Will Della Reese‘s guardian angels also be looking over the shoulders of Blair Underwood? CBS execs and Steven Bochco, producer of the new series “City of Angels,” certainly hope so.
The drama, starring Underwood, Vivica A. Fox and a primarily black cast, focuses on the team of medical workers who save lives, among other things, in an inner-city hospital.
Ever since its inception, the drama has been offered up as the network’s response to public outcry (among them the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) over the underrepresentation of racial minorities on network television.
If the drama’s debut ranking is any indication of the future success of “City of Angels,” Underwood and company should have nothing to worry about. The medical drama, which premiered Sunday, took the second-highest ranking in its time slot with an estimated 13.8 million viewers.
“City of Angels” moves to its regular 8 p.m. time slot tonight on CBS. It’ll go head-to-head against ABC’s “Two Guys and a Girl” and NBC’s “Twenty-One.”
ANOTHER MILLIONAIRE: Dan Blonsky, a Miami-based lawyer, became even richer Tuesday night after he successfully blew through all 15 questions on ABC’s trend-setting Q&A show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” Blonsky is the second contestant ever in the game show’s two-year history to collect the $1 million booty.
The newly minted “millionaire” has exactly four months to enjoy the putative title. Come April 15, a little less than half of the total winning will be deducted in taxes, leaving the contestant with a meager $555,000. Boohoo.
MORE GAME SHOW STUFF: Meanwhile, the battle to rival the domination of ABC’s “Millionaire” rages on in other TV networks. NBC has picked up two more episodes of “Twenty -One.” They will air Jan. 24 and Jan. 31 at 9 p.m.
“Winning Lines,” CBS’s newest game show offering, will make its debut Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.
