THE RATINGS
SURPRISE 'PARTY'
THOUGH IT took home the Golden Globe for Best Drama, Fox's Party of Five still needs help in the ratings department. An episode in which orphan teen Julia (Neve Campbell) confronted the issue of abortion provided a much needed boost, lifting Party from 86th to 65th and delivering some of the show's biggest numbers since its 1994 premiere. Meanwhile, CBS moved Murder, She Wrote back to Sunday for a week, and Angela Lansbury's beleaguered series shot back into the top 20, tying the conclusion of ABC's Lois & Clark wedding trilogy for 17th. Later, the first part of Shannen Doherty's CBS shocker, Gone in the Night (30th), split the true-crime audience with part one of Ann-Margret's NBC flick, Seduced by Madness (42nd), allowing an ABC rerun of Steven Seagal's Under Siege (21st) to win the Sunday movie sweepstakes.
TOP 15, FEB. 19-25
VIEWERS* LAST WEEK
1 36.0 ER NBC, Thursday, 10 p.m. 1 2 32.9 SEINFELD NBC, Thursday, 9 p.m. 2 3 30.2 FRIENDS NBC, Thursday, 8 p.m. 3 4 27.3 CAROLINE IN THE CITY NBC, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. 4 5 25.8 HOME IMPROVEMENT ABC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 6 6 25.6 THE SINGLE GUY NBC, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. 5 7 22.8 60 MINUTES CBS, Sunday, 7 p.m. 9 8 22.6 20/20 ABC, Friday, 10 p.m. 8 9 22.3 WALKER, TEXAS RANGER CBS, Saturday, 10 p.m. 7 10 21.8 AMERICA'S FUNNIEST VIDEOS ABC, Sunday, 7:25 p.m. 13 11 20.7 TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL CBS, Saturday, 9 p.m. 16 12 20.6 MOVIE: A SECRET BETWEEN FRIENDS NBC, Monday, 9 p.m. -- 13 20.5 FRASIER NBC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 10 14 20.2 NYPD BLUE ABC, Tuesday, 10 p.m. 13 15 20.1 GRACE UNDER FIRE ABC, Wednesday, 9 p.m. 12
TOP 15, FEB. 12-18
1 36.4 ER NBC, Thursday, 10 p.m. 1 2 32.3 SEINFELD NBC, Thursday, 9 p.m. 2 3 31.1 FRIENDS NBC, Thursday, 8 p.m. 3 4 27.1 CAROLINE IN THE CITY NBC, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. -- 5 25.1 THE SINGLE GUY NBC, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. 6 6 22.3 HOME IMPROVEMENT ABC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 5 7 21.4 WALKER, TEXAS RANGER CBS, Saturday, 10 p.m. 8 8 20.0 20/20 ABC, Friday, 10 p.m. 15 9 19.9 60 MINUTES CBS, Sunday, 7 p.m. 10 10 19.8 FRASIER NBC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 7 19.8 LOIS & CLARK ABC, Sunday, 8 p.m. 10 12 19.4 GRACE UNDER FIRE ABC, Wednesday, 9 p.m. 18 13 19.1 AMERICA'S FUNNIEST VIDEOS ABC, Sunday, 7:25 p.m. 9 19.1 NYPD BLUE ABC, Tuesday, 10 p.m. 13 15 18.7 THE NANNY CBS, Monday, 8 p.m. 20
* IN MILLIONS SOURCE: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH
