The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 67

2003:04:01:14:54:36 TELEVISION RADIO CALENDAR E15 LOSANGELESTIMES Bring a new or gently-used K-3 to the vs.Knicks game on April5. And receive a free The book drive willcontinue through the firsthalf of the game atthe STAPLESCenter 11th Streetentrance and benefitAnn StreetElementary School in Los Angeles. Give a child a story-book ending with the giftof literacy. yearbook per person. 03GE016 Perhaps not surprisingly, several programs with in the title performed admirably during a topsy-turvy week that saw CBS relocate due to the NCAA tournament, several hits in reruns and an expanded prime- time news presence due to war.

Based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research, was left atop the weekly standings, while premiere of Most Talented which amounts to a junior version of premiered to solid ratings Friday, when overall TV viewing levels are generally lower. NBC also registered improved scores from the Nielsen judges for the pageant. On the downside for NBC, in its move to Fridays, benefit from Talented prosperity, and West continues to struggle albeit facing unusually stiff competition last week with an expanded spilling into its time slot. That lead-in audience also helped new sitcom at generate sizable viewer sampling. After the NCAA tournament was pushed onto ESPN for a time after war broke out, ratings for the sports event have remained depressed, thus far running more than behind year- ago levels.

CBS did sail off with big numbers from its Celine Dion concert special, which handily won its Tuesdaytime slot, overshadowing the one-hour With that aired against it on ABC. In fact, most-watched program last week, ranked 28th overall. The latest edition of also got off to a ho-hum start, though past versions have usually built toward the finale. Lowry stays adorable in a week of war, hoops Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (March 24-30) 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 there are 272.04 million potential viewers in the U.S. age 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions. Program Network View- ersProgram Network Viewers 1 American Idol 2 American Idol 3 Amazon CBS16.67 4 Law and OrderNBC16.48 5 Law and Order: SVUNBC15.80 --------------------------------------------6 FriendsNBC15.64 7 Fear FactorNBC15.57 8 Everybody Loves Raymond CBS15.05 9 Law and Order: Criminal Intent FOX14.51 10 Wanda at LargeFOX14.31 --------------------------------------------11 in Las 12 ScrubsNBC13.56 13 60 MinutesCBS13.18 14 60 Minutes IICBS13.02 15 Will GraceNBC12.88 --------------------------------------------16 The SimpsonsFOX12.56 17 CSI: MiamiCBS12.41 18 King of QueensCBS12.14 19 24FOX12.09 20 Yes, DearCBS11.90 --------------------------------------------21 Law and Order: SVU (Sat.) NBC11.84 22 Most Talented Kid NBC11.72 23 The West WingNBC11.70 24 Good Morning, MiamiNBC11.63 25 USA --------------------------------------------26 Still StandingCBS11.14 27 Malcolm in the MiddleFOX11.10 28 The PracticeABC10.71 29 JAGCBS10.48 30 My Wife and KidsABC10.40 CSICBS10.40 32 8 Simples RulesABC10.26 33 ERNBC10.22 34 --------------------------------------------36 Oliver BeeneFOX10.19 37 Funniest Home Videos ABC10.17 38 According to JimABC10.12 39 DragnetABC10.03 40 EdNBC9.98 --------------------------------------------41 AliasABC9.89 42 Bachelor 43 Law and Order: Criminal Intent (Sat.) ABC9.80 44 BoomtownNBC9.72 45 My Big Fat Greek LifeCBS9.71 --------------------------------------------46 American DreamsNBC9.67 The Practice (10 p.m.)ABC9.67 48 Will Grace 49 50 George LopezABC9.41 --------------------------------------------51 That ShowFOX9.40 52 Dateline: NBC (7 p.m.)NBC9.39 53 9:40 p.m.) CBS9.34 54 The PittsFOX9.11 55 Wonderful World of Disney ABC8.97 --------------------------------------------56 Dateline: NBC 57 Dateline: NBC 58 7 p.m.) CBS8.77 59 News: War With ABC8.72 60 --------------------------------------------61 BeckerCBS8.59 62 48 Hours InvestigatesCBS8.48 63 Boston PublicFOX8.42 64 Good Morning, Miami (Tue.) NBC7.95 65 8 Simple Rules --------------------------------------------66 67 Figure Skating (Sat.) ABC7.70 68 Most WantedFOX7.66 69 9:50) CBS7.57 70 King of the HillFOX7.46 --------------------------------------------71 7 p.m.) CBS7.42 72 Life With BonnieABC7.23 73 Law and Order 74 Friends 75 48 Hours Investigates (Sat.) CBS6.96 --------------------------------------------76 Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX6.77 77 Whose Line Is It Anyway? (8:30 p.m.) ABC6.57 78 CopsFOX6.47 79 News 80 Regular JoeABC6.38 --------------------------------------------81 Married by AmericaFOX6.29 82 All American GirlABC6.16 83 Whose Line Is It 84 Figure Skating (Thu.) ABC6.14 85 Scrubs --------------------------------------------86 FuturamaFOX5.89 87 CharmedWB5.61 88 John DoeFOX5.49 89 WWE 90 The AgencyCBS4.79 --------------------------------------------91 FastlaneFOX4.61 92 Reba (9 p.m.)WB4.34 93 Black SashWB4.05 94 Married by America (Thu.) FOX3.99 95 Jamie KennedyWB3.90 --------------------------------------------96 SmallvilleWB3.83 97 One on One 98 7th HeavenWB3.68 99 The ParkersUPN3.64 100 Grounded for LifeWB3.60 --------------------------------------------101 GirlfriendsUPN3.47 102 AngelWB3.45 103 Buffy the Vampire SlayerUPN3.44 104 Reba (8:30 p.m.)WB3.38 105 Half and HalfUPN3.26 --------------------------------------------106 EnterpriseUPN3.16 107 CreekWB3.05 108 Gilmore GirlsWB3.04 109 Sabrina, Teenage WitchWB3.01 110 What I Like About YouWB2.82 --------------------------------------------111 EverwoodWB2.56 112 On the Spot (9:30 p.m.)WB2.55 113 Gilmore Girls: BeginningsWB2.45 114 Accidental Network averages Here is the number of viewers (in millions) that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season. Network Last week Season to date NBC11.2011.76 CBS10.4512.67 FOX9.569.91 WB3.434.18 UPN3.273.59 Prime-time TV rankings SERIES Warning light: With the president, staff and the press aboard, the Air Force One flight crew believes there may be a major malfunction in the landing gear on West (9 p.m.

NBC). Singer-songwriter: Pop-folk music icon Joni Mitchell is profiled on (9 p.m. KCET, KVCR). After Wanda is assigned a feature on health code violations, she begins to date the board of vice president on at (9:30 p.m. Fox).

SPECIALS Tangled web: Extremists on the (2:30 p.m. HBO) examines the growing use of the Internet as the primary platform for preachers of hate seeking to reach their small but dangerous constituencies. Grasslands: The environmental, political and economic impact of the degradation of the grasslands is explored in to Planet (8 p.m. KCET, KVCR). Highlights Today Nick Nolte; authors Bob and Melinda Blanchard.

7 a.m. KNBC Live With Regis and Kelly Colin Farrell; musicians Bowling for Soup. 9 a.m. KABC Oprah Winfrey Fitness trainer Bob Greene. 3 p.m.

KABC Life Times Police officer who helps the homeless; author Bruce Feiler Journey to the Heart of Three 7 and 11 p.m. KCET Late Show With David Letterman Helen Hunt; Jeremy Suarez; Cory Branan. 11:35 p.m. KCBS The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Golfer Annika Sorenstam; the Wallflowers. 11:35 p.m.

KNBC Talk Shows By Mark Sachs Times Staff Writer face it, if people had to rely only on their cooking skills to woo a mate, there would be an awful lot of lonely souls wandering the planet. But the challenge facing two young men tonight at 6:30 and 9:30 on a series debuting on the Food Network. The perky Kelly Deadmon presides over this at First premise, in which two contestants watch a short video of a prospective date and try to glean clues to help them assemble the deal-clinching meal. a $50 per person shopping limit for ingredients, and each contestant has a real chef on hand to offer tips on shopping and preparation. premiere pits opera lover Joshua, 27, against bartender-actor-weightlifter John, 22, but future episodes will also feature women cooking up a storm in the hopes of landing a date with Mr.

Right. Josh and John are vying for Hallie, 25, an associate TV producer who fashions rear ends out of wood in her spare time. want that to come off she protests. Alas, too late.) If all this sounds contrived, it is, but also a lot of fun. Even the shopping trip proves interesting, particularly when some subtle sparks between Joshua and his chef, Cat, seem on the verge of taking the show in an unscripted direction.

Or maybe that was just my imagination boiling over. Then comes the moment of truth, when Hallie gets a side-by- side sampling of the from each contestant, and has to make her choice. The banter is a bit banal like the tomatoes in it because I like and the off-screen narration help is mounting like dirty but the big decision comes off smoothly. And in the end (remember the wit that wins out, not his culinary skills. TUNED IN serves love Joey Ivansco Chef Wendell Price, left, helps Jason Pruitt prepare a meal in the Food new series.

TIPS FOR TODAY 9 a.m.-noon—Kimberlea Daggy: Schumann (Cello Concerto, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra) a.m.), KUSC-FM (91.5). p.m.—Talk of the City With Kitty Felde: Missile (11:30 p.m.); 101: A Religious p.m.), KPCC-FM (89.3). p.m.—The Treatment: TV creator-writer Graham Yost KCRW-FM (89.9). 4-8 p.m.—Duffy and Jack Idema, author of Hunt for Bin (4:154:45 p.m.); of the p.m.), KKLA-FM (99.5). p.m., a.m.—The Third Man: Harry Lime (Orson Welles) attempts to clear a dead name (originally broadcast Nov.

5, 1951), KNX (1070). 10-11 p.m.—Arts in Review: Writer-director Ed Begley Jr. and cast members from and actress Geraldine Hughes discusses her one-woman show, KPFK-FM (90.7). DRAMA-COMEDY FAMILY p.m., a.m.—Tales of the Texas Rangers: Calves disappear from a ranch, KNX (1070). Radio Television listings and highlights are subject to change.

Coverage of events in the Persian Gulf may preempt scheduled programs. To our readers.