CBS, World Series Rule Ratings

With comedies on Monday and dramas on Tuesday, CBS has suddenly nabbed two nights of "Must-See TV," thanks to returning shows like Everybody Loves Raymond, Becker, Judging Amy and JAG. The shows, joined by lone breakout hit The Guardian, have pushed the Eye Network past NBC to grab its first weekly ratings win of the new fall season.

Sure, Survivor is doing okay (20.4 million, up from the previous week). But C.S.I. is doing better, as the Thursday crime drama pulled in its largest audience ever (24.7 million viewers). And then there's Judging Amy, which scored its own record high last Tuesday (17.6 million viewers), and JAG, which averaged 17.9 million--its second best performance ever.

All told, the shows helped CBS snap NBC's winning streak among total viewers (9.2 million versus 9 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. But with ER and Friends still the two most watched shows of the week, NBC retained its hold on the top spot among adults 18-49, the AARP-dissing demographic craved by advertisers.

Ironically, CBS' success comes just as the network yanked yet another new series, the spooky Wednesday show Wolf Lake. Others have run into their own problems: Danny's a goner, The Ellen Show is struggling, Citizen Baines is buried on Saturdays and The Education of Max Bickford has suffered an internal shakeup, with its executive producers stepping down over "creative differences" with the network.

On the bright side, Sunday's edition of Max Bickford finally showed improvement, averaging 11.4 million viewers. CBS also has ordered five more scripts for its new CIA series The Agency, despite getting trampled by ER on Thursday nights.

Over on Fox, Major League Baseball continues to boost the network--even if the Yankees are choking. Sunday's World Series Game 2, between the Diamondbacks and Yankees, led the way in fourth place for the week, pulling in 23.6 million viewers.

Overall, the network landed in third place for the week ended October 28, averaging 7.5 million viewers. Now, Fox execs are just praying the Bronx Bombers actually decide to show up for their home games and avoid a sweep.

ABC settled for fourth place with 6.9 million viewers, but the network scored with PrimeTime Thursday, as 15.2 million viewers tuned in to see its exclusive interview with Carmen bin Laden, the sister-in-law of suspected terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

Among the junior nets, the WB has been gleefully asking "Buffy who?", as its Gilmore Girls pulled in 6.4 million viewers Tuesday night to top UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (5.7 million). At 9 p.m., the WB's Smallville obliterated another former Frog network show, Roswell, by more than 4 million viewers.

But UPN still topped the WB last week, thanks in part to the thriving Enterprise (8.4 million viewers) and more WWF! Smackdown (6.7 million).

Here's a rundown of the week's top 10 among total viewers:

1. ER, NBC, 27.4 million viewers
2. Friends, NBC, 25.6 million
3. C.S.I., CBS, 24.7 million
4. Fox World Series Game 2, Fox, 23.6 million
5. The West Wing, NBC, 21.5 million
6. Law & Order, NBC, 21.4 million
7. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 21.2 million
8. Survivor: Africa, CBS, 20.4 million
9. JAG, CBS, 17.9 million
10. Judging Amy, CBS, 17.6 million