TV Ratings : Cop Series the Flavor of the Week

Television viewers called the cops last week, as ABC’s “NYPD Blue” and CBS’ revival of “Cagney & Lacey” scored huge numbers, according to the weekly A.C. Nielsen report released Tuesday.

The No. 4 ranking of the gritty police drama helped ABC to another win in the weekly race among the four networks. David Caruso’s departure last Tuesday propelled the program to its highest rating in its two seasons. The showing will put even more scrutiny on the Steven Bocho series next week when Jimmy Smits arrives to replace Caruso.

Perhaps even more impressive were the high ratings (No. 6) Sunday for “Cagney & Lacey--The Return,” starring Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly, which earned the highest rating of any movie this season.

Meanwhile, NBC celebrated the strong showing by its Blackout Thursday slate of comedies: “Mad About You” (No. 11), “Friends” (No. 12) and “Madman of the People” (No. 17).

NBC also came up a winner against Fox in the battle of Roseanne movies, but the victory was nothing to crow about. “Roseanne and Tom: Behind the Scenes” placed 71st out of 88 shows. A month ago, Fox’s Roseanne scored even lower.

Southland Ratings

Here are A. C. Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. Each rating point equals 50,064 households.

Program Station Rating 1. Seinfeld KNBC 20.6 2. Beverly Hills, 90210 KTTV 20.2 3. Roseanne KABC 19.7 4. ER KNBC 18.9 5. 60 Minutes KCBS 18.9 6. Married ... With Children KTTV 18.7 7. Home Improvement KABC 18.1 8. Grace Under Fire KABC 17.5 9. Frasier KNBC 17.5 10. “Cagney & Lacey: The Return” KCBS 17.0

Weekly Averages

ABC: 12.4

CBS: 12.0

NBC: 11.8

FOX: 7.7

Season to Date

ABC: 12.1

CBS: 11.7

NBC: 11.7

FOX: 7.7

Source: A.C. Nielsen