‘Jordan’ at a final crossing?

As a forensics drama made expressly for women, NBC’s “Crossing Jordan” is something of a rare duck on broadcast TV. But in May, the show will join a somewhat dubious club -- that of non-hit series that somehow limp along to their 100th episodes, the typical benchmark for syndication-worthy hit status and all the riches it brings.

“Jordan’s” 100th will be the May 7 season finale, and given the show’s recent ratings, we wonder whether it might serve as the series finale as well. On Sunday, “Jordan” ebbed to its lowest-ever numbers, a 2.8 rating/7 share among ages 18 to 49, with 10.1 million total viewers, according to early figures from Nielsen Media Research. Given that NBC is already punting “The West Wing” at the end of the season, it may be time to reconsider “Jordan” as well.

An NBC spokeswoman says there’s nothing unusual about the fact that the network hasn’t yet ordered any new episodes of the Jill Hennessy drama for the 2006-07 season. On the other hand, network executives like to give early renewals to series that are humming along and building, or at least keeping, an audience. “Jordan” clearly isn’t.

The main culprit behind “Jordan’s” decline is ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” which did a 9.3 rating/23 share (21.1 million total viewers) on Sunday. “Grey’s” numbers have wafted downward a bit since a post-Super Bowl berth last month gave the series a critical boost. But it’s still the most-watched show on one of TV’s most-important nights. And with “Grey’s” strong female appeal, it has tossed about “Jordan” like china against a brick wall.

“Jordan’s” main hope would be if ABC moves “Grey’s” to another night. Otherwise, the message to NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly is clear: Move it or lose it.

Fox gets two more years of ‘Simpsons’

Fox has ordered up another two seasons of “The Simpsons,” and one more for “King of the Hill.”

“Having debuted on Jan. 14, 1990, ‘The Simpsons’ reigns as the longest-running animated series in history and the longest-running prime-time series currently on television,” a Monday studio news release said, adding that the show “will celebrate a milestone 400 episodes in May 2007.”

At the end of the two-year renewal, “The Simpsons” will have generated 429 original episodes, putting it at No. 6 on the list of TV’s most-prolific scripted series, just behind “Bonanza” with 430 (No. 1 is “Gunsmoke,” with 633).

But all the series with more episodes premiered in the ‘50s, when studios churned out many more episodes per season. (NBC’s “Law & Order,” close behind “The Simpsons” in the longest-running sweepstakes, debuted on Sept. 13, 1990.)

Fans will note that this “Simpsons” renewal was achieved minus the acrimony of 2004, when the studio endured a bitter standoff with Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer and other vocal cast members over salary. Chris Alexander, a spokesman for 20th Century Fox Television, noted that the agreement reached then covered the actors through 2008.

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