NBC Takes the Top 4 Spots

The fall TV season doesn’t officially begin until Monday, so it may be too early to declare a hit--but if NBC’s new comedy “The Fanelli Boys” doesn’t become one, it won’t be because not enough people knew about it. The premiere on Saturday night was seen in nearly 14 million homes and ranked as the fourth most-watched program of the week, according to A. C. Nielsen ratings released Tuesday. NBC had all four of the top-rated shows and finished first among the networks, with ABC second and CBS third. Fox scored well on Sunday from 7 to 8 p.m. with its new comedies “True Colors” and “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose,” running second in the time period behind CBS’ “60 Minutes.” The full list of ratings is on Page 11.

* At the other end of the ratings spectrum from “The Fanelli Boys” was another new series that debuted opposite it, Fox’s “American Chronicles.” The premiere of the unconventional documentary series ranked last among the week’s 86 prime-time programs, attracting only 6% of the people watching TV at the time. It was not a banner week for the show’s executive producers, Mark Frost and David Lynch: A two-hour rerun of their drama series “Twin Peaks” on ABC tied for 72nd.

TV RATINGS

Show Points Share 1.”Miss America Pageant” (NBC) 17.8 36 2.”Golden Girls”(NBC) 15.9 30 3.”Cheers”(NBC) 15.4 26 4.”The Fanelli Boys”(NBC) 15.0 28 5.”America’s Funniest Home Videos”(ABC) 14.8 25 *”American Chronicles”(Fox) 3.3 6