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CALENDAR E13 LOSANGELESTIMES MAD MEN June 3 BIG LOVE June 4 DAMAGES June 5 ModeratedbytheLosAngelesTimes andTheEnvelope.com RSVPat 213.237.3019 or For more details on the screening times and location, visit TheEnvelope.com/screeningseries Look for the Primetime Emmy Envelope print series Season Preview Actors 08ENV192 Presentedby Mad Men Battlestar Galactica Damages House Come hear the creators and talent discuss their work on some of the hottest shows on TV. Big Love Breaking Bad PRIMETIMEEMMY ENVELOPESCREENINGSERIES BREAKING BAD June 10 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA June 11 HOUSE June 12 ProgramNet- work Viewers ProgramNet- work Viewers 1 American Idol 2 American Idol 3 Dancing With the Stars (Mon.) ABC18.47 4 CSI (9 p.m.)CBS18.06 5 Dancing With the Stars Results (Tue.) ABC16.99 ------------------------------------------6 Desperate HousewivesABC16.84 7 AnatomyABC15.55 8 HouseFOX15.02 9 NCISCBS14.88 10 Without a TraceCBS14.54 ------------------------------------------11 CSI: MiamiCBS13.92 12 Two and a Half MenCBS13.82 13 Criminal Minds 14 CSI: NYCBS11.86 15 of Country Music CBS11.73 ------------------------------------------16 Law Order: SVU 17 KitchenFOX11.31 18 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (8 p.m.) ABC11.22 19 LostABC10.96 20 60 MinutesCBS10.79 ------------------------------------------21 Rules of EngagementCBS10.62 22 Samantha 23 SharkCBS10.00 24 Numb3rsCBS9.78 25 BonesFOX9.68 ------------------------------------------26 How I Met Your MotherCBS8.93 27 Bachelor: London Calling ABC8.85 28 MediumNBC8.73 29 Ugly BettyABC8.46 30 Law Order ------------------------------------------31 Ghost WhispererCBS8.44 32 ER NBC8.43 33 Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? FOX8.42 34 Criminal Minds 35 The Office ------------------------------------------36 Murder ClubABC7.91 37 Boston LegalABC7.80 38 The Big Bang TheoryCBS7.79 39 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (7 p.m.) ABC7.67 40 CSI (8 p.m.)CBS7.60 ------------------------------------------41 MoonlightCBS7.47 42 Price Is Right Primetime CBS7.23 43 Deal or No Deal 44 My Name Is EarlNBC7.17 45 Back to YouFOX7.06 ------------------------------------------46 Funniest Home Videos ABC6.82 47 Forget the LyricsFOX6.65 48 Wife SwapABC6.28 49 Law Order: SVU (9 p.m.) NBC6.21 50 The Simpsons (8 p.m.)FOX6.19 ------------------------------------------51 Family GuyFOX6.18 52 53 48 Hours MysteryCBS6.02 54 Til DeathFOX5.90 55 SupernannyABC5.89 ------------------------------------------56 American DadFOX5.64 57 King of the Hill (8:30 p.m.) FOX5.40 58 Al Diablo con los Guapos (Thu.) UNI5.38 59 Al Diablo con los Guapos (Mon.) UNI5.11 60 Crimetime Saturday (9 p.m.) CBS5.05 ------------------------------------------61 Law Order 62 American Gladiators (Mon.) NBC4.99 63 Al Diablo con los Guapos (Tue.) UNI4.97 64 Fuego en la Sangre (Mon.) UNI4.89 65 Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX4.87 ------------------------------------------66 Most WantedFOX4.81 67 Fuego en la Sangre (Wed.) UNI4.78 68 Fuego en la Sangre (Tue.) UNI4.76 69 Top Model 4 (Wed.) CW4.75 70 Law Order: SVU (Sun.) NBC4.74 ------------------------------------------71 Fuego en la Sangre (Thu.) UNI4.63 72 Crimetime Saturday (8 p.m.) CBS4.62 73 Aqui AhoraUNI4.52 74 According to Jim (8:30 p.m.) ABC4.45 75 Dateline: NBC ------------------------------------------76 Al Diablo con los Guapos (Wed.) UNI4.42 77 Fuego en la Sangre 78 Dateline: NBC 79 Nuestra BellezaUNI4.30 80 According to Jim (8 p.m.) ABC4.22 ------------------------------------------81 Friday Night Smackdown! CW4.18 82 Most Outrageous Moments (8:30 p.m.) NBC4.05 83 Al Diablo con los Guapos (Fri.) UNI3.98 84 Most Outrageous Moments (8 p.m.) NBC3.95 85 Cops (8 p.m.)FOX3.94 ------------------------------------------86 SmallvilleCW3.85 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 CBS10.3310.05 ABC9.568.85 FOX9.2010.76 NBC5.547.78 UNI3.583.54 CW2.682.46 Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (May 12-18) 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 286 million potential viewers in the U.S.

ages 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions. Even the finales for such hits as Crime Scene and are not immune from prime-time post-writers strike decline in viewership, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. In a week when total viewer- ship on the five major networks was less than the similar week a year ago, the audience for season finale, the most-watched scripted series, was down to 18.06 million viewers; fell to 16.84 million; and decreased to 15.55 million. On a more upbeat note, coverage of Academy of Country Music Awards reversed the usual trend of declining ratings for awards shows by drawing 11.73 million viewers, more than last record-low of 9.28 million, finishing 15th for the week.

CBS was the winner for the fourth consecutive week, averaging 10.33 million viewers for its 22 hours of prime-time programming between May 12 and Sunday. ABC was second with 9.56 million. Fox was third, averaging 9.2 million viewers, despite the usual 1-2 finish by TNT was most- watched network for the third consecutive week, averaging 3.07 million viewers for its prime-time programming, thanks in part to a 1-2 finish by its Wednesday NBA playoff doubleheader. The 111-104 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal series last Wednesday was most-watched program with 5.45 million viewers, which would have placed it 57th among the programs on the five major broadcast networks. Prime-Time TV Rankings Network viewership declines By Steven Herbert City News Service WASHINGTON Bugs Bunny is coolest kid in the Holden Caulfield is the guy who defined in-between place when unhappy but not devastated and just really hard to sort Willy Loman is seen anew, on a cellphone, at the airport, a salesman who up to tap out a new number, and snap open a new In the middle of the news from Iraq and the latest from the presidential race, National Public programs have been slipping in profiles of some influential but imaginary characters fictional figures who have had a deep and lasting effecton lives.

a series of more than 50 pieces that began in January and will continue into the summer, is the latest outgrowth of the NPR 100, a compendium of radio profiles that in 2000 examined the influence of the most important American musical works of the 20th century. Listeners get enough of those stories, and the producer of the series, Elizabeth Blair, wondered whetherthe next step might be to take on the great fictional characters who define the sense of its dreams and realities. NPR reporters leaped at the chance to put their journalism skills to work on people who actually exist. That new version of Arthur salesman, transferred to an airport lounge, is the work of Scott Simon, the longtime host of Edition Simon not only spoke to actors and directors who had worked on of a and know Loman intimately, but he also took the character a step closer to reality, interviewing a salesman of today about what Loman means. The quotation about Caulfield, the antihero of J.D.

in the comes from a University of Pennsylvania student, one of several interviewed about the character for a piece on Things in which the power of the always- questioning teenager to shape and capture adolescent angst is shown to endure through the generations. But some of the 35 characters profiled so far are hardly universal in their appeal. Blair explains how a segment on a movie cult figure of the 1980s came to happen: MacAdam, a thirtysomething producer, came to me, a forty- something, and said, have to do Long Duk and I said, Blair nearly rejected the idea of featuring a character from the 1984 John Hughes teen movie but eventually yielded to those at NPR who had grown up strangely fascinated by the Asian doofus whose every appearance is introduced by the sounding of a gong. The resulting profile examined the stere- otyping of Asians in the movies and the tension between ethnic cathartic appeal and the cringe-making offense of a character who uses his fork and spoon as chopsticks and speaks in a ludicrous pidgin English. Gedde Watanabe, the Japanese American actor from Utah who played the role, tells MacAdam in an interview that he loved playing the role but has come to believe that was quite naive about From the start, was intended to cover culture both high and low, and the series features 29 figures from movies and TV, 16 from books, five from playsand a few from other media, such as comic books and radio.

Blair convened a panel of culture and arts experts to sift through nominations for the series, and NPR reporters lobbied for their favorite figures. Things anchor Robert Siegelgot to do the Lone Ranger, the beloved radio hero of his youth, and Baghdad correspondent Jamie Tarabayis working on a story about how Buffy the Vampire Slayer saved her life, providing just the relief war reporters needed after long days covering the tragedies of human conflict. Many of the profiles are saturated in nostalgia yet ask probing questions about our history and culture. The better pieces avoid being overly academic even as they pose serious questions that usually boil down to this: does this character mean? What does he tell us about who we That broad, open approach is a respite from the narrow focus that dominates much of academia these days, the emphasis on gender, race and identity as the only acceptable prism through which to analyze culture. The profiles instead tend to zoom in on who these people are as individuals, and what it is about themthat makes audiences want to adopt them as fantasy buddies.

definitely go after these characters as we would go after anonfiction character, reporting the story and interviewing Blair says. Great Americans of our time, and minds Warner Bros. Bugs Bunny is one of 50 characters profiled in series. NPR gets with probing profiles of influential but imaginary people. By Marc Fisher Washington Post.