SHORT TAKES : NBC’s ‘Cosby Show’ Still No. 1; ‘Small Sacrifices’ Close Second

NBC’s “The Cosby Show” was first again but the ABC miniseries “Small Sacrifices” ran a close second in the Nielsen ratings for the week ended Nov. 19.

Bill Cosby was at the top for the third straight week and five other NBC comedies were in the Top 10.

“Small Sacrifices,” starring Farrah Fawcett as an Oregon woman convicted of shooting her children so that she could be with her boyfriend, was next with the last of two parts. The first part was 12th in the previous week’s ratings.

NBC won the week by a wide margin. Its average in the A. C. Nielsen Co. survey was 16.0. ABC was second with 13.2 and CBS was third with 11.7. The rating is the percentage of the nation’s 92.1 million television homes tuned in to a program.