TV RATINGS : Pair of Specials Break Into the Top 20

The top of the A. C. Nielsen ratings list for last week looked the same as usual, but a couple of specials did manage to crack the Top 20. David Letterman’s eighth anniversary special on NBC last Thursday finished 17th among the week’s 81 prime-time programs, attracting viewers in about 15.5 million homes, while the tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. on ABC Sunday night ranked 19th, with an audience of about 15 million homes. The Nielsen numbers, released Tuesday, gave NBC its 16th consecutive weekly win. ABC was second and CBS was third. The full list of ratings is on page 11.

* In its first outing last week, Valerie Harper’s new show narrowly beat her old show. “City,” on CBS, drew a 13.9 rating while NBC’s “The Hogan Family,” in which Harper used to star when it was called “Valerie,” garnered a 13.8. But this week, “The Hogan Family” got the same rating and “City” fell to a 12.1--and they both lost to the second half hour of “MacGyver” on ABC, which had a 14.3. (Each ratings point represents 921,000 homes.)

Show Points Share 1.”Roseanne”(ABC) 24.1 36 2.”Cheers”(NBC) 22.7 34 3.”The Cosby Show”(NBC) 22.4 35 4.”The Golden Girls”(NBC) 21.5 35 5.”60 Minutes”(CBS) 21.3 34 *”City”(CBS) 13.9 21