Most Watched TV of '00/'01

Greetings, tube tuners! ROBOGEEK here with an interesting look back at this past television season, which "officially" ended last Wednesday. (Who decides these things?)

According to the people who claim to know such stuff, here are the twenty most watched TV series in the U.S. of 2000/2001 (one out of four, you may notice, is ABC's Regis-o-rama "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire").

[rank, show (network), viewers (rank in adults 18-49)]

1. Survivor: The Australian Outback (CBS) 29.76m (1)

2. ER (NBC) 22.44m (2)

3. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (Weds) (ABC) 20.13m (25)

4. Friends (NBC) 19.65m (3)

5. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (Sun) (ABC) 19.44m (23)

6. Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS) 19.07m (8)

7. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (Tues) (ABC) 18.77m (32)

8. NFL Monday Night Football (ABC) 18.48m (6)

9. The Practice (ABC) 18.28m (11)

10. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS) 17.85m (15)

11. Law & Order (NBC) 17.74m (11)

12. Will & Grace (NBC) 17.28m (4)

13. The West Wing (NBC) 17.01m (16)

14. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (Thurs) (ABC) 17.00m (40)

15. Becker (CBS) 16.13m (22)

16. Frasier (NBC) 15.87m (11)

17. 60 Minutes (CBS) 15.84m (53)

18. Just Shoot Me (NBC) 15.65m (5)

19. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (Fri) (ABC) 15.42m (51)

20. The Simpsons (Fox) 14.70m (7)

Data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.
(Ah, what I wouldn't give to be a Nielsen household!)

Now, this of course made me wonder... What does this list say about us as a society and a culture? I shudder to think. (Share your theories in Talk Back.)

Personally, though, I find it interesting that out of my twenty favorite series this past season - namely THE WEST WING, BUFFY, THE PRACTICE, BOSTON PUBLIC, GIDEON'S CROSSING, THE JOB, ANGEL, ONCE & AGAIN, C.S.I., FARSCAPE, ALLY MCBEAL, NYPD BLUE, SECOND SIGHT, IRON CHEF, LAW & ORDER S.V.U., ER, SURVIVOR, LONELY PLANET, LAW & ORDER and THE X-FILES (no, I didn't forget THE SOPRANOS; I just don't have HBO) - only six are in Nielsen's top twenty (and only three of my top ten are).

Sigh...

- Robogeek

P.S.: Oh, btw... tomorrow (Tue. 5/29) Colleen Haskell will be a guest on Rosie, while a week from tomorrow (Tue. 6/5) you can catch BMW's THE HIRE short film series on Bravo (7am / 6am CST).