The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 90

E12 LOSANGELESTIMES Everyone is buzzing about Ringling Bros The buzz is you cannot miss this show. See it now. be buzzing too. FELD ENTERTAINMENT For the fastest and easiest way to order tickets, log onto www.Ringling.com or visit Ticket Centers, Arena Box or call (213) 480-3232 or (714) 740-2000 For Information call: (213) 742-7340 Staples Center or (714) 704-2500 Arrow head Pond of Anaheim TICKET PRICES: $14 $18 $24 $37 VIP $50 Front Row $85 Circus Celebrity (Service charges and handling fees may apply.) Come one hour early to meet our human and animal performers at the FREE All Access Pre-Show! Wed.Thu.Fri.Sat.Sun. JULY 19 7:30 JULY 20 7:30 PM JULY 21 12 NOON 7:30 PM JULY 22 11:30 AM 3:30 PM 7:30 PM JULY 23 11:30 AM 3:30 PM 7:30 PM Excludes VIP, Front Row, Circus Celebrity and Premium seats.

No double discounts. JULY 26 AUG. 6 Wed. JULY 26 7:30 PM Thu.Fri.Sat.Sun. PREMIERE $12! JULY 27 1:00 PM 7:30 PM JULY 28 10:30 AM 7:30 PM JULY 29 11:30 AM 3:30 PM 7:30 PM JULY 30 1:30 PM 5:30 PM Tue.Wed.Thu.Fri.Sat.Sun.

AUG. 1 7:30 PM AUG. 2 1:00 PM 7:30 PM AUG. 3 10:30 AM 7:30 PM AUG. 4 1:00 PM 7:30 PM AUG.

5 11:30 AM 3:30 PM 7:30 PM AUG. 6 1:30 PM 5:30 PM Excludes VIP, Front Row, Circus Celebrity and Premium seats. No double discounts. Weekend Today Show OPENS TONIGHT FAMILY PREMIERENIGHT TICKETS For convenient home delivery, visit myaccount.latimes.com or call 1-800-LA TIMES Read all about it Thursday in Calendar Weekend Join Calendar Weekend for a trip through the nightlife and entertainment at Indian casinos. No gambling required PURCHASE TICKETS NOW Print tix at home at HollywoodBowl.com (213) 480-3232 Hollywood Bowl Box Office 2301 N.Highland Ave.

Box Office Mondays.For (323) group discounts, call (323) and dates subject to change.Tickets $1-93. HOLLYWOOD BOWL PART OF YOUR LIFE HOLLYWOOD BOWL PART OF YOUR LIFE JULY 20 The Bowl presents an evening of favorites by Mozart as part of a staged production of scenes from Peter Amadeus Los Angeles Philharmonic Leonard Slatkin conductor Mary Dunleavy, soprano Shai Wosner James Robinson director Neil Patrick Harris as Mozart Kimberly Williams- Paisley as Constanze and Michael York as Salieri Generously sponsored by Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts; media sponsor: K-Mozart 105.1 VAN NUTT 1980 TONIGHT TOMORROW AT 8PM FINAL 7 PERFS! NOW THRU SUNDAY ONLY! www.siteforrent.com A PRESENTATION OF BroadwayLA.org 213.365.3500 or 714.740.7878 Box Office Opens Daily at 10am. The next time going on vacation, forget to donate your newspaper. Just call. Or log on to www.myaccount.latimes.com Prime-Time TV Rankings Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (July 10-16) 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 277.93 million potential viewers in the U.S. ages 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions. Program Network View- ersProgram Network Viewers 1 Baseball 2 Got Talent (Wed.) NBC11.14 3 CSI: MiamiCBS10.61 4 CSICBS10.34 5 Pregame --------------------------------------------6 So You Think You Can Dance 9 p.m.) FOX9.65 7 CSI: NYCBS9.55 8 Without a Trace 9 So You Think You Can Dance (Thu.) FOX9.34 10 Two and a Half MenCBS9.15 --------------------------------------------11 Dateline: NBC 12 60 MinutesCBS8.20 13 How I Met Your Mother (9:30 p.m.) CBS8.13 14 Criminal MindsCBS8.12 15 Law Order: SVUNBC7.97 --------------------------------------------16 Last Comic Standing 4NBC7.58 17 Law Order 18 Cold CaseCBS7.49 19 Big Brother 7 20 Law Order: Criminal Intent (Sun.) NBC7.22 --------------------------------------------21 NCISCBS7.20 22 Big Brother 7 23 Primetime 24 Without a Trace 25 Anatomy --------------------------------------------26 Wife SwapABC6.48 27 Kitchen (9 p.m.)FOX6.42 28 Primetime Special Got Talent (Thu.) NBC6.39 30 The King of QueensCBS6.35 31 48 Hours Mystery 32 Crossing JordanNBC6.30 33 Rockstar: SupernovaCBS6.27 34 35 Law Order --------------------------------------------36 Funniest Home Videos ABC5.98 37 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (8 p.m.) ABC5.97 38 Fear FactorNBC5.82 Big Brother 7 40 Numb3rsCBS5.79 --------------------------------------------According to Jim (8:30 p.m) ABC5.79 42 Family GuyFOX5.76 43 Treasure Hunters (9 p.m.)NBC5.75 44 How I Met Your MotherCBS5.58 45 My Name Is Earl (8 p.m.)NBC5.49 --------------------------------------------So You Think You Can Dance 8 p.m) FOX5.49 47 Dateline: NBC Juventud 49 According to Jim (8 p.m.)ABC5.42 50 The UnitCBS5.29 --------------------------------------------51 The SimpsonsFOX5.28 52 Rock Star: SupernovaCBS5.15 53 MediumNBC5.14 54 Supernanny (9 p.m.)ABC5.04 55 Supernanny (10 p.m.)ABC4.97 --------------------------------------------56 American DadFOX4.91 57 Fea Bella 58 Law Order: Criminal Intent (Sat.) NBC4.82 59 WindfallNBC4.81 60 48 Hours Mystery --------------------------------------------61 Saturday Main (9 p.m.) NBC4.71 62 My Name Is Earl (9 p.m.)NBC4.62 63 Desperate HousewivesABC4.53 64 George LopezABC4.53 65 Anatomy (9 p.m.)ABC4.51 --------------------------------------------66 Las VegasNBC4.50 67 68 Fea Bella Fea Bella 70 Master of ChampionsABC4.35 --------------------------------------------71 Kyle XYABC4.34 72 Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX4.33 73 Most WantedFOX4.25 74 The OfficeNBC4.16 75 Crimetime SaturdayCBS4.11 --------------------------------------------76 Treasure Hunters (8 p.m.)NBC4.09 77 That Show (8:30 p.m.) FOX4.00 War at HomeFOX4.00 79 Fea Bella 80 Cops (8 p.m.)FOX3.88 --------------------------------------------81 Kitchen (8 p.m.)FOX3.84 82 de 83 Peregrina 84 Barrera de Amor 85 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (7 p.m.) ABC3.66 Saturday Main (8 p.m.) NBC3.66 87 FreddieABC3.63 88 King of the HillFOX3.44 89 WWE 90 Barrera de Amor --------------------------------------------91 BrotherhoodCBS3.38 92 Barrera de Amor 93 Lost (10 p.m.)ABC3.25 94 Barrera de Amor 95 That Show (8 p.m.)FOX2.99 --------------------------------------------96 CristinaUNI2.96 97 Don Francisco PresentaUNI2.81 98 Heridas de Amor Lost (9 p.m.)ABC2.74 Blue Collar TV (8:30 p.m.) WB2.74 --------------------------------------------101 Malcolm in the MiddleFOX2.73 102 Heridas de Amor 103 Blue Collar TV (8 p.m.)WB2.62 104 Everybody Hates ChrisUPN2.59 105 Reba --------------------------------------------106 Reba 7:30 p.m.)WB2.28 107 Heridas de Amor 108 Cantando por un SuenoUNI2.14 109 Gilmore Girls (8 p.m.)WB2.10 110 SmallvilleWB2.02 --------------------------------------------Reba 7 p.m.)WB2.02 112 7th Heaven (9 p.m.)WB2.00 113 Que Madre Tan PadreUNI1.96 114 Charmed (8 p.m.)WB1.89 115 SupernaturalWB1.88 --------------------------------------------116 Living With FranWB1.86 117 All of UsUPN1.84 24 (9 p.m.)FOX1.84 119 GiganteUNI1.78 GirlfriendsUPN1.78 --------------------------------------------121 Half and HalfUPN1.77 122 7th Heaven (8 p.m.)WB1.73 123 Love Inc.UPN1.72 124 Gilmore Girls (9 p.m.)WB1.71 125 One on OneUPN1.68 --------------------------------------------126 Charmed (9 p.m.)WB1.63 Next Top Model 6 UPN1.63 128 24 (8 p.m.)FOX1.62 129 Casos VidaUNI1.58 130 Eve --------------------------------------------131 Hora PicoUNI1.52 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 CBS6.9711.68 FOX6.479.35 NBC6.469.07 ABC5.069.83 UNI3.213.62 UPN1.992.93 WB1.892.89 TEL0.850.90 From the Associated Press Theclosely contested all-star baseball gameboosted the viewership by over last year and helped Fox during a midsummer quiet period in TV. The game, won by the American League, 3-2, viaaninth-in- ning rally, was the most-watched program in prime time last week with an audience of 14.4 million people, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. It helped Fox win the week among viewers ages18 to 49. CBS still won among all viewers, primarily because its series do much better in reruns than do its rivals. was back on top in the evening-news ratings race, averaging 8 million viewers.

News had 7.4 million viewers, and the Evening had 6.7 million. All-star game sparks ratings rally for Fox porters at the television preview conferences in May. Those clips hit the blogosphere in did a rough cut of the pilot. Reviews popped up immediately. Even in the age of the Internet, the focus on seems unusually sharp, undoubtedly because of the involvement of Sorkin, its award- winning creator.

would be just one of dozens of television series launching in the fall if it for the writer whose past is as colorful as the words he puts on paper. A playwright and screenwriter Few Good and American Sorkin, a recovering cocaine addict, has stayed away from television since he left West under a cloud of NBC complaints that he was delaying production by routinely turning in scripts late. Sointense interest from the media, especially from television critics, was to be expected. Still, he could not have envisioned that the script he wrote almost entirely in a London hotel while he was performing in a revival of Few Good last summer would generate this kind of fury from so many pajama-clad bloggers months before viewers get to even see his new show, which stars Perry, Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet and Steven Weber. try not to look at Sorkin said, and then half-joked: scares But, like it or not, this modern court of public opinion going anywhere.

As NBC President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly warns, only just begun on that The early feedback was a virtual love fest. One 35-year-old blogger at craigbe.comdeclared he was prepared for an embolism to after reading a draft of the script. like meets meets West all wrapped up in Good God, this is going to be he wrote. Then came the clip presentation for advertisers and a self- deprecating skit that Sorkin wrote for the actors designed to mock their own heady buzz, and the rumbling began. The characters seemed as smart and as fast-talking as Sorkin usually draws his players, and 360-degree camerawork, with its famous on hand too.

But advertisers and reporters know what to make of the trailers: The clips were clunky, not catchy. There was Perry falling out of a chair, a stuffy-seeming rage against reality television and insider-y executive power talks. Was it a comedy or a drama? Bloggers jumped into the fray: second of sounds like Sorkin and looks like Schlamme and thus all familiar and reassuring and intelligent and nowhere near as smart- seeming as it was back when West wrote Dan Fienberg of Los Angeles on his blog, fienprint.blog spot.com. Reilly spent a lot of time at the NBC party after the trailer presentation and in the weeks following pleading with ad buyers and the media to wait until they saw the entire pilot. But, he said, rather see some dialogue, even if not all positive, rather than no For his part, Sorkin is learning what a few in the industry already know about Internet fans: They may bark loudly, but not that many of them.

Yet. Craig Beilinson, a father of two, is the Sorkin fan who predicted he would be struck with an embolism. Internet is causing public opinion to spread faster than ever, but not clear that having an impact on the viewing habits of the general population he said. at what happened to No amount of rabid blogging about how it was the greatest comedy on TV could get more people to watch Reilly appreciates the closer relationship with the audience that the Internet affords, figuring it can only help programmers and marketers target more efficiently. But in the case of viewers may have gotten a bit too close for comfort, he said.

of the dangers of the Internet is any sort of work getting out prematurely or any sort of early judgment before anything is ready to be Reilly said. you have perfectionists like Aaron and Tommy, they want you to see their finished Sorkin seems to be a quick study: let this affect us because if it does it will only affect it badly. So you have to believe in what you start out doing, believe in what got and keep going The characters of Matthew Albie (Perry) and Danny Tripp (Whitford) are best friends and partners, much like Sorkin and Schlamme, who, in addition to West previously collaborated on Matthew is the offbeat genius writer and Danny is the brilliant director-producer, but not misstep that finds them running a 20-year-old sketch show that is lagging in the ratings. idea of what happens in the pilot is based on the idea of what would happen if once, just once, it was Tommy who screwed up instead of me. Where would that land said Sorkin, who is divorced and shares custody of his 5-year-old daughter, and who no longer talks publicly about his addiction recovery.

In truth, Reilly dying to launch a series about show business when others set in the industry were failing or succeeding only marginally, but the Sor- kin-Schlamme pedigree tempted him. When he read the script, Reilly said, he thought would be a talent magnet that could help him revive NBC, which with its falling profits continues to be a drag on parent company General Electric. And so, the bidding began. NBC and CBS were neck and neck, both offering big bucks and promising huge promotional launches. The producers chose NBC because felt a little like home, and we felt still the place expect to find a show like Sorkin said.

The budget is big: NBC is reportedly spending between $2 million and $3 million on each episode. And it did lure in the talent, spurring Perry to return to TV, Whitford to stay in it and Peet to give it a try. In interviews, most of the cast said they have deliberately avoided reading early reviews of the show because, as Whitford put it, business is like dating a schizophrenic: I love you, I ignore you, fantastic, terrible. I need that. I just want to wear makeup and be But Weber, who plays the chairman of the fictional network, NBS, said he has absorbed almost every syllable.

the equivalent of a baby being born and is shouting at it, on, grow Weber said. element of time is the most important thing: time to gather an audience or time to repel an audience, time for people to draw While the pilot clearly takes aim at current lowbrow factor, Sorkin promises he is not raging against the medium that pays his bills. The characters of Matt, Danny and Jordan are all driven by the legacy they have inherited, the of Sid Caesar and Jackie Gleason, Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, and ours now, and it matters what we do with Sorkin said. The same could be said for Sorkin and Schlamme, who as they begin toiling on their third series together, are surely mindful of the fact that none of those luminaries had to contend with the Internet.

Scott Garfield NBC IN THE EYE: Key players in 60 on the Sunset include Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry, center, and Amanda Peet and Steven Weber, right. blog bog from Page E1.