine" 324231 ESPN Racehorse Digest ESPN2 Legends of the Road FAM The 700 Club FSN2 The Method FX Beverly Hills, 90210 (TVPG) HBO "Wrongfully Accused" '98 (PG-13)1hr25 692724 HIST In Search Of LIFE Chicago Hope (TVPG-L) NICK Kipper 866786 SCI-FI The Twilight Zone (TVPG) SHOW "For Pete's Sake" '74 (PG1hr30 858328 TBS Hunter TIC Pappyland (TVY) TNN Matt Houston (TVPG) TNT In the Heat of the Night (TVPG-V) USA Ned and Stacey(TVPG) VH1 New Videos (TVPG) CNN 42 DSC 37 HIST LIFE MTV Night sketches. These included "The Year 2000," in which O'Brien and Richter, like bored adolescents creating fantasy games over a long summer, sat in a darkened studio, shining flashlights in their eyes and making predictions about the future.

While O'Brien seemed to be figuring out his talk-show host personality right there before our eyes, Richter appeared more sure of his offbeat persona, helping to build the show's popularity among college-aged viewers. "The funny thing is that people think you just sit in the chair and throw in a jab every now and then," says "Late Night" producer Jeff Ross, assessing the fine art of being a talk-show sidekick. "It looks easier than it is, which is fine, because nobody needs to know how hard it is." Ross says O'Brien will host "Late Night" alone, at least for the time being, and that new sidekicks will be tried out informally in the coming months. Richter announced last summer that he would be leaving the show, but "Late Night," while fielding tape from would-be successors and mulling plans, hasn't exactly been grooming a replacement, Ross says. Hired originally as a writer, Richter became O'Brien's sidekick after test shows confirmed comedic chemistry be DISN 53 "I'm a frustrating interview right now because I don't know what I'm doing." ANDY RICHTER KCBS The Young and the Restless (TV14) 77502 KNBC News El KTLA Judge Mills Lane KABC 1 3 KEYT Port Charles (TVPGI 36618 KCAL Judge Mathis (TVPG) GO KTTV Living Single 03 KCOP Jenny Jones (TV14-0L) 43618 fS KWHY La Corte del Pueblo I24I KVCR Sewing With Nancy BD KCET Noddy (TVY) 96618 KMEX Querida (TVPGI 34960 136) KMIR The People's Court BO KTBN James Robison 42 KESQ Leeza 16144 BO KDOC Southland Today 03 KJLA Local Angle (TVGI BO KLCS Using Maps.

Globes. Graphs. Tables, Charts and Diagrams; Taxes in U.S. History (11:1 5) Magnum, P.I. BET Jam Zone CNBC Street Signs CSPN U.S.

House of Representatives 6594366 DSC Lynette Jennings Design DISN Winnie the Pooh (TVY) ESPN Cheerleading ESPN2ARacefor Heroes FAM Who's the Boss? (TVG) FX Beverly Hills, 90210 (TVPG) HIST FBI: The Untold Stories LIFE Unsolved Mysteries (TVPG) MTV MTV Movie Awards Uncensored 786076 NICK Franklin 282540 SCI-FI Star Trek TBS "White Lightning" 73 (PG)2hr05 72875057 TLC Bingo Molly (TVY) TNN Cagney Lacey TNT "Jaws: The Revenge" '87 PG-13)2hr 857279 USA Wings (TVPG) VH1 Back to Back Videos (TVPG) 9:30 a.m. Use numbers after call letters to set VCR Plus Where there ate two numbers, repeat the procedure. (R) In the grid, denotes a repeat program. TV RATINGS ITVYI All Children (TVY7) Directed to Older Children (TW7-FV) Directed to Older Children; FantasyA'iolence (TVGI General Audience (TVPG) Parental Guidance (TV! 4) Parents Strongly Cautioned TVMA Mature Audiences Only (D) Suggestive Dialogue ID Coarse Language (S) Sex (V) Violence Movie Ratings A CLASSIC FIRST RATE FLAWED: HAS MOMENTS DESPERATION TIME Morning rather risk it alone than risk hitting false notes with a new sidekick. "What I'm a little reluctant to do is, if it happened naturally with Andy, is to then say, 'All right, Andy will leave on a Friday.

On Tuesday, a sardonic, dry Nordic guy named William will be sitting This coming Friday night, meanwhile, Richter, 33, will be sent off with a musical number, 10:30 a.m. ED KTTV Divorce Court KCET The Puzzle Place 27163 EE KTBN Dean and Mary Brown E3 KDOC Benny Hinn KJLA Dow 30 Report (TVG) BD KLCS Reading: Basic to Success Night Court CMAX "The X-Files" '98 (PG-13) 2hr 701811 CNN Burden of Proof 333873 COM Win Ben Stein's Money (TVPG) DISN Out of the Box (TVY) El Mysteries Scandals (TVPG) ESPN2 RPM 2Night FAM CBN Special Edition 999453 FSN2 Gilad's Bodies in Motion HBO The Making Of: Entrapment (TVPG) (9:45) LIFE Designing Women (TVPG-D) NICK Blue's Clues TCM "A Woman's Face" '41 1hr46 2166927 TLC Salty's Lighthouse (TVY) USA Almost Perfect (TVPG) 9:00 a.m. Sweeps: Adult Viewers Under 50 Still Up for Grabs 11:30 a.m. (31 KEYT Mad About You (TVPG) KNBC Access Hollywood 49144 I24) KVCR Kaye's Quilting Friends 361 KMIR Judge Mills Lane EE KTBN Casey Treat BO KDOC Froozles (TVGI 994160 EH KJLA Bio-Med Check-Up BO KLCS Hands On: Crafts for Kids 11106 AMC "Winds of the Wasteland" '36 Ihr 581665 Continued from F2 fl KCBS Martha Stewart 87076 KNBC 36 KMIR Later Today 72144 El KTLA Sally Jessy Raphael (TV14) 18960 KABC 3 KEYT42 KESQ Regis Kathie Lee 10328 KCAL Maury (TVPG) 61076 13) KEYT News El KTLA Judge Mills Lane KABC News ED KTTV Roseanne Please see TV LOG F12 Prime-Time TV Rankings ing supremacy among adults under 50 the age group that most closely translates to advertising rates as NBC clings to a paper-thin advantage by that standard. NBC's competitive standing is noteworthy given that ABC posted across-the-board wins in total viewing and key demographics during this season's previous sweeps periods in November and February; however, NBC, CBS and Fox have all lost audience versus last May, while ABC's results have soared, due principally to "Millionaire." The only other broadcast net work to achieve year-to-year prime-time gains is UPN, thanks to the ratings hold of the wrestling show "WWF Smackdown!" Overall viewing of the major networks is essentially even with last year a good sign, executives say, in light of past audience erosion as viewers fled to cable.

"At least it's not a decline," noted NBC Entertainment President Garth Ancier. Hoping to secure its demographic win, NBC hastily scheduled a rerun of last week's season-ending "Friends" tonight at 8, directly opposite "Millionaire." grasp at signs of "Millionaire's" vulnerability, encouraged by two recent offerings NBC's "Frasier" season finale and CBS' miniseries "Jesus" that drew more viewers in head-to-head competition. "People will watch this show if there's nothing else on they want to watch," said David Poltrack, CBS executive vice president of planning and research. "What can beat it is appointment television." Though ABC holds a commanding sweeps lead in overall viewing, there is some suspense left regard NBC Episodes Top List of Season and Series Finales Made-for-TV movies have generally struggled to find viewers during the current sweeps competition, and Sunday was no exception. CBS' Linda McCartney biographystumbled badly, while NBC fared better with its behind-the-scenes look at "The Brady Bunch." The Wednesday conclusion of "Jesus" opposite the "90210" send-off and NBC's "Law by almost 25, or about 5.7 million viewers, compared to its opening night.

ABC's "2020" also surged to its highest rating in more than a year thanks to Diane Sawyer's interview with Michael J. Fox, which bodes well for the actor's "Spin City" farewell episode, which will be shown tonight. -BRIAN LOWRY Season-ending episodes and series finales dominated the prime-time standings last week, including the most-watched "Frasier" ever, "The Practice's" second-best rating thus far and the biggest assembly for "Beverly Hills, 90210" in more than four years, based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. NBC's trio of Thursday finales also included season-high viewing of "Friends" and "ER's" second-biggest audience of the year. "The X-Files," meanwhile, unearthed its top rating in three months, although "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" soundly beaten by "Frasier," starring Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce, and edged May 14 by the CBS miniseries "Jesus" rebounded somewhat Sunday as the show began a tournament of champions.

National Nielsen Vlewershlp 2te Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (May 15-21) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates that there are 260 million potential U.S. viewers age 2 and older. Viewership is listed here in millions.

Program 98. IDareYoui UPN 220 99. "Chameleon 3: Dark Angel" UPN 2.01 100. Movie Stars WB 166 101. Zoe WB 1.51 Cable Top 10 Here are Nielsen's top 10 cable programs in prime time last week, also ranked by total viewers (in millions).

if Prograa work art 1. Wrestling 10 p.m.) USA 7.54 2. Wrestling (Mm, 9 p.m.) USA 6.99 3. Wrestling 8 p.m.) TNT 4.05 4. NBAPIayofls(Frt.) TNT 3.74 5.

Wrestling 7 p.m.) USA 3.69 6. "Good Nlghl Sweet Wife" UFE 3.38 7. Snick House NICK 3.20 8. "Cheaters" HBO 3.17 9. Wrestling TBS 3.14 10.

Wresting 9 p.m.) TNT 3.13 David Hyde Pierce, Kelsey Grammer Get a Festival of Books mug. Network Averages Here Is the number of viewers that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season. A great selection of official 2000 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books merchandise is now available for purchase. Net- View-Program work en 1. ER NBC 159 2.

Frasier NBC 33.70 3. Friends NBC 30.73 4. Millionaire (Sun.) ABC 27.73 5. Millionaire (Tue.) ABC 23.57 6. The Practice ABC 23.18 7.

Millionaire (Wed.) ABC 22.41 8. Millionaire (Thur.) ABC 18.63 9. "Jesus" Part 2 CBS 18.42 10. Order NBC 17.49 11. DharmaSGreg ABC 17.43 12.

Touched by an Angel CBS 17.33 13. Everybody Loves Raymond CBS 16.72 14. 2020 (Wed.) ABC 16.26 15. The Drew Carey Sbow ABC 16.04 16. 60 Minutes CBS 15.96 17.

JudgingAmy CBS 15.77 18. The X-Files FOX 15.27 19. Spin City ABC 15.19 20. Becker CBS 1511 21. Malcolm in the Middle FOX 14.39 22.

Beverly Hills. 90210 FOX 14 37 23 NYPO Blue ABC 1402 24. Just Shoot Me NBC 14.01 25. "Air Force One" ABC 13.87 26. The Simpsons FOX 13.84 27.

Providence NBC 13.51 28. "BehindScenes: Millionaire" ABC 13.42 29. The West Wing NBC 13.30 30. "Murder. She Wrote" CBS 13.27 31.

JAG CBS 13.21 32. Walker, Teias Ranger CBS 13.16 33. Daytime Emmy Awards ABC 12.77 34. 60 Minutes II CBS 12.66 35 48 Hours (Man CBS 12 59 36. lew Order SVU NBC 1216 37.

"Growing Up Brady" NBC 12.07 38. King of Queens CBS 12.01 39. Willi Grace NBC 11.97 40. Dateline NBC (Fit.) NBC 11.83 41. Third Watch NBC 11.54 42.

AllyMcBeal FOX 11.50 43. Dateline NBC (Tue.) NBC 1129 44. ladies Matt CBS 11.15 45. "The Mask" NBC 11.08 46. Sports Nigm ABC 11.07 47.

Nash Bridges CBS 10.63 48. "The Rainmaker' NBC 10.01 49. "Ansta Record Anniversary" NBC 9.87 50. "The Linda McCartney Story" CBS 9.43 51. 48 Hours CBS 9.82 52.

"Dukes o( Hanard" CBS 8.76 53. Whose line IS It? (8 30) ABC 857 54. Titus FOX 8.53 55. Whose line Is It Anyway? ABC 8.52 56. "Best Commercials.

.4" ABC 8.44 67. That 70s Show FOX 8.40 58. "Judds Reunion" CBS 822 59. America Most Wanted FOX 8.09 week torjitt ABC 14.35 million 14.22 NBC 13.82 12.34 CBS 12.56 12.44 FOX 8.94 8.98 UPN 3.98 3.93 WB 3.62 3.63 Program work tn Cops (8:30 pm.) FOX 8.09 61. Dateline: NBC (Wed.) NBC 7.89 62.

WWFSmackdownl UPN 7.74 WiH4 Grace (8:30 p.m.) NBC 7.74 64. Early Edition CBS 7.51 65. King ol the Hill FOX 7.22 66. Cops FOX 7.02 67. 7th Heaven WB 6.94 68.

3rd Rock From the Sun NBC 6.79 69. "Alt Force One" (Sal) ABC 6.78 70. "True Lies" FOX 6.52 71. "After DitTrerrt Strokes'' FOX 629 72. Greed FOX 608 73.

"Unaumoraed Brady Bunch" FOX 603 74. "Beverly Hills Nma" NBC 5.88 76. Futurama FOX 547 76. Angel WB 5.14 77. Wodd's Wildest Police Videos FOX 4.96 78.

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer WB 4.85 79. Star Trek: Voyager UPN 4.82 80. Charmed WB 4.54 81. The Parkers UPN 4.17 82. Dawson's Creek WB 393 83 Moesha UPN 388 84.

fiosweil WB 381 85. Moesha (Tue.) UPN 352 86. The Steve Harvey Show WB 3.33 87. Steve Harvey Show (8:30) WB 3.30 88. The Parkers (Tue.) UPN 3.29 89.

Grownups UPN 2.99 90. The Jamie Fon Show WB 2.98 91. Felicity WB 2.90 92. 7 Days UPN 2.89 93. Malcolm Eddie UPN 2.86 94.

For your love WB 2.62 95. Charmed (Sun.) WB 2.56 96. Popular WB 2.38 97. 7th Heaven Beginnings WB 2.26 Adult T-Shirt White with full-color design, 100 cotton Youth T-Shirt White with full-color design, 100 cotton Poster Full-color on high-quality paper, Refrigerator Magnet Book Bag Sturdy fabric bag, Mug Ceramic, white with full-color design, 15 oz. Journal 100 sheets of lined paper with heavy-duty black cover and full-color design Book Plates Sc-idhesive labels to identify your books, 10-pack Southland Viewing Here are Nielsen's Top 10 prime-time programs In the Los Angeles area during the same week.

The rankings are based on the number of households watching. Sta- Hmm- Order today at latimes.comfestivalofbooks Click on "Merchandising" Pragrm ttoa hokU 1. Frasier KNBC 1,319,144 2. Mends KNBC 1,240,624 3. ER KNBC 1,235.389 4.

Millionaire (Sun.) KABC 832,317 The Practice KABC 832.317 6. Etewrty Hills. 90210 KTTV 806144 7. Millionaire (Tue KABC 790,440 8. Millionaire (Wed KABC 753,797 "Air Force One" KABC 753,797 10.

2020 (Wed.) KABC 727,623 Cos Angeles Stttnes RADIO FestivalofBgdks. In association with UCLA' Tips for Today 8- 10 p.m. Evening Concert: Verdi soprano Alessandrea Marc, tenor PIScido Domingo. Chicago Symphony Orchestra), KMZT-FM (105.1). p.m.

Rockline: Music and interviews with members of Jefferson Starship, KCBS-FM (93.1). Drama-Comedy-Family 9- 9:30 p.m., a.m. Gunsmoke: "How to Sell a Ranch," KNX (1070). Classical 8-9 a.m. Commuter Classic: Rossini Thieving Magpie: Overture," Royal Philharmonic), KMZT-FM (105.1).

Rock-Urban 10 p.m.-mldnlght Chocolate City: Cast members from "2 G's," a street-version play based on Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona," KCRW-FM (89.9). Sports 5-8 p.m. Baseball: Angels at Minnesota Twins, KLAC (570), XPRS (1090). 7-10 p.m. Baseball: Cincinnati Reds at Dodgers, KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330).

Talk-Interview 1 1 a.m.-Noon Sam Rubin, KLSX-FM (97.1). 1 1 a.m.-l p.m. Talk of the Nation, KPCC-FM (89.3). Noon 1 p.m. Let's Do Lunch, local culture, KCSN-FM (88.5).

Noon-2 p.m. George Putnam's Talkback, KIEV (870). Noon-3 p.m. Dr. Laura Schlessinger, KFI (640).

Noon-3 p.m. Jonathon Brandmeler, KLSX-FM (97.1). Noon-3 p.m. Dan Lungren. KPLS (830).

Noon-3 p.m. Dr. Tohl Grant, KRLA (1110). p.m. Al Rantel.

KABC (790). 1- 2:30 p.m. Talk of the City, KPCC-FM (89.3). 2- 5 p.m. Michael Medved, KIEV (870).

3- 7 p.m. Larry Elder, KABC (790). 3-7 p.m. Mlnyard Minyard, KRLA (1110). latimes.comfestivalofbooks Los Angeles Times Archives.

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