The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 61

2004:06:15:14:54:36 Lakerfans be happy with the result of the third and fourth games of the NBA championship series with the Detroit Pistons. But those two contests in Detroit, along with the winning effort on June 8 at Staples Center, dominated the ratings and gave ABC a rare victory in all of the key audience demographics. It was the best showing since the Academy Awards. The only other programming that showed significant life last week, according to information from Nielsen Media Research, was the second season launch of Comic which finished in 11th place and attracted almost 11 million view- ers when it debuted June 9. It did even better with the 18- to 49-year-old viewers advertisers and networks crave, finishing just behind the NBA finals.

Perhaps the controversy generated by several disgruntled judges helped boost interest in the show. More foreboding for NBC, though, was the small viewer- ship for Monday miere of the unscripted Action CBS, which is ignoring the call for year-round programming, had to be pleased that repeats of its shows produced six of the seven top-rated scripted shows last week. Taylor TV ratings a slam dunk for ABC CALENDAR E13 LOSANGELESTIMES TELEVISION RADIO Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (June 7-13) 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 NBA Finals: Game 4ABC20.29 2 NBA Finals: Game 3ABC16.21 3 NBA Finals: Game 2ABC16.13 4 CSICBS13.84 5 Without a TraceCBS13.25 --------------------------------------------6 Everybody Loves Raymond CBS13.22 7 Two and a Half MenCBS12.58 8 CSI: MiamiCBS12.14 9 Law Order: SVUNBC11.33 10 Cold CaseCBS11.23 --------------------------------------------11 Comic Standing (Wed.) NBC10.70 12 60 MinutesCBS10.57 13 Crossing JordanNBC9.93 14 Law Order: Criminal Intent NBC9.92 15 48 Hours MysteryCBS9.28 --------------------------------------------16 Last Comic Standing 2 (Tue.) NBC9.13 17 Still StandingCBS8.61 18 Fear FactorNBC8.16 19 You in My 20 60 Minutes IICBS7.67 --------------------------------------------21 Dateline NBC 22 NBA Hangtime Finals: Game 4 ABC7.49 23 King of QueensCBS7.44 24 Yes, DearCBS7.32 25 Funniest Home Videos ABC7.16 --------------------------------------------26 Judging AmyCBS7.04 27 Navy NCISCBS6.75 28 NBA Hangtime Finals: Game 3 ABC6.72 29 Still Standing 30 The SimpsonsFOX6.63 FriendsNBC6.63 32 33 ABC Stanley Cup Final: Game 7 ABC6.29 34 For Love or Money 3NBC6.26 35 Most WantedFOX6.10 --------------------------------------------36 Dateline NBC 37 Scrubs 8 p.m.)NBC5.99 38 Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX5.87 39 News: Reagan NBC5.83 40 The GuardianCBS5.75 --------------------------------------------41 Joan of Arcadia 42 My Wife and Kids 43 Impossible 44 Scrubs 8:30 p.m.)NBC5.54 45 Will GraceNBC5.50 --------------------------------------------46 Come to PapaNBC5.48 47 My Wife and KidsABC5.46 48 ERNBC5.43 49 8 Simple Rules Pie --------------------------------------------51 That Show (8:30 p.m.) FOX5.02 52 Simple Life 9:30 p.m.) FOX4.86 53 NBA Hangtime Finals: Game 2 ABC4.84 54 Olympic Trials 55 CopsFOX4.70 --------------------------------------------56 Crime and Punishment 3NBC4.68 57 Law Order Simple Life 9 p.m.) FOX4.67 59 WWE 60 Scrubs 9:30 p.m.)NBC4.58 61 Arrested Development (8:30 p.m.) FOX4.44 62 Two and a Half Men 63 Malcolm in the MiddleFOX4.41 Simple Life 8:30 p.m.) FOX4.41 65 That Show (8 p.m.)FOX4.32 --------------------------------------------66 Joan of ArcadiaCBS4.30 67 The Jury (8 p.m.)FOX4.21 68 The Jury (9 p.m.)FOX4.18 69 Simple Life 8:17 p.m.) FOX4.14 70 Summerland --------------------------------------------71 of 72 The Drew Carey Show (9 p.m.) ABC4.06 73 The Drew Carey Show (9:30 p.m.) ABC3.96 74 King of the HillFOX3.87 75 Olympic Trials --------------------------------------------76 Ultimate Love 77 Arrested Development (9:30 p.m.) FOX3.41 78 Reba (9:30 p.m.)WB3.36 79 Oliver BeeneFOX3.33 80 Tru CallingFOX3.29 --------------------------------------------81 RebaWB3.19 82 Superstar USAWB3.07 83 All of UsUPN2.92 84 EveUPN2.85 85 Must Be --------------------------------------------86 87 7th HeavenWB2.69 88 One on OneUPN2.67 89 Simple Life 8 p.m.) FOX2.63 90 GirlfriendsUPN2.60 --------------------------------------------91 The ParkersUPN2.58 92 Grounded for LifeWB2.56 93 Half and HalfUPN2.55 94 One on One (9 p.m.)UPN2.53 95 Gilmore GirlsWB2.49 --------------------------------------------96 What I Like About YouWB2.39 97 98 Steve Big Time (7:30 p.m.) WB2.02 99 Summerland 100 EnterpriseUPN1.97 --------------------------------------------101 Malcolm in the MiddleFOX1.94 102 Rock Me BabyUPN1.45 103 Bernie MacFOX1.72 104 Steve Big TimeWB1.65 105 CharmedWB1.57 --------------------------------------------106 Enterprise (9 p.m.)UPN1.51 107 Summerland 108 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 ABC8.608.84 CBS8.4012.76 NBC7.2610.77 FOX4.409.43 UPN2.763.33 WB2.423.56 on Fox, was well-reviewed, cul- tishly loved and rarely watched, will likely match it only in terms of viewership. And though it takes more than a single bad sitcom to scuttle a career, this one really does have the feeling of being at the end of some particularly dark and rutted road.

character misses the days when his quints were news and they got things free. Wife Rebecca Kreskoff misses dressing them alike. The children, who come in a wide range of sizes and types, seem related (and the same age) only by assertion. a hot boy, a hot girl (looking for someone not only appreciates my body, but also my a sullen smart girl kind of hot, though not supposed to be), a spaced- out boy (more cute than hot, but definitely cute) and a short little fellow who thinks a lot about sex and is definitely not hot, though ahot girl in the first episode finds him cute in a freaky little and shows him her breasts because he has convinced her that a vegetarian and likes Coldplay. (Obnoxious dweebs of the world, take heart.) Scholars of the television arts will recognize him as a variant on David Bud Bundy.

He is, in fact, Ryan Pinkston, who was a regular on and appeared in Kids and must therefore be counted one of the shows bigger draws. There is a leering attitude to the humor that the writers may have mistaken for edginess. There are jokes about toe sucking and pierced nipples. In a surprising plot twist, the kids throw aparty when their parents leave them alone for the night, apparently for the first time in 15 years, to attend a Bruce Springsteen concert, where Richter eats a hash brownie and a lot of pretzels. Fun for all ages, someone must have thought.

though far from perfect, fares much better has an air of sweet stupidity that takes the edge off what might politely be called its politi- cal incorrectness and distracts you from the superstructure of upon which it hangs. Given a chance, it could become as genially surreal as did Method Man and Redman buy a crib in a gated community full of white the stars rhetorically ask (addressing new pet goldfish). It for safety, fresh air or the hot but because was on the and mom (Anna Maria Horsford, of Wayans always wanted a nice place to live. This nice place is full of television sets, all tuned to basketball, and girls in bikinis and sundry sidekicks kicking it sitcom style. The real reason living there, of course, is that someone thought it would be and some of it is.

One might, for that matter, ask why Method (born Clifford Smith) and Red (a.k.a. Reggie Noble) are living in the same house when each could afford a crib of his own, but they require the proximity they are in along comedic tradition of grown men joined at the hip, and they do not dishonor it. (Neither is it their first fish-out-of-water project: Followers of the intersecting careers may remember the movie in which they go to Harvard, as Laurel Hardy before them were chumps at Oxford.) In spite of versified protestations elsewhere that straight to cam- too hot for and Method claim to be boiling to blow his lid from the pressure, too hot for they have turned down the flame to an acceptable level for broadcast. You find them sporting any off on the pump, on a on a they wield nothing wilder than the fruitcakes with which they try to sway affections. people love that says Method.

they snack of Though they know a cee- ment pond from a fly hot tub and apool cue from a pot-passer, they are nevertheless required by the rules of this game to be a little bit naive, especially when it comes to the strange ways of their mostly white, uptight neighbors. (Among the community bylaws: stands must conform to neighborhood architectural standards and signage must be of a tasteful font with absolutely no backward As in all such entertainments, the innate good- heartedness shines an unflattering light upon their superficial concerns. There is some diversity in the casting to remind us that black people can be stiff-necked, too, and that white people can be cool (particularly David Henrie, the 12-year-old boy next door) and that Asian people exist but the humor, without ever being nasty, does depend on that sense of racial otherness. bad, says Method, getting his first taste of fruitcake. got fruit.

got a Method to madness Fox, from Page E1 Fox SIBLING REVELRY: Jake McDorman, top, Ryan Pinkston and Johnny Lewis are part of the brood in Mitchell Haaseth MOVING ON UP: Rappers Method Man, left, and Redman. Where: Fox When: Premieres tonight Rating: The network has rated premiere TV-PGDS (may not be suitable for young children, with advisories for suggestive dialogue and sex) Andy Richter Chase Rebecca Creskoff Chase Sarah Wright Chase Jake McDorman Chase Ryan Pinkston Chase Johnny Lewis Chase April Matson Chase Creator, Mark Reisman. Executive producers, Reisman and David Nevins. Director pilot), Andy Cadiff. Writer pilot), Reisman.

Where: Fox When: Premieres tonight Rating: The network has rated premiere TV-PGDL (may not be suitable for young children, with advisories for suggestive dialogue and coarse language) Method Man Redman Anna Maria Horsford Beth Littleford Blaford David Henrie Blaford Peter Jacobson Blaford Creator, Kell Cahoon. Executive producers, Cahoon, Will Gluck, Method Man. Director pilot), Jeff Melman. Writers pilot), Cahoon and Method Man. ABC News had a wacky time coming up with a title for its new five-part wedding series anchored by Diane Sawyer, not settling on the final title until shortly before its Monday night premiere.

The program, which features segments on notable nuptials, was originally dubbed dings Gone Wild: Anything for TV listings featured it as Gone Wacky, Wonderful and Wild: Anything for By the time it aired Monday after an article in Calendar called attention to the similarity with the raunchy Gone video series the name was short- ened to even though abackdrop with the original title remained visible during the opening. An ABC spokesman declined to provide a reason for the switch. always reserve the right to change edit our work up until the very moment of air, including the hesaid. Whatever the title, did not dominate the ratings. The 10 p.m.

program averaged 6.4 million viewers, a distant second place behind a repeat of crime drama (14 million), according to early figures from Nielsen Media Research. But ABC had better luck than NBC, which bombed with its new reality series, Action (5 million). Collins ABC gets cold feet on title for series morearias Liveentertainment and the arts. Every Sunday in Calendar, Part II. ARY RIEDMAN Los Angeles Times John Mauceri, right, conducts Vargas and Patricia Racette in at the Hollywood Bowl.

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