8pm
Again, this was a pre/post "Idol" story. Pre "Idol," ABC was looking good with "My Wife & Kids" (58) and "It's All Relative" (69), but when "Idol" (3) hit, both series were sent to the gutter. But Fox wasn't all roses on the season. "That 70s Show" (45) had a very slow start and "A Minute With Stan Hooper" (114) lasted about that long, even if the net did get some December traction with "The Simple Life" (36). So what else was going on in the hour..... "60 Minutes II" (50) continued to do solid numbers, NBC was cold with "Ed" (69), but the big battle came on the mini nets. The WB moved "Smallville" onto the night and hoped for huge results, but it came up in 121st, losing 28% of its viewers and not doing much better than "Dawsons Creek" did. Did the UPN laugh? Nope, as "Enterprise" sunk to 145th, ranking just 8th on the UPN. Even worse was "Game Over" (161), which was the lowest rated series of the entire season.

Winner: American Idol (Fox)
Loser: A Minute With Stan Hooper (Fox), Enterprise (UPN)

9pm
Just like Tuesdays, 9pm was much more competitive than 8pm as a number of series vied for top spot. ABC won over with "The Bachelor/ette" (22, 32, 33) and "Trista & Ryan's Wedding" (18), though even that series is starting to lose big steam. Losing even more steam was "The West Wing" (30), which will probably be headed into its last season as viewership is plunging. CBS was big with "King of Queens" (36), and even "Becker" (50) did well, but CBS cancelled that for.... "The Stones" (75). Meanwhile, for "The OC: (53) huge hype does nto equal huge ratings. Over on the WB, "Angel" faded to black in a respectable 130th, while the UPN could not catch a break with either "Jake 2.0" (158) nor "I'm Still Alive" (152).

Winner: King Of Queens (CBS)
Loser:  The West Wing (NBC)

10pm
As CBS and ABC could not figure out just what to air in this tough slot, "Law & Order" (14) continued to laugh all the way to the bank, though rating have fallen. Just wait until "CSI: NY" moved in next season.... well, hopefully it does alot better than "The Brotherhood" (99), which was CBS's lowest rated series of the season, and even better than "48 Hours" (66), which replaced it. ABC started out with the interesting "Karen Sisco," (86), then moved onto "Celebrity Mole" (68), and even tried "Kingdom Hospital" (108) and "Extreme Makeover" (73). Only "Makeover" did well on the night, and the other three were quickly cancelled.

Winner:  Law & Order (NBC)
Loser:  The Brotherhood (CBS)