Dusted-Off ‘Lucy’ Pilot, ‘Roseanne’ Tie

Americans still love Lucy and they proved it last week by putting the previously unaired pilot for “I Love Lucy” in a tie with “Roseanne” as the most-watched show of the week, it was reported today.

When it came to share of audience, “Lucy” topped “Roseanne,” 37% to 33%.

The combination of “Lucy” and the theatrical movie version of another old favorite, “The Untouchables”--No. 9 in the Nielsens--helped push CBS to within a 10th of a rating point of frontrunner NBC.

Among the new shows that have been introduced this spring, NBC still has the top two--”Wings” in 14th place and “Carol & Company” in 16th. Both shows are in protected spots--”Wings” follows “Cheers,” the week’s No. 3 show, and “Carol” this week followed on hour-long “Golden Girls” (13th).

The special preview of “Brewster Place” on ABC came in tied for 17th, well down from its “Roseanne” lead-in. This week it moves into its regular time period, Wednesdays following “Doogie Howser, M.D.”

ABC is still looking for the show that will capitalize on the lead-in from “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” Last week’s “Anything For Laughs” came in 20th, down significantly from fourth place “Videos.”

“Down Home” (NBC) also was unable to hold onto the audience of its lead-in, “Carol,” tying for 44th place.

The show it tied with is ABC’s “Twin Peaks,” 44th last week, 45th the previous week, 28th the week before and in fifth place when it premiered as a Sunday movie on April 8.

The other spring entries include “Equal Justice” (ABC), 49th; “Shannon’s Deal” (NBC), 50th; “Bagdad Cafe” (CBS), tied for 51st; “Marshall Chronicles” (ABC), tied for 58th; “Family For Joe” (NBC) 61st; “Sugar & Spice” (CBS), tied for 62nd; “Small Talk” (CBS), tied for 72nd; “In Living Color” (Fox), 76th; “Sydney” (CBS), 79th, and “Capital News” (ABC), tied for 86th.

ABC brought “Elvis” back and it landed in 82nd place.

CBS was the big winner among the Sunday movies with “The Untouchables” in ninth place. ABC’s “Burning Bridges” came in 29th and NBC’s “Archie: To Riverdale and Back” tied for 51st.

NBC was the most-watched network on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, while CBS took Monday and Sunday and ABC had Tuesday and Friday.

NBC won the week ending May 6 with a 12.1 rating and a 21 share. CBS came in a very close second with a 12.0 rating and a 21 share, while ABC had an 11.3 rating and a 20 share.

The official 30-week prime time season ended Sunday, April 15, but working on a 52-week season, as of the week ending May 6 NBC had a year-to-date rating of 14.4 and a 24 share. ABC was second with a 12.8 rating and a 21 share and CBS third, with a 12.0 and a 20 share.

In the evening news race, ABC’s “World News Tonight” with Peter Jennings continued to dominate with a 9.5 rating and a 20 share. “CBS Evening News” with Dan Rather stayed in second place with an 8.5 rating and an 18 share, while “NBC Nightly News” with Tom Brokaw was third with an 8.3 rating and an 18 share.

Each ratings point represents about 921,000 households and a share is the percentage of TV sets tuned to a particular show.

TOP 10 SHOWS The top 10 regular series for the week ending Sunday, according to the A. C. Nielsen Co.:

1. I Love Lucy (CBS)

(tie) Roseanne (ABC)

3. Cheers (NBC)

4. Funniest Home Videos (ABC)

5. The Cosby Show (NBC)

6. A Different World (NBC)

7. 60 Minutes (CBS)

8. Unsolved Mysteries (NBC)

9. The Untouchables, CBS Sunday movie

10. Designing Women (CBS)