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By any standard, Michael Jackson's Feb. 10 chat with Oprah Winfrey was a gigantic ratings hit, but the ABC special was not quite as historic as the network would have you believe. True, it was the highest-rated entertainment special in nearly a decade and the 30th-highest-rated special since 1960. But including sports events and regular series episodes (such as Dallas' ''Who Shot J.R.?'' in 1980 and The Fugitive's finale in 1967), Jackson's 90-minute tell- all just missed making TV's hot 100, becoming the 101st-highest-rated show in Nielsen history. RATING* TOP 30 SPECIALS
1 60.2 M*A*S*H Special (CBS, 1983) 2 51.1 Roots, Pt. VIII (ABC, 1977) 3 47.7 Gone with the Wind, Pt. I (NBC, 1976) 4 47.4 Gone with the Wind, Pt. II (NBC, 1976) 5 46.6 Bob Hope Christmas Show (NBC, 1970) 6 46.0 ABC Theater: The Day After (ABC, 1983) 7 45.9 Roots, Pt. VI (ABC, 1977) 8 45.7 Roots, Pt. V (ABC, 1977) 9 45.0 Bob Hope Christmas Show (NBC, 1971) 10 44.8 Roots, Pt. III (ABC, 1977) 11 44.1 Roots, Pt. II (ABC, 1977) 12 43.8 Roots, Pt. IV (ABC, 1977) 13 43.4 Academy Awards (ABC, 1970) 14 43.2 The Thorn Birds, Pt. III (ABC, 1983) 15 43.1 The Thorn Birds, Pt. IV (ABC, 1983) 16 42.5 The Thorn Birds, Pt. II (ABC, 1983) 17 42.3 Cinderella (CBS, 1965) 42.3 Movie: Airport (ABC, 1973) 42.3 Movie: Love Story (ABC, 1972) 42.3 Roots, Pt. VII (ABC, 1977) 21 41.8 Miss America Pageant (CBS, 1961) 22 41.2 Academy Awards (ABC, 1967) 23 41.0 The Winds of War, Pt. VII (ABC, 1983) 24 40.5 Roots, Pt. I (ABC, 1977) 25 40.3 Miss America Pageant (CBS, 1964) 26 40.2 The Winds of War, Pt. II (ABC, 1983) 27 40.0 Miss America Pageant (CBS, 1963) 28 39.5 The Thorn Birds, Pt. I (ABC, 1983) 29 39.4 The Godfather, Conclusion (NBC, 1974) 30 39.3 Michael Jackson Talks to...Oprah (ABC, 1993) *Avg. % of households with televisions. July 1960-Feb. 1993
