Strong Showings for 2 CBS Shows

Oct. 9 -- CBS can rest easy with its new Friday and Saturday night lineups.

Rookie show C.S.I., about forensics experts in Las Vegas, pulled in strong numbers (an estimated 17 million) in the 9 p.m. Friday slot, while its lead-in, The Fugitive, pulled in an estimated 13 million. Industry pundits found that surprising, considering that the man-on-the-run retread received substantially more promotion.

On Saturday, The District, which stars former Coach lead Craig T. Nelson, also made a surprisingly strong bow.

C.S.I., which has Jerry Bruckheimer (Con Air, Armageddon) aboard as one of its executive producers, delivered CBS’s best 25-54 rating in the 9 p.m. Friday hour since September 1992, when Designing Women was in that slot. Although The Fugitive didn’t grab as many viewers, it still presented CBS with its best rating in the Friday 8 p.m. hour since 1993.

Good Week for WBAnd the WB network trumpeted that ratings for this week’s programming — which include the season premieres of Felicity, Dawson’s Creek, and new mother-daughter show The Gilmore Girls — set an all-time high. That’s good news for the netlet, which found itself in the ratings basement last year, surpassed even by former last-placer UPN.

ABC’s new Friday night lineup of Madigan Men, Norm, and The Trouble With Normal was a mixed blessing. Men, which stars Gabriel Byrne, drew 8.5 million viewers, compared to Norm’s 7.5 million.

The new comedy Normal attracted only 6.7 million, down 15 percent from Two Guys and a Girl’s performance in the same slot last year.

Over on Fox, Freakylinks, the new interactive drama from the Blair Witch Project team, was off to a weak start Friday night, although it performed better than the ill-fated Harsh Realm did during this time last year.

Reuters contributed to this story.