Yes, the gay Fab Five are ready for prime time.
The fashion and culture mavens of cable's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy successfully crossed over to broadcast TV, helping NBC to big wins for the ratings week ended Sunday.
The Peacock dominated as both the most watched network, averaging 7.7 million viewers, and the most watched network among demographically desirable 18-to-49-year-olds.
Queer Eye did its part, with the makeover show bringing in 6.9 million customers in its prime-time debut in the 9:30 p.m., Thursday time slot after Will & Grace (22nd place, 7.9 million viewers).
The show ran second in the hour, behind CBS' top-rated CSI (first place, 13.3 million), but expanded considerably on its cable audience.
Airing as an hourlong series on NBC-owned Bravo, the show, about a quintet of gay men on a quest to get straight men to open up to the possibilities of fresh paint and bathing, has averaged 1.6 million viewers.
Cut down to a half-hour for its NBC premiere, the show ranked 39th for the prime-time week, according to Nielsen Media Research.
No word when, or if, Queer Eye will again set its sights on prime time. This week, NBC will complement Will & Grace with a Scrubs rerun.
Overall, reruns are scarce this summer on the Must-Be Reality network.
"We cannot tolerate lowly rated repeats anymore. We just can't," NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker told reporters last week.
It can, however, tolerate solid performances from the unscripted likes of Who Wants to Marry My Dad? (13th place, 8.6 million), The Restaurant (18th place, 8.3 million), Dog Eat Dog (31st place, 7.4 million) and Last Comic Standing (37th place, 7.1 million).
Likely less tolerable was the less-than-famous numbers put up by Fame. The star search wrapped its season to an audience of just 5.8 million (63rd place). Those who did tune in saw winner Harlemm Lee represent for the oldsters (he's 35 and bald).
Fox's American Juniors, meanwhile, where viewers can be assured no contestant will be 35 or bald (by nature), rebounded after some rocky outings. The Tuesday competition show was watched by 7.2 million (35th place); Wednesday's result edition, by 7 million (38th place).
The would-be steamy Paradise Hotel also heated up a bit, with the Fox show checking in 7.16 million guests (36th place) for its Tuesday airing and another 6.5 million (48th place) for its Wednesday outing.
CBS' Big Brother 4 was the biggest all-new reality show of the week. Its Wednesday installment was watched by some 9 million voyeurs (12th place). The Tuesday outing landed in 24th place (7.8 million), with the Friday episode falling to 58th (6.1 million).
The fourth edition of the Eyeball's Amazing Race was indeed fairly amazing--14th place, 8.6 million. On the flipside, the latest new episode of Simon Cowell's Cupid was fairly off--43rd place, 6.8 million. (CBS moves the show from Wednesdays to Tuesdays beginning next week.)
Overall, second-place CBS averaged 7.4 million viewers. ABC, led by a Primetime news special on the combat deaths of Saddam Hussein's most-wanted sons (15th place, 8.5 million), scored a rare third-place finish, with 5.8 million. Fox fell to fourth, with 5.6 million.
Elsewhere, UPN widened its lead over the WB, averaging 2.8 million viewers to 2.3 million.
The last-place Frog croaked, in part, due to the wipeout of a run by Boarding House: North Shore. The surfing-themed reality show ended its six-episode run with a 113th place finish (1.9 million).
Here's a rundown of the 10 most-watched shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:
1. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 13.3 million
2. Law & Order (10 p.m., Wednesday), NBC, 12.8 million
3. Law & Order: Criminal Intent, NBC, 11.7 million
4. Without a Trace, CBS, 11.4 million
5. Law & Order (9 p.m., Wednesday), NBC, 11 million
6. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 10.4 million
7. CSI: Miami, CBS, 10.1 million
8. 60 Minutes, CBS, 10 million
9. King of Queens, CBS, 9.9 million
10. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NBC, 9.3 million