Viewers may not want to watch vampires running amok (witness how quickly Fox's bloodsucking drama Kindred: The Embraced dried up), but a teenage girl kicking vampire butt? That's another story. The WB's campy comedy Buffy the Vampire Slayer (96th) had the highest Monday-night ratings in the fledgling network's history. This doesn't mean The WB can call Buffy a bona fide hit yet, as even the major networks saw high-profile mid-season shows take a dive in subsequent outings. ABC's bland Arsenio sank from 22nd to 45th place its second week out, and the network's mid-season critical darling, The Practice, fell from 20th to 48th. CBS' Feds took a dip from 56th to 69th, and Fox's widely abhorred Pauly (85th) deflated after a debut in 74th place. Maybe TV has a saturation point for lowbrow boob-fests after all.
TOP 30
VIEWERS* LAST WEEK 1 31.3 SEINFELD NBC, Thursday, 9 p.m. 1 2 28.1 FRIENDS NBC, Thursday, 8 p.m. 2 3 25.6 SUDDENLY SUSAN NBC, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. 4 4 24.2 THE NAKED TRUTH NBC, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. -- 5 23.0 TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL CBS, Sunday, 8:13 p.m. 3 6 20.6 60 MINUTES CBS, Sunday, 7:13 p.m. 6 7 19.8 LAW & ORDER NBC, Thursday, 10 p.m. -- 8 19.5 HOME IMPROVEMENT ABC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 7 9 19.2 20/20 ABC, Friday, 10 p.m. 9 10 18.8 THE X-FILES Fox, Sunday, 9 p.m. 14 11 18.6 DATELINE NBC NBC, Tuesday, 10 p.m. 20 12 18.5 PRIMETIME LIVE ABC, Wednesday, 10 p.m. 25 13 17.6 MOVIE: STOLEN WOMEN, CAPTURED HEARTS CBS, Sunday, 9:13 p.m. -- 14 17.4 FRASIER NBC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 19 15 17.1 THE DREW CAREY SHOW (R) ABC, Wednesday, 9 p.m. 11 16 16.5 COSBY CBS, Monday, 8 p.m. 10 17 16.4 DATELINE NBC NBC, Friday, 9 p.m. 37 18 16.0 CAROLINE IN THE CITY NBC, Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. -- 19 15.8 MAD ABOUT YOU NBC, Tuesday, 8 p.m. 36 20 15.6 SABRINA, THE TEENAGE WITCH (R) ABC, Friday, 9 p.m. 23 21 15.1 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN NBC, Sunday, 8 p.m. 17 22 15.0 SPIN CITY (R) ABC, Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. 15 23 14.7 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND CBS, Monday, 8:30 p.m. 12 24 14.6 THE SIMPSONS Fox, Sunday, 8 p.m. 34 14.6 STEP BY STEP ABC, Friday, 9:30 p.m. 26 14.6 PETER JENNINGS REPORTING: POT OF GOLD ABC, Thursday, 10 p.m. -- 27 14.4 MOVIE: THE COWBOY WAY NBC, Sunday, 9 p.m. -- 14.4 UNSOLVED MYSTERIES NBC, Friday, 8 p.m. 69 29 14.3 KING OF THE HILL (R) Fox, Sunday, 8:30 p.m. 29 30 14.2 FAMILY MATTERS ABC, Friday, 8 p.m. 46
*IN MILLIONS WEEK OF MARCH 10-16, 1997 (R) RERUN SOURCE: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH
