The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 81

LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR D11 Support Provided By Thomas H. Lee and Ann Tenenbaum Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust The Robert and Belfer Family Foundation The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc. Julien Studley, The Julien J. Studley Foundation National Endowment for the Arts LincolnCenter.org Chris Lee; Fleming: Andrew Decca TUNE IN TONIGHT AT 8 This broadcast is part of the Lincoln Center 50 Years celebration.

Hosted by Alan Alda LiveFromLincolnCenter ismade possiblebya majorgrantfrom The Alan Gilbert era begins in historic fashion with a brand-new overture written especially for the occasion by Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg, in an evening with world- renowned soprano Fleming in Avery Fisher Hall. New York Philharmonic Opening Night Concert with Maestro Alan Gilbert and Fleming Hosted by Alec Baldwin Alan Gilbert Fleming DOMINGO ELI AND EDYTHE BROAD GENERAL DIRECTOR JAMES CONLON RICHARD SEAVER MUSIC DIRECTOR 213.972.8001 LAOpera.com DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION 135 N. Grand Downtown LA 90012 CONDUCTED BY JAMES CONLON DIRECTED BY STEPHEN LAWLESS NINO MACHAIDZE Adina GIUSEPPE FILIANOTI Nemorino NATHAN GUNN Belcore GIORGIO CAODURO Dulcamara JAMES CONLON Conductor Designer JOHAN ENGELS lighting Designer JOAN SULLIVAN-GENTHE Associate Master GRANT GERSHON 5 performances SEP 20-30 OFFICIAL TIMEPIECE OF LA OPERA OFFICIAL CRUISE LINE OF LA OPERA Production made possible by a generous gift from MR. AND MRS. MILAN PANIC with additional support from THE SEAVER ENDOWMENT A consistently handsome and lively cast NINO MACHAIDZEmade a genuine star turn.

She has a winning smile and can handle comic business, but her voice is full of GIUSEPPE FILIANOTIsang with splendid voice makes him a bass to GUNNwas an appealing JAMES CONLONconducted with considerable grace. The orchestra was a LOS ANGELES TIMES ROBERT MILLARD to Giorgio Caoduro, Giuseppe Filianoti and Nino Machaidze The start of the regular season gave NBC its first weekly prime-time ratings victory since the Super Bowl, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. Night game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers was the most-watched prime-time program between Sept. 7 and Sunday, averaging 21.1 million viewers. The audience was the largest for a Night opener since the much- anticipated 2006 game between the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants, quarterbacked by brothers Peyton and Eli Manning, respectively.

The Thursday night game between the Pittsburgh Steel- ers and Tennessee Titans was second for the week with 20.91million viewers a record for a Thursday night season opener. In a week when six of the seven most-watched programs were related to the NFL, NBC averaged 10.54 million viewers for its prime-time programming, winning for the first time since Super Bowl week. The premiere of Vampire on Thursday drew 4.91 million viewers, the most for a premiere on the CW, which is starting its fourth season. Vampire finished third in the 8-9 p.m. time slot and 45th for the week among the prime-time programming of the five major English-language networks, and won the most viewers ages 12-17 and females ages 12-17 and 18-34.

The other premiere for the week, drew 2.31 million viewers, finishing 80th for the week and fifth in its Tuesday 9-10 time slot but second among women ages 18-34. coverage of 18-15 victory over Ohio State on Saturday averaged 10.59 million viewers, the most for any ESPN college football game and the most for any cable program during the week. The game, which included Stafon winning 2- yard touchdown run with just over one minute to play, would have ranked ninth among the prime-time programs on the major broadcast networks. The MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, in which rapper Kayne West drew headlines for interrupting an acceptance speech by county singer Taylor Swift, was the second most-watched cable program. It averaged 8.97million viewers, its largest audience since 2004.

ESPN was the most- watched cable network for the second consecutive week, averaging 3.9 million viewers for its prime-time programming. NBC scores with NFL openers Six of the seven most-watched network programs are related to pro football. College ball boosts ESPN. city news service Morry Gash Associated Press BEAR-ING DOWN: Packer Aaron Rodgers throws under pressure. ProgramNet- work Viewers ProgramNet- work Viewers 1 NFL football: Chicago at Green Bay NBC21.10 2 Football: Tennessee at Pittsburgh NBC20.91 3 NFL Pregame 4 NFL Pregame 5 Got Talent (Tue.) NBC12.03 ------------------------------------------6 Football Night in America Part 3 NBC11.99 7 The OTFOX11.34 8 NCISCBS11.22 9 60 MinutesCBS10.52 10 Got Talent 9 p.m.) NBC10.06 ------------------------------------------11 NFL Opening Kick-Off Show NBC9.23 12 Two and a Half MenCBS9.02 13 The MentalistCBS8.34 14 The Big Bang Theory CBS8.08 15 KitchenFOX7.97 ------------------------------------------16 Big Brother 17 CSICBS7.56 18 GleeFOX7.50 19 Big Brother 20 Dateline ------------------------------------------21 Dateline 22 Big Brother 23 The Mentalist 24 So You Think You Can Dance (Wed.) FOX6.55 25 Got Talent 8 p.m.) NBC6.50 ------------------------------------------26 CSI: NYCBS6.44 27 CSI: MiamiCBS6.42 28 Criminal MindsCBS6.38 29 King of the Hill (8 p.m.) FOX6.26 30 Funniest Home Videos ABC6.06 ------------------------------------------31 King of the Hill (8:30 p.m.) FOX6.04 32 Primetime: Family Secrets ABC5.89 33 Law Order: Criminal Intent 9 p.m.) NBC5.87 34 Law Order: SVU 35 Es Para Siempre (Fri.) UNI5.84 ------------------------------------------36 Law Order: SVU (Wed.) NBC5.60 37 Es Para Siempre (Thu.) UNI5.59 38 NASCAR Racing: Chevy Rock and Roll 400 ABC5.53 39 Most Wanted: America Fights Back FOX5.37 Law Order: Criminal Intent 8 p.m.) NBC5.37 ------------------------------------------41 Law Order 42 Es Para Siempre (Tue.) UNI5.29 43 Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX5.17 44 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC5.04 45 Family GuyFOX4.98 ------------------------------------------46 WipeoutABC4.95 47 How I Met Your Mother CBS4.94 48 Vampire DiariesCW4.91 49 Es Para Siempre (Mon.) UNI4.86 50 Football Night in America Part 2 NBC4.78 ------------------------------------------51 Para Siempre (Wed.) UNI4.74 52 Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? FOX4.61 53 Anatomy ABC4.51 54 How I Met Your Mother (9:30 p.m.) CBS4.46 55 Ghost WhispererCBS4.45 ------------------------------------------56 Castle (10 p.m.)ABC4.34 57 BonesFOX4.30 58 House 8 p.m.) FOX4.28 Numb3rsCBS4.28 60 Shark TankABC4.20 ------------------------------------------61 En Nombre del Amor (Thu.) UNI4.06 62 Primetime: CrimeABC4.04 63 More to LoveFOX4.03 64 American DadFOX4.02 Castle (8 p.m.) ABC4.02 66 Lie to Me 9 p.m.) FOX4.01 67 Castle (9 p.m.)ABC3.95 CopsFOX3.95 69 En Nombre del Amor (Tue.) UNI3.90 70 There Goes the Neighborhood (10:25 p.m.) CBS3.88 ------------------------------------------71 En Nombre del Amor (Wed.) UNI3.87 72 MediumCBS3.84 73 Law Order: Criminal Intent (Sat.) NBC3.80 74 Shaq Vs.ABC3.79 75 There Goes the Neighborhood (9:25 p.m.) CBS3.71 ------------------------------------------76 Cristina UNI3.67 77 Anatomy (8 p.m.) ABC3.66 78 En Nombre del Amor (Fri.) UNI3.64 79 Rosa de Guadalupe UNI3.40 SupernaturalCW3.40 ------------------------------------------81 Private PracticeABC3.37 Fringe FOX3.37 83 SouthlandNBC3.31 84 En Nombre del Amor (Mon.) UNI3.30 85 Aqui Ahora UNI3.29 ------------------------------------------86 Next Top Model CW3.24 87 U.S.

Open Tennis 88 SupernannyABC3.13 89 Shark Tank ABC3.08 90 Glee ------------------------------------------91 Un Gancho al (Tue.) UNI2.83 92 Un Gancho al (Thu.) UNI2.80 93 Un Gancho al (Wed.) UNI2.62 94 Sabado GiganteUNI2.60 95 Don Francisco PresentaUNI2.56 ------------------------------------------96 Defying GravityABC2.45 97 90210CW2.44 98 Un Gancho al (Fri.) UNI2.39 99 Un Gancho al (Mon.) UNI2.35 100 Melrose PlaceCW2.31 ------------------------------------------101 Ugly BettyABC2.20 102 Viva el SuenoUNI2.10 103 Reviva el Sueno 104 Quien Tiene Razon? UNI1.96 105 Ghost Whisperer ------------------------------------------106 Vampire Diaries 107 Numb3rs Familia P. LucheUNI1.43 109 Vampire Diaries 110 Movie: ------------------------------------------Hora Pico 112 One Tree HillCW0.95 113 Melrose Place 114 Melrose Place 115 Gossip GirlCW0.74 Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Sept. 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 286 million potential viewers in the U.S.

ages 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions. PRIME-TIME TV RANKINGS For its new, Ashton Kutcher-produced world-of-modeling soap opera, Beautiful Life: has added an abbreviation of the title to the title itself as if to make it seem, somehow, that the show is already popular and being talked about, in shorthand. akind of wishful thinking, as if I were to name myself Lloyd: in the hope that you might believe I am. In any case, the series, which premieres tonight, is not so different from, or significantly worse or better thanthe other two season premieres, and Vampire which also affix stock characters, played mostly by good-looking young folk, to standard plot lines sexed up with pop songs and different flavors of visual glamour.

Because they do not aim particularly high, they pretty much hit what they aim at. to go with the hoped-for nomenclatural flow, imports to its catwalk milieu a host of tropes from the backstage dramas of yore. It opens with a well-staged set piece real-life designer Zac Fashion Week show where newcomer Raina Mayer(Sara Paxton) gets her Ruby Keeler momentafter unraveling superstar Sonja Stone (Mischa Barton) returns from somewhere unable to fit into her dress. (Note that Barton, who seems something more than 23, looks exactly as underfed as every other girl on the show.) Flashbulbs pop, petals float from above and the applauding crowd rises to its feet as Raina is anointed a New Thing. This is seemingly meant to be a moment of beauty and revelation, but Paxton looks strained and unhealthy; I wanted to buy her ameatloaf.

If the young women of television have become, as a class, skeletons with breasts, these girls being models have been cast as thinner yet. It is an awful, undying trend yet authentic to the setting, I suppose, to judge by the fashion magazines that occasionally pass through my field of vision. Raina, we learn, is hiding from her troublesome familyby appearing in fashion shows and getting her picture in maga- zines. (Granted, she has dyed her hair blond, which is usually enough to fool a television character.) But she is as good a person as she is thin and is clearly destined to love farm- fresh Chris Andrews (Ben Hollingsworth), whowe know is also goodbecause he is from Iowa and defends a waitress against the smarmy city slicker who will then ask him, movie- style, do any modeling, Chris Andrews from Chris and Raina meet cute bump into eachother, literally! at the agency run by Elle Macpherson, which represents all our main mannequins: Nico Tortorella, successful and superior; Corbin Bleu (from the School musicals), who really just wants to sing; and Ashley Madekwe, calculating and ambitious. The models all live together in a brownstone, like contestants in areality show, but even less real.

At night, everyone parties. like these people, are Chris says to Raina. Indeed, their light is offset by much surrounding dark the cost of fame is high, children, and might involve kissing aperson you do not like. But expect no serious examination of the fashion world here: Like an old C.B. DeMille biblical epic filled with blood and sex, celebrates the very thing it seems to criticize.

And that kind of show business never goes out of style. robert.lloyd@latimes.com Barbara Nitke The CW POSING: Sara Paxton, left, and Elle Macpherson keep up appearances on the Beautiful TELEVISION REVIEW but too thin The model drama needs to strut its stuff if it wants to stand out from the cute CW cookie-cutter crowd. ROBERT LLOYD TELEVISION CRITIC Beautiful Life: Where: KTLA When: 9 tonight Rating: TV-14-LS (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14, with advisories for coarse language and sex) Call 1.888.465.2525 orvisitmyaccount.latimes.com Donateyournewspaper toTimesinEducation. 07TIE056-017328102 07CL176 To advertise, call 1.800.922.0539.