NBC is alive with the sound of music.
And for good cause: The Peacock Network won the ratings war last week, beating out ABC, NBC and Fox, according to numbers released by Nielsen.
What pushed NBC to victory was the network’s invincible “Must See TV” Thursday lineup, which includes audience favorites “Friends,” “Will & Grace” and “ER.”
Also of importance was the annual re-run of the holiday favorite “The Sound of Music” on Sunday, which gave NBC its second-largest audience share on a Sunday after the TV premiere of “Titanic” in early December.
BABY LOVE: “Today” show host Matt Lauer, 42, and his Dutch model wife Annette Roque Lauer, 34, are expecting the arrival of a new baby next year, NBC said Tuesday.
Lauer proposed to his wife in Venice two years ago when he was filming his tour “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?”
The couple met on a blind date and have been married for two years.
CONVICTED! An Arizona man — one 31-year-old Richard J. Gordon — was convicted of extorting money from “Family Feud” host Louie Anderson by threatening to spill the beans to the tabloids that the comic solicited sex from him, The Associated Press reports.
Gordon, who pleaded guilty to a blackmail charge, was sentenced Tuesday to 21 months in prison.
BACK TO THE TUBE: Johnny Galecki, who is probably most recognized for playing Darlene’s boyfriend in “Roseanne” and a supporting role in the indie film “The Opposite of Sex,” has landed a half-hour comedy at Fox, Daily Variety says. The show, titled “Bagtime,” will be about a grocery bagger with dreams of becoming a concert cellist.
