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E11 LOSANGELESTIMES 05WB017-HGBA go on get out Find movies, music, dining and more on most-comprehensive, entertainment website. All fun. All free. ou ge ut movie oC a ainme IRFAN KHAN Los Angeles Times month. Media buyers asked Tuesday during the upfront presentations about the return resist taking a good-natured jab at its ratings.

people will be very joked Jason Kanefsky, vice president and account director at MPG, of renewal. But he and other media buyers agreed it was a smart move. time that got a show different and quirky on the air, a good Kanefsky said. got upscale numbers, got high People are engaged with it. better than a Fox reality offering.

Added Stacey Lynn Koerner of Initiative: one of the few comedies that has a voice completely different from the rest of the comedies that are out perseverance says a great deal about lowered network expectations, not to mention the dismal state of TV comedy. Thanks in large part to Fox is leading this season among the young- adult viewers advertisers crave. That gives executives more room to give an extra boost to a critically acclaimed ratings laggard like Last fall, the series won the Emmy for best comedy. Beckman said has struggled in part because it fit naturally with the rest of schedule. When Fox announces its fall schedule Thurs- day, he added, it will likely include a better series culled from the new comedy pilots.

no natural time period for on our Beckman said. spent two years surrounded by animated such as and of the Fox also hopes that more viewers will be exposed to outside of its regular airing. The first-season DVD was ranked No.102 on Amazon.com’s chart Tuesday. Beckman says the wider exposure is crucial because the comedy depends heavily on in-jokes, such as the blue paint motif that creeps into episodes. lot of its humor comes from knowing the characters and seeing prior Beckman said.

where the value of the DVD comes As it happens, the competitive environment for any comedy is much easier than it was just a year or so ago, because several major hits have ended their runs in the past year, including and and now Furthermore, the current new comedies, such as of the and of the failed to stir excitement with viewers. The lack of heavy hitters makes executives more willing to work with series that are ratings-challenged but show promise. ABC President Stephen McPherson told reporters Tuesday, for instance, that the network was giving a second chance because it had been moved around the schedule and was not promoted properly. deliver great ratings but was our McPherson said. can do a lot better job of giving it a companion and finding the appropriate market Of course, patience does have its limits.

ABC on Tuesday officially axed Wife the Damon Wayans sitcom that has roughly matched the 6 million or so average weekly viewers gets. Also gone is Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage a onetime hit that has struggled since the death of star John Ritter in September 2003. and had a great McPherson said. But think they told a lot of what they wanted to Times staff writer Maria Elena Fernandez contributed to this report. Networks spare low-rated sitcoms Television, from Page E1 Sam Urdank Fox IN: Fox has renewed with Jason Bateman, left, and Michael Cera, despite its viewership.

just have to figure out ways to broaden out the a network executive says. Al Seib Los Angeles Times OUT: ABC has axed Damon Wife NEW TitleDescription Brannon Braga Trek genre pilot that centers on a possible alien invasion. Braga co-wrote the script and is co-executive producing with David Goyer. Jeff Davis and Mark Gordon a suspense thriller set inside the behavioral analysis unit. drama series about a female prosecutor who works in a Midwestern suburband tracks the behind the crimes she investigates.

Created by Jim Leonard, who also co-executive produces it with Jerry Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman. psychic James van Praagh, a young newlywed talks to the dead. John Gray is on tap to write and direct the pilot, along with Ian Sander and Kim Moses. midseason show, about the lives of a special forces unit and their families. From collaborators David Mamet and Shawn Ryan.

I Met Your A man looks back on his single life, 20 years in the future. Written and co-produced by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. UntitledAn untitled project with Stockard Channing and Henry Winkler. I Know About Based on the BBC comedy to about a single young woman judging all the men. Likely midseason.

NEW SHOW UPDATE Miracle An elite team of physicians works with revolutionary medical treatments. Midseason WHAT ELSE were dropped, as were As We Know and NEW SHOW UPDATE Sara Gilbert and Molly Stantonas twins who are opposites. Melanie Griffith plays their air-headed mom; Mark Linn-Baker as their dad. From the creators of 8:30 p.m. Friday WHAT ELSE Jerry Bruckheimer is producing his first comedy for the WB, which is aimed for midseason.

Also, the cult favorite was dropped because of low ratings. For more information on the new shows, visit calendarlive.com/upfront Los Angeles Times Prime-Time Preview This week in New York, broadcast networks begin to unveil their fall season schedules to advertisers. the kickoff of the biggest event of the year in the television business known as the when advertisers are urged to buy prime-time commercial spots before the 2005-06 season begins. CBS tries to get over CBS has long been No.1 in total viewers, and this season battling ABC for second place among the young adults whom advertisers covet. But for next season, the network has some significant holes in itsschedule, with the long-running Loves and going off the air.

A look at coming: Wife among ABC cuts ABC, which comes in strong this fall with hits like and canceled low-performing shows, including Wife and and moved several shows to new weekday time slots. It also opted to hold on to and in but OK at the WB The WB, which has enjoyed an audience of young, hipviewers, introduced its new motto, on screens at presentation to advertisers. But executives said the network also hopes to broaden itsreach with new pickupssuch as which isabout a lawyer (Don Johnson) who teams up with an 18-year-old whiz kid, and a sitcom starring Melanie Griffith as a ditzy mom. Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (May 9-15) 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 American Idol 2 CSICBS26.46 3 Desperate HousewivesABC25.28 4 American Idol 5 Palau --------------------------------------------6 CSI: MiamiCBS20.01 7 Everybody Loves Raymond CBS19.79 8 Survivor: PalauCBS19.65 9 Without a TraceCBS18.92 10 HouseFOX18.80 --------------------------------------------11 AnatomyABC18.33 12 Two and a Half MenCBS17.96 13 ERNBC17.16 14 LostABC17.10 15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (8 p.m.) ABC16.57 --------------------------------------------16 Amazing Race: 7CBS16.01 17 Palau CBS15.48 18 Apprentice 3NBC14.80 19 CSI: NYCBS14.55 20 Law Order: SVUNBC14.50 --------------------------------------------21 NCISCBS13.58 22 MediumNBC12.79 23 Crossing JordanNBC12.62 24 Everybody Loves Raymond (8:30 p.m.) CBS12.41 25 Law OrderNBC12.22 --------------------------------------------26 60 MinutesCBS12.00 27 by the 28 Las VegasNBC11.36 29 Numb3rsCBS11.29 30 24FOX11.00 --------------------------------------------31 StackedFOX10.75 32 Part 2CBS10.47 33 Law Order: Criminal Intent NBC10.31 34 35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (7 p.m.) ABC10.14 --------------------------------------------36 King of QueensCBS10.04 37 AliasABC9.84 38 The Simpsons (8:30 p.m.) FOX9.69 39 Family GuyFOX9.26 40 Crimetime SaturdayCBS9.10 --------------------------------------------41 Law Order 42 JoeyNBC8.56 43 Fear FactorNBC8.37 44 RevelationsNBC8.36 45 According to Jim (9:30 p.m.) ABC8.28 --------------------------------------------46 The SimpsonsFOX8.17 47 According to JimABC8.06 48 That ShowFOX7.97 49 48 Hours MysteryCBS7.96 50 American DadFOX7.84 --------------------------------------------51 Nanny 911FOX7.74 52 Law Order: Trial by JuryNBC7.64 53 Funniest Home Videos ABC7.53 54 Cold Case 55 The BachelorABC7.10 --------------------------------------------56 Dateline: NBC 57 Dateline: NBC 58 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: They Do That? ABC6.66 59 Big Fat Greek ABC6.65 60 Dateline: NBC --------------------------------------------61 Primetime LiveABC6.54 62 That ShowFOX6.33 63 Blind JusticeABC6.30 64 The O.C.FOX6.12 65 ScrubsNBC6.01 --------------------------------------------66 Family ABC5.93 67 Most WantedFOX5.74 68 Law Order: SVU Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX5.68 70 Next Top Model 4 UPN5.54 --------------------------------------------71 Makeover: Wedding ABC5.50 72 George LopezABC5.47 73 Will GraceNBC5.41 74 Gilmore GirlsWB5.39 75 ContenderNBC5.32 --------------------------------------------76 My Wife and KidsABC5.28 77 Malcolm in the MiddleFOX5.16 78 Most Outrageous Moments on Live TV NBC5.13 79 WWE SmackdownUPN5.00 80 7th HeavenWB4.76 --------------------------------------------81 CopsFOX4.64 82 King of the HillFOX4.50 83 84 EverwoodWB4.44 85 Simple Life 3FOX4.28 --------------------------------------------86 SmallvilleWB3.96 87 88 Simple Life 3 (9:30 p.m.)FOX3.81 89 EnterpriseUPN3.80 90 One Tree HillWB3.78 --------------------------------------------91 GirlfriendsUPN3.75 92 Half and HalfUPN3.59 93 Reba (9 p.m.)WB3.57 Crossing Jordan 95 Charmed (8 p.m.)WB3.44 --------------------------------------------96 Blue Collar TV (8:30 p.m.) WB3.22 97 Blue Collar TVWB3.02 98 Veronica MarsUPN2.99 99 Blue Collar TV (9 p.m.)WB2.89 Steve Big TimeWB2.89 --------------------------------------------101 CutsUPN2.87 102 One on OneUPN2.83 103 104 Kevin HillUPN2.69 105 Living With FranWB2.64 --------------------------------------------106 RebaWB2.51 107 Blue Collar TV (9:30 p.m.) WB2.44 108 EveUPN2.28 109 Jack BobbyWB2.08 110 All of UsUPN1.99 --------------------------------------------111 What I Like About YouWB1.91 112 Charmed (7 p.m.)WB1.63 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 CBS14.8112.90 FOX9.319.89 ABC9.1110.05 NBC9.089.81 UPN3.753.36 WB3.343.34 Los Angeles Times Prime-Time TV Rankings From Associated Press Apregnant Britney Spears appeared with husband Kevin Federline on Tuesday the first television interview for the couple together.

Wearing a loose pink-and- beige dress, Spears only slightly showed signs of her pregnancy, which she announced in early April. The 23-year-old pop star said that it was she who popped the question to Federline who even go for it right away. I was a little rejected at first. I kind of got slapped Spears said on the syndicated morning talk show. She and Federline, a 27- year-old former backup dancer, married last September.

told her that not right for the woman to ask the man. The supposed to get on one knee and do it Federline said. took me about five minutes, and then I turned around and asked The couple will be getting plenty of airtime in the UPN reality show, and Kevin: which was set to premiere Tuesday night. The six- episode series features private home videos during their courtship, engagement and wedding. MTV announced Tuesday that it will re-air the shows on Thursdays, beginning May 26.

The attention is a new experience for Federline, but he said the publicity and paparazzi are only minor distractions. just happy with who he said. love her and everything else is She proposed to Federline, Spears says on Pick up your life on Thursdays. CalendarWeekend 03ED158.