The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • Page 78

'St. Elsewhere' ends with TV ratings victory 6. (12) "L.A. Law," NBC, 17.4, 15.4 million homes. NEW YORK (AP) The finale of NBC's Emmy Award-winning "St.

Elsewhere" gave the hospital show its highest ranking ever, seventh, in the A.C. Nielsen Co. television ratings for last week. The final episode received a lot of publicity, both because it marked the end of the ground-breaking series' six-year run and because of the unusual concluding scene, in which the entire series was revealed to have existed only In the imagination of an autistic boy. The episode got a rating of 17.0, matching the rating of the pre-season premiere last fall, and a share of 29.

The conclusion of the two-part "Baby on ABC also made the top 10 at fifth with a rating of 17.6 and a 27 share. The first part, which aired Sunday and was included in the previous weekly Nielsens, got a 15.0 and ranked 17th. The rating is a percentage of the nation's 88.6 million households with television. The share is a percentage of sets in use. CBS got a top-10 performance out of the "Miss Universe Pageant," which ranked ninth with a 15.6 rating.

In a week, May 23-29, that included the first two days of the three-day Memorial Day weekend, only four of the top 20 shows weren't reruns, and network share dropped accordingly, down to a 63, compared with the season-to-date average of 70. NBC won the week ending May 29 with a rating of 12.8. CBS was second with 10.9 and ABC third with 9.8. NBC's season-to-date average rating is 15.7, ABC has 13.4 and CBS 13.2. ABC's "World News Tonight" continued its winning streak in news, though all three networks lost viewers to summer weather.

"World News" had an average rating of 9.0 and 19 share. The "CBS Evening News" was second with an 8.5 rating and 19 share, and "NBC Nightly News" had an 8.2 rating and 18 share. The top 10 shows prime-time shows were: "Cheers" NBC, "A Different World" NBC, "The Cosby Show" NBC, "Night Court" NBC, "Baby Part 2" ABC, "L.A. Law" NBC, "St. Elsewhere" NBC, "Golden Girls" NBC, "Miss Universe Pageant" CBS, "Who's the Boss Special" ABC.

NBC's made-for-TV movie, "Desperado," came in 11th, the only other non-repeat In the top 20. "Irving Berlin: 100th Birthday Celebration" on CBS ranked 42nd with a rating of 9.6 and a 19 share. NBC's experiment putting "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" on Wednesday In an effort to save the show didn't go well the first week. A rerun "Cheers" episode that preceded it one time only had a 19 share, but "Molly" dropped to a 16 share before "St. Elsewhere" lumped up to a 29.

The lowest-rated shows of the week were: "Bride of Boogedy," "West 57th," "Tour of Duty," "Ohara," "High Mountain Rangers," "Hotel," "Our House," "Probe," "Juarez" and "Omnibus." NEW YORK (AP) Here are the prime-time television rati ngs as compiled by the A.C. Nielsen Co. for the week of May 23-29. Top 20 listings include the week's ranking, with full season-to-date ranking in parentheses, rating for the week, and total homes. An in parentheses denotes one-time-only presentation.

A rating' measures the percentage of the nation's 68.4 million TV homes. 1. (3) "Cheers," NBC, 20.6 rating, 18.2 million homes. 2. (2) "A Different World," NBC, 19.7, 17.4 million homes.

3. (1) "The Cosby Show," NBC, 18.9, 14.7 million homes. 4. (4) "Night Court," NBC, 18.4, 14.5 million homes. 5.

(33) "Baby Part 2, "ABC Monday Night Movie," 17.4, 15.4 million homes. 7. (44) "St. Elsewhere," NBC, 17.0, 15.1 million homes. 8.

(4) "Golden Girls," NBC, 16.7, 14.8 million homes. 9. (X) "Miss Universe Pageant," CBS, 15.4, 13.8 million homes. 10. (X) "Who's the Boss Special," ABC, 15.5, 13.7 million homes.

11. (32) "Desperado: Avalanche-Devil" "NBC Movie of the Week-Tuesday," 15.4, 13.4 million homes. 12. (5) "Who's the ABC, 15.1, 13.4 million homes. 12.

(11) "ALF," NBC, 15.1, 13.4 million homes. 14. (14) "Amen," NBC, 14.9, 13.2 million homes. 15. (19) "Who Is Julia?" "CBS Sunday Movie," 14.2, 12.4 million homes.

14. (9) "Murder, She Wrote," CBS, 13.8, 12.2 million homes. 14. (7) "Growing Pains," ABC, 13.8, 12.2 million homes. 14.

(22) "Valerie's Family," NBC, 13.8, 12.2 million homes. 19. (29) "Hunter," NBC, 13.7, 12.1 million homes. 19. (24) "Head of the Class," ABC, 13.7, 12.1 million homes.

21. (17) "Matlock," NBC, 13.4. 22. (8) "40 Minutes," CBS, 13.5. 23.

(40) "Nightmare at Bitter Creek" "CBS Tuesday Movie," 13.1. 24. (35) "Hooperman," ABC, 12.8. 24. (23) "C.A.T.

Squad: Python Wolf" "NBC Monday Night Movies," 12.8. 24. (41 "Aaron's Way," NBC, 12.5. 24. (40) "Jake and The Fatman," CBS, 12.5.

24. (X) "Royal Gala," ABC, 12.5. 29. (47) "Miami Vice," NBC, 11.9. 29.

(X) "Cheers Special," NBC, 11.9. 31. (53) "MacGvver," ABC, 11.5. 32. (29) "227," NBC, 11.4.

33. (34) "Designing Women," CBS, 11.2. 34. (44) "Kate Allie," CBS, 10.8. 35.

(54) "The Equalizer," CBS, 10.5. 34. (14) "Moonlighting," ABC, 10.4. 37. (X) "To Heal a Nation" "G.E.

Theater," NBC, 10.1. 38. (44) "Facts of Life," NBC, 10.0. 39. (49) "Mr.

Belvedere," ABC, 9.9. 39. (57) "20-20," ABC, 9.9. 41. (X) "Charlie Brown Special," CBS, 9.8.

42. (X) "Irving Berlin: 100th Birthday Celebration," CBS, 9.4. 42. (X) "Nairobi Affair" "CBS Special Movie Presentation," 9.6.' 42. (83) "Smothers Bros.

Comedy Hour," CBS, 9.4. 42. (34) "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd," NBC, 9.6. 44. (51) "thirtvsomething," ABC, 9.3.

47. (72) "Full House," ABC, 9.2. 47. (X) "Bugs Bunny Special," CBS, 9.2. 49.

(80) "I Married Dora," ABC, 8.8. 50. (73) "Spenser: For Hire," ABC, 8.7. 50. (90) "48 Hours: U.S.

Military Personnel," CBS, 8.7. 52. (42) "Perfect Strangers," ABC, 8.4. 52. (37) "Turk 182" "ABC Sunday Night Movie," 8.6.

54. (44) "Sonny Spoon," NBC, 8.5. 55. (25) "Family Ties," NBC, 7.7. 55.

(52) "Day By Day," NBC, 7.7. 57. (59) "Beauty and the Beast," CBS, 7.4. 58. (X) "TV Bloopers Special," NBC, 7.3.

59. (75) "Bride of Boogedy" "Disnev Sunday Movie," ABC, 7.2. 40. (100) "West 57th," CBS, 7.0. 41.

(78) "Tour of Duty," CBS, 4.9. 42. (97) "Ohara," ABC, 4.2. 43. (82) "High Mountain Rangers," CBS, 4.0.

43. (94) "Hotel," ABC, 4.0. 65. (NA) "America's Most Wanted," FOX, 5.6. 64.

(75) "Our House," NBC, 5.3. 44. (99) "Probe," ABC, 5.3. 68. (109) "Juarez," ABC, 5.0.

49. (NA) Children," FOX, 4.8. 70. (NA) "21 Jump Street," FOX, 4.7. 70.

(X) "Omnibus," ABC, 4.7. 72. (NA) "Garry Shandling Show," FOX, 3.9. 73. (NA) "Tracey Ullman Show," FOX, 3.5.

74. (NA) "Duet," FOX, 3.1. 75. (NA) "Boys Will Be Boys," FOX, 2.8. 75.

(NA) "Family Double Dare," FOX, 2.8. 77. (NA) "Werewolf," FOX, 2.0. 78. (NA) "Dirty Dozen," FOX, 1.9.

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