Forget Seinfeld. NBC's latest MVP is the NBA Finals (1st, 2nd, 3rd), which crushed the competition with what could be the last running of the Michael Jordan-led Bulls. Despite an assist from host Rosie O'Donnell, CBS' Tony Awards show (18th) got beaten by a rerun of ABC's Lindsay Wagner telepic Fighting for my Daughter (13th), while the Alphabet's ALMA Awards (92nd), which recognize Latinos in film and TV, proved muy disappointing ratings-wise. CBS' underachieving newsmag Public Eye With Bryant Gumbel finally hit the top 30, but its lead-in, Judith Light's Martha Stewart-esque new sitcom, The Simple Life, (50th), fell flatter than a bad souffle.
TOP 30
VIEWERS* LAST WEEK
1 26.7 BASKETBALL: BULLS VS. JAZZ NBC, Wednesday, 9:15 p.m. -- 2 26.3 BASKETBALL: BULLS VS. JAZZ NBC, Friday, 9:11 p.m. -- 3 25.7 BASKETBALL: JAZZ VS. BULLS NBC, Sunday, 7:31 p.m. -- 4 17.4 SEINFELD (R) NBC, Thursday, 9 p.m. 4 5 16.4 DATELINE NBC NBC, Monday, 10 p.m. 12 6 16.3 JUST SHOOT ME (R) NBC, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. -- 7 16.1 60 MINUTES CBS, Sunday, 7 p.m. 7 8 16.0 ER (R) NBC, Thursday, 10 p.m. 9 9 14.5 DATELINE NBC NBC, Tuesday, 10 p.m. 24 10 13.6 FRIENDS (R) NBC, Thursday, 8 p.m. 15 11 13.1 20/20 ABC, Monday, 9 p.m. 6 12 12.8 TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL (R) CBS, Sunday, 8 p.m. 14 13 12.7 MOVIE: FIGHTING FOR MY DAUGHTER (R) ABC, Sunday, 9p.m. -- 14 12.5 PRIMETIME LIVE ABC, Wednesday, 10 p.m. 13 15 12.2 VERONICA'S CLOSET (R) NBC, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. -- 16 12.1 JUST SHOOT ME (R) NBC, Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. 16 17 12.0 DIAGNOSIS MURDER (R) CBS, Thursday, 9 p.m. 34 18 11.8 THE 52ND ANNUAL TONY AWARDS CBS, Sunday, 9 p.m. -- 19 11.5 FRASIER (R) NBC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 38 20 11.4 20/20 ABC, Friday, 10 p.m. 21 21 11.0 THE DREW CAREY SHOW (R) ABC, Wednesday, 9 p.m. 19 22 10.8 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND (R) CBS, Monday, 8:30 p.m. 44 23 10.4 HOME IMPROVEMENT (R) ABC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 10 10.4 PEOPLE OF THE CENTURY CBS, Thursday, 10 p.m. -- 25 10.3 COSBY (R) CBS, Monday, 8 p.m. 37 10.3 WALKER, TEXAS RANGER (R) CBS, Saturday, 10 p.m. 20 27 10.2 DHARMA & GREG (R) ABC, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. 35 28 9.9 JAG (R) CBS, Tuesday, 8 p.m. 29 29 9.7 KING OF THE HILL (R) Fox, Sunday, 8:30 p.m. 30 30 9.3 MAD ABOUT YOU (R) NBC, Tuesday, 8 p.m. 54 9.3 PUBLIC EYE WITH BRYANT GUMBEL CBS, Wednesday, 9 p.m. 58 9.3 DATELINE NBC NBC, Friday, 8 p.m. 43
*IN MILLIONS WEEK OF JUNE 1-7, 1998 (R) RERUN SOURCE: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH
