Just like Tuesday, Wednesday is really the tale of two different seasons in one. ABC and NBC started the season off very strongly, but then Fox came up the middle and CBS found a solid line-up that drew okay numbers, if lacking in key demos.
      The only two line-ups that were static pretty much all season were those of NBC and the UPN, not that they were particularly strong. NBC got the night off to a wobbly start with "Ed" (54), while lead-out "The West Wing" lost about 30% of its viewers (rather drastically), finishing the season in 26th. What other series (other than second year series) have had series highs and series lows all fall within two consecutive seasons? "Law & Order" capped off the night for NBC at a-still-solid 10th, though it lost viewers and ranking for the first time in several seasons. "Dateline NBC" finished up the season at 8pm in a weak 80th.
      The UPN, meanwhile, suffered from the law of diminishing returns. The ump-teenth "Star Trek" update "Enterprise" got a huge start last season, but promptly lost a third of those viewers, finishing the season in 142nd and behind the UPN's much lower budget hits "Girlfriends" (140) and "One On One" (141). At 9pm, "The Twilight Zone" lost viewers all season, finishing up in 160th and more than earning a pink slip.
      Going to the network with the 3rd fewest amount of changes, the WB, things were neither here nor there. "Dawsons Creek" (146) saw erosion all season, while "Birds of Prey" (143) started so strong and fizzled so fast that it was gone by January. "Angel" picked up the slack in the slot for the rest of the season, ranking a solid 150th and usually outdrew its "Creek" lead-in. 
      Over on CBS, it just couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Maybe a mix of newsmag, ("60 Minutes II"- 46), reality ("The Amazing Race"- 76) and drama ("Presidio Med"- 103). Nope, that didn't work. So the net moved in "Star Search" (41) at 8pm to solid numbers, bumped "Minutes" to 9pm and aired "48 Hours Investigates" at 10pm, where it finished is 81st, though its Friday numbers are factored into that. "The Amazing Race 4," despite being the best reality show going, got bumped right into the summer.
       Then there was Fox. It started off with "Bernie Mack" (57 ) and "Cedric The Entertainer" (94), but they got creamed by the comedy competition over on ABC, while "Fastlane" (119) was a dud at 9pm
But then "Idol" (6) blew into town and set up a whole new Wednesday order, something that was only complimented by "Wanda At Large," which wound up in 33rd, making Fox's most promising new comedy.
      Left in the mix was ABC, but that's not to say the the net didn't have various successes. "My Wife & Kids" (39) and the surprise hit "The George Lopez Show" (55) were separated by only a million viewers and for a time both ranked in the top 35. "The Bachelor II" (16) and "The Bachelorette" (13) blew away the competition at 9pm, while "Celebrity Mole: Hawaii" (42) was a surprise hit at 10pm, and the same held true for "Extreme Makeover" (45)  But for every hit..... "The Bachelor III" (34) proved that reality is losing steam (in some cases), "All American Girl" (129) was the worst of the worst, and "MDs" (116) was an epic dud at 10pm. One thing is clear: ABC needs a focus on Wednesdays. There's a solid 8-9pm building block, now get the rest of the house in order.