Monday, April 03, 2006

Overnight TV Ratings -- Is "Law & Order" On The Ropes?

Friday night meanders along, with NBC squeezing out every rating it can from the Howie Mandel game show Deal Or No Deal. CBS's Numb3rs doing solid business as well. Saturday was all about basketball. And Sunday, Grey's Anatomy continues to slightly outpace Desperate Housewives -- hey, try facing off against The Sopranos, docs.

But the big TV news is Law & Order. First, after two miserable weeks in the 9 p.m. Wednesday slot, Law & Order is moving back to its traditional 10 p.m. home. But how bad will the damage be? More bad news for Dick Wolf: on Friday, his new show Conviction dropped like a stone in the ratings and will be cancelled soon. On Sunday, Law & Order: Criminal Intent (which never recovered from Vincent D'Onofrio's scattered presence) lost to the rising Cold Case. Both were repeats, but that ain't good. Suddenly, Gunsmoke's record as the longest running drama or sitcom in TV history looks pretty safe.

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