Reege Against the Machine

NBC
This year's rank: No. 3 Last year: No. 2 Total viewers: 12.3 million

The Good
At least one President's approval ratings soared this year: Almost 13 million viewers voted for Martin Sheen's new White House drama, West Wing. And it had some strong running mates: Providence (13.1 million), Law & Order (the decade-old show collared 16 million-plus) and Will & Grace (11.8 million — good enough to earn the prized Thursday-at-9 slot next fall).

The Bad
We're good people. We pay our taxes. We even stop at red lights. So why won't NBC give us watchable sitcoms at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Thursday? Jesse, Stark Raving Mad, and Battery Parkall sent viewers packing. (Daddio, you're no welcome mat either.) In fact, the Peacock had its feathers ruffled by everything from the plummeting 3rd Rock From the Sun to the creepy drama The Others to the animated sitcom God, the Devil and Bob to — sniff, sniff — the critically beloved high school drama Freaks and Geeks. ''The problem with Freaks,'' says Sternberg, ''was that it wasn't on The WB.'' And the problem with Veronica's Closet and Suddenly Susan? They weren't canceled last year. The Upshot: With Thursday vets Friends and ER sticking around for a few more seasons (both still averaging 20 million-plus viewers), NBC has bought itself some time to tinker. But please: no more decade-retrospective miniseries, okay?

FOX
This year's rank: No. 4 Last year: No. 4 Total viewers: 9.0 million

The GoodFox needs a comedy hit. Fox needs a comedy hit. Fox needs a comedy hit. Finally, that tired mantra can be put to bed. After a horrific fall, the network managed to put together a one-two combo with a pair of oddball mid-season family comedies, Titus and Malcolm in the Middle (which is currently the network's highest-rated series, with 15.3 million viewers). ''They got a lifeline just when they were drowning,'' says Tim Spengler, executive VP of Initiative Media.

The Bad
Choose your poison: yet another skedaddling prez (Doug Herzog, we hardly knew ye), a slew of high-profile duds (including Time of Your Life, Harsh Realm, and Get Real), a scandal that killed the potentially lucrative Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? franchise, the demise of Beverly Hills, 90210 and Party of Five, plus an alienated X-Files audience. The Upshot: Fox needs a drama hit. Fox needs a drama hit...

UPN
This year's rank: No. 5 Last year: No. 6 Total viewers: 3.9 million

The Good
If Millionaire was a blessing for ABC, then UPN's WWF Smackdown! was a miracle. The wrestling extravaganza pinned 7.3 million viewers — the highest for any netlet series. Meanwhile, Star Trek: Voyager halted its audience-eroding trend; Moeshaspin-off The Parkers built on its parental lead-in.

The Bad
The animated Dilbert drew barely half as many viewers as last year, while crime-themed rookies The Beat, Secret Agent Man, and The Strip couldn't get arrested. And as for dear ol' Shasta McNasty? Its name was shortened to Shasta—and ratings turned smaller than cast member Verne Troyer. The Upshot: Since wrestling and Trek seem to be the only things working, may we suggest...Deep Space Smackdown!

The WB
This year's rank: No. 6 Last Year: No. 5 Total viewers: 3.6 million

The Good
Umm...(frantically rustling through papers)...here's one: Angel staked as strong a claim as its lead-out, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With 6.4 million believers, 7th Heaven reigned again as the net's top-rated series. And despite wobbly numbers, Popular is building a cult audience.

The Bad
Talk about teen angst: One quarter of Dawson's Creekviewers were washed away, and Felicity's fan base was shorn by a third. A revamped Zoe was returned to the schedule and laughed right off again. And Mission Hill was the season's lowest-rated program, not too distantly followed by D.C. and Brutally Normal. Can we stop now? We're getting tired. The Upshot: You're losing to UPN. UPN! Do something...anything.