The business of predicting viewers’ inclinations appeared ever more problematic Tuesday as Nielsen released results for the second week of the new season. NBC’s The West Wing, which had delayed its season debut a week so that it could open with a drama about terrorism — and, with its biggest numbers ever, appeared to be a shoe-in to win the top spot for the week — ended up instead in third place.
It was beaten out by two NBC must-see stalwarts, Friends (which pulled in a sensational 30.04 million viewers wanting to find out who the father of Rachel’s baby is) and E.R. Most of the networks’ new shows continued to take a beating in the ratings, and both episodes of ABC’s once-intrepid Who Wants to Be a Millionaire were trounced for the second week in a row, tying for 34th place for its Monday episode and winding up in 36th place for its second. NBC’s reality show Fear Factor, which debuted strongly during the summer, wound up as the lowest rated program carried by any of the Big 3 networks as it plummeted to 99th place (out of 111 primetime shows).
The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research:
1. Friends, NBC, 18.9/31; 2. E.R. NBC, 17.4/28; 3. The West Wing, NBC, 16.3/25; 4. Law and Order, NBC, 15.0/24; 5. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 14.6/21; 6. Inside Schwartz, NBC, 13.0/20; 7. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 12.6/19; 7. Will & Grace, NBC, 12.6/19; 9. Becker, CBS, 12.0/17; 10. Judging Amy, CBS, 11.2/18; 10. NFL Monday Night Football, ABC, 11.2/18.
