NBC proved Must See in February's first Sunday sweeps matchup, as the opening installment of its much-hyped two-parter The '60s (4th) bowled over the competition, including an equally hyped tell-all episode of The X-Files (9th) and the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation Night Ride Home (12th). The generational flick even bested the Peacock's November hit The Temptations to become network TV's highest-rated multiparter this season. NBC's tattered Thursday lineup performed well too, claiming the top three spots, although a guest shot from ex-Cheers mate Woody Harrelson failed to give Frasier (3rd) much of a boost. Fox placed a strong second with two reality specials, World's Most Shocking Moments 2 (13th) and Robbie Knievel: Building to Building Death Jump (27th), while ABC stumbled, in part because the Thursday-night climax of its cyber-thriller Tom Clancy's Netforce ranked 78th. Guess not all TV is good.
TOP 30
VIEWERS* LAST WEEK 1 29.1 ER NBC, Thursday, 10 p.m. 8 2 24.9 FRIENDS NBC, Thursday, 8 p.m. 4 3 24.8 FRASIER NBC, Thursday, 9 p.m. 6 4 23.7 MOVIE: THE '60S, PART 1 NBC, Sunday, 9 p.m. -- 5 21.0 TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL CBS, Sunday, 8 p.m. -- 6 20.6 60 MINUTES CBS, Sunday, 7 p.m. -- 7 20.1 VERONICA'S CLOSET NBC, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. 16 8 19.5 JESSE NBC, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. 7 9 18.8 THE X-FILES Fox, Sunday, 9 p.m. -- 10 18.0 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND CBS, Monday, 9 p.m. 12 11 17.9 DATELINE NBC NBC, Monday, 10 p.m. 34 12 17.2 MOVIE: NIGHT RIDE HOME CBS, Sunday, 9 p.m. -- 13 16.6 DHARMA & GREG ABC, Wednesday, 8 p.m. 20 -- 16.6 WORLD'S MOST SHOCKING MOMENTS 2 Fox, Thursday, 9 p.m. -- 15 15.6 HOME IMPROVEMENT ABC, Tuesday, 8 p.m. 18 16 15.5 WALKER, TEXAS RANGER CBS, Saturday, 10 p.m. 22 17 15.3 THE DREW CAREY SHOW (R) ABC, Wednesday, 9 p.m. 9 18 15.2 BECKER CBS, Monday, 9:30 p.m. 14 19 14.7 TWO GUYS, A GIRL AND A PIZZA PLACE ABC, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. 40 20 14.5 DATELINE NBC NBC, Tuesday, 10 p.m. 22 21 14.0 JUST SHOOT ME NBC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 60 -- 14.0 THE SIMPSONS Fox, Sunday, 8 p.m. -- 23 13.7 PROVIDENCE NBC, Friday, 8 p.m. 12 -- 13.7 WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? ABC, Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. 14 25 13.3 DATELINE NBC NBC, Wednesday, 8 p.m. 26 -- 13.3 THAT '70S SHOW Fox, Sunday, 8:30 p.m. -- 27 13.2 ROBBIE KNIEVEL...DEATH JUMP Fox, Thursday, 8 p.m. -- 28 13.1 JAG (R) CBS, Tuesday, 8 p.m. -- -- 13.1 MOVIE: VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE NBC, Monday, 8 p.m. -- -- 13.1 SABRINA, THE TEENAGE WITCH (R) ABC, Friday, 9 p.m. 25
*IN MILLIONS WEEK OF FEB. 1-7, 1999 (R) RERUN SOURCE: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH
