M.A.N.T.I.S. may want to start praying. The new Fox superhero series, flattened by critics, debuted at a feeble 55th. ABC's acclaimed new teen drama, My So-Called Life, didn't fare much better (48th); in its time slot, it tied Mad About You and placed behind Wings (23rd) and One West Waikiki (43rd). By contrast, the ABC teen sitcom Sister, Sister hit the top 10 two weeks in a row-yet it's not in the fall lineup. The John Larroquette Show proved the power of a good lead-in: The sitcom catapulted to 15th when it followed Frasier (a position Larroquette will enjoy this fall) on Aug. 18, but sank to 73rd when it returned to its Tuesday home on Aug. 23. Viewers TOP 15 (Aug. 15-21) Last week 1 26.6 Home Improvement (R) ABC, Wednesday, 9 p.m. 1 2 24.2 Grace Under Fire (R) ABC, Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. 2 3 22.7 Frasier (R) NBC, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. 4 4 21.3 Seinfeld (R) NBC, Thursday, 9 p.m. 3 5 21.1 Roseanne (R) ABC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 5 6 18.7 Ellen (R) ABC, Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. 8 7 18.6 48 Hours CBS, Wednesday, 10 p.m. 29 8 18.3 60 Minutes CBS, Sunday, 7 p.m. 7 9 18.2 Frasier (R) NBC, Thursday, 10 p.m. - 10 17.1 Sister, Sister (R) ABC, Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. 20 11 16.9 Movie: Woman on the Run, Part 2 (R) | NBC, Monday, 9 p.m. - 12 16.7 Murphy Brown (R) CBS, Monday, 9 p.m. 11 13 16.6 Murder, She Wrote (R) CBS, Sunday, 8 p.m. 9 14 16.5 NFL Monday Night Football ABC, Monday, 9 p.m. 34 15 16.2 The John Larroquette Show (R) NBC, Thursday, 10:30 p.m. -
VIEWERS TOP 15 (Aug. 22-28) LAST WEEK 1 27.1 Home Improvement (R) ABC, Wednesday, 9 p.m. 1 2 25.6 Grace Under Fire (R) ABC, Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. 2 3 22.5 Frasier (R) NBC, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. 3 4 22.3 Seinfeld (R) NBC, Thursday, 9 p.m. 4 5 21.4 Roseanne (R) ABC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 5 6 19.2 60 Minutes CBS, Sunday, 7 p.m. 8 7 18.7 Ellen ABC, Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. 6 8 17.2 NFL Monday Night Football ABC, Monday, 8 p.m. 14 9 16.8 Murder, She Wrote (R) CBS, Sunday, 8 p.m. 13 10 16.7 Sister, Sister (R) ABC, Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. 10 11 16.5 Movie: Final Appeal (R) NBC, Monday, 9 p.m. - 16.5 Murphy Brown (R) CBS, Monday, 9 p.m. 12 13 16.2 20/20 ABC, Friday, 10 p.m. 20 14 16.0 Movie: And the Sea Will Tell, Part 2 (R) CBS, Tuesday, 9 p.m. - 16.0 Movie: Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story (R) NBC, Sunday, 9 p.m. -
