'Friends' or Foes?

As for the marquee match up, ''I don't think we harbor any thoughts about beating 'Friends,''' says CBS scheduling head Kelly Kahl, who's obviously been crunching the Nielsen numbers. Last summer, ''Survivor'' averaged 28.2 million viewers -- but that was on Wednesday nights opposite reruns. This season, ''Friends'' has averaged 20.2 million viewers (about the same as last season) in the face of youth friendly competition like UPN's ''Smackdown!'' and The WB's ''Gilmore Girls.''

''I would expect 'Survivor' to skew a bit older than it did on Wednesday, given the younger skewing competition on the other nets,'' says broadcast researcher Steve Sternberg, who thinks ''Friends'' has a good chance of dominating the face off among total viewers. ''But demographically, we could see both shows doing well, with 'Friends' winning among 18 to 34 and 'Survivor' winning among 18 to 49.''

As if this public battle weren't delicious enough, there's also the behind the scenes drama that has industry vets taking bets. You see, CBS president Leslie Moonves created ''Friends'' during his reign as head of Warner Bros. TV (which produces the comedy for NBC), and now he's the guy who's going all out to take it down. But not if Mr. Zucker has anything to say about it. ''No matter what happens,'' says Zucker, ''it doesn't make us feel any less about 'Friends.' It's still the best comedy on TV -- but we are David fighting Goliath.''

(Additional reporting by Dan Snierson)