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October 12, 2005
'Commander' rates; 'West Wing' wanes
By David Bauder
Boston Globe
If the early polls are an indication, Mackenzie Allen has replaced Jed Bartlet as TV viewers' favorite fictional president.
ABC's ''Commander in Chief," in which Geena Davis portrays Allen, landed in Nielsen Media Research's top 10 last week with just fewer than 17 million viewers. It was the only new series to increase its audience between the first and second weeks this season.
Meanwhile, NBC's ''The West Wing," in which Martin Sheen's Bartlet is winding down his term in office, is fading in its seventh season after shifting to a new Sunday time slot.
While it's a strong start for ''Commander," last week's pre-emption of time slot competitor ''House" for Major League Baseball may have freed up more viewers than would usually be available. More important, last weekend's unexpected departure of show creator Rod Lurie (with Steven Bochco filling in) speaks to behind-the-scenes turmoil that could affect what's on the screen -- and the show's staying power.
In its first three episodes this season, ''The West Wing" has seen viewership tumble by 37 percent from last year, even more among young viewers, Nielsen said.
''The West Wing" was seen by just fewer than 8 million people last week; competitors ''Cold Case" on CBS and ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" on ABC each drew nearly double the audience.
NBC said ''The West Wing" probably would have been hurt if it stayed on Wednesdays, with competition from ABC's ''Lost" and Fox's ''American Idol."
Among a handful of season or series premieres last week, ABC's ''George Lopez" fared best, with a one-hour special that beat CBS's Wednesday comedies.
Posted by Jo at October 12, 2005 07:46 AM