Thou Shalt Watch Moses, Monica

Moses--now there's a guy with personality.

Oh, sure the new Monica Lewinsky-hosted reality show, Mr. Personality, debuted to strong ratings Monday on Fox, but ABC witnessed the real miracle--getting juice from a 47-year-old stone known as The Ten Commandments.

The 1956 Biblical epic aired on Easter Sunday, the 23rd time Charlton Heston has parted the Red Sea on ABC since 1973, chilling out a Susan Sarandon TV movie on CBS (Ice Bound) and lowering the boom on the season finale of NBC's Boomtown.

The four-hour broadcast averaged 10.8 million viewers for a heavenly (by ABC standards) 28th-place finish. It was the most-watched movie on broadcast TV in nearly two months. In its last hour, from 10-11 p.m., it beat Boomtown by 1.3 million viewers.

Overall, the NBC drama acquitted itself nicely, with 11.4 million viewers, good for 24th place.

Ice Bound was another story. The two-hour biopic, starring Sarandon as a doctor who treats herself for breast cancer while stuck at the South Pole, warmed up to just 8.7 million viewers (44th place).

Perhaps audiences would have connected more with Sarandon if only the Oscar winner had better credentials--like, um, Monica Lewinsky.

The former White House intern best known for servicing President Clinton launched her prime-time career in fine fashion Monday. Her Mr. Personality, in which a single gal seeks her soul mate from 20 masked guys who look like a slightly diversified version of the Blue Man Group, was watched by 12.2 million. The premiere placed second in its 9-10 p.m. time slot behind back-to-back airings of CBS' Everybody Loves Raymond, which averaged 13.8 million, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Mr. Personality likely owes its numbers more to Ryan Seacrest than Lewinsky. Fox preempted Boston Public to work in a third outing of American Idol this week, in turn boosting Personality's premiere. Ratings for the Idol special and Mr. Personality will be reflected in next week's standings.

For now, Fox will content itself with last week's Idol broadcasts. The Tuesday edition, featuring Smokey Robinson judging the contestants as they sang, of course, Billy Joel tunes, was the most-watched prime-time show for the TV week ended Sunday, with about 20 million viewers. The Wednesday elimination show, eliminating the forever-mascara-smearing Kimberly Caldwell, ranked fourth for the week, with 18.1 million viewers.

CBS' prized reality show, Survivor: Amazon, was slightly less of a prize last week, falling from the top 10 (to 12th place) with a recap show that drew 14.2 million, or about five million fewer viewers than usual.

Bob Hope, meanwhile, was back in the game, with the NBC special 100 Years of Hope and Humor, commemorating the comic's upcoming diamond birthday. (Hope hits the really big 1-0-0 on May 29.) The hourlong retrospective, airing Sunday, finished 18th, with 12.6 million viewers.

The Hope special, combined with the usual top 10 showings by Friends and various Law & Orders, as well as a strong outing for a Museum of Television & Radio tribute to TV funnywomen (33rd place, 10 million), helped lead NBC to victory as the week's most-watched network, its shows averaging 11.2 million. Additionally, the Peacock tied Fox in the race to court toothpaste-buying adults aged 18 to 49.

Since CBS didn't win in viewers or demos, it described the week, which included the Easter and Passover holidays, as an "atypical week" in its ratings rundown. The Eyeball averaged 9.9 million sets of eyeballs for the week.

Fox averaged its typically okay 8.5 million viewers; ABC, its typically paltry 7.6 million. In the battle of the netlets, the WB edged UPN, 3.3 million to 3.2 million.

Elsewhere, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' revamped Watching Ellie returned to NBC with a 36th-place finish (9.8 million). While that performance isn't going to smash the Seinfeld curse, it's going to keep it from claiming another victim--for now. Only Fox's 24 (21st place, 11.8 million), following American Idol, attracted more viewers in Tuesday's 9-10 p.m. hour. (Ellie runs, no longer in real time, from 9:30-10 p.m.)

In another premiere, UPN's hip-hop drama Platinum did its thing. The first two episodes, airing last Monday and Tuesday, averaged just under 3 million. A repeat of the premiere, broadcast on Friday, however, stiffed with 1.3 million, the week's least-watched show among the top six networks.

A would-be special 8 p.m., Thursday, outing for ABC's All American Girl contest was the least-watched show on the big three networks, drawing a UPN-esque 3.6 million (93rd place). A 9 p.m., Thursday, edition didn't fare much better--4.1 million (89th place).

Also shooting blanks: Hunter's return to prime time as a regular series. The Fred Dryer cop show, a fixture on NBC from 1984 to '91, collared just 5.3 million (78th place) in its second coming.

The WB's recent pink-slip recipient Sabrina, the Teenage Witch went to hell in its new Thursday time slot--109th place, with just under 2 million viewers. And Fox's Married by America concluded its reality-TV run with a minimum of fanfare--54th place, 7.8 million viewers.

Here's a rundown of the 10 most-watched shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:

1. American Idol (Tuesday), Fox, 20 million
2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 19.1 million
3. Friends, NBC, 18.2 million
4. American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 18.1 million
5. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 17.7 million
6. Law & Order, NBC, 15.5 million
7. CSI: Miami, CBS, 14.9 million
8. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NBC, 14.8 million
9. Will & Grace, NBC, 14.69 million
10. Scrubs, NBC, 14.67 million