Syndie frosh fresh with boffo ratings
'Phil' & 'Grace' strong, other talkers not so gabby
"Dr. Phil" held its second-only-to-"Oprah" status among syndicated talkers during its second week on the air, scoring a 4.2 national household rating for the week ending Sept. 29, according to Nielsen.
Perf is down 5% from the show's premiere the previous frame.
The off-network run of "Will & Grace," which Warner Bros. Domestic Television is distributing, debuted in fourth among all off-net laffers, behind stalwarts "Friends" (6.9), "Everybody Loves Raymond" (6.0) and "Seinfeld" (5.7).
"Will & Grace" tallied a 3.9 premiere week rating, beating fellow freshman off-net laffer "That '70s Show" despite the fact that "'70s" was up 6% over its preem week to a 3.5.
Not as spectacular, but still strong, Twentieth Television's "Dharma & Greg" preemed to a 2.5 in off-net syndication, and in week two "The Hughleys" was even with its preem week (1.3).
Sophomore entry "Raymond," which reaped a trio of acting Emmy Awards at the beginning of the frame, also is a provider of good ratings news. Not only was its 6.0 good enough to beat "Seinfeld" for the third consecutive week, it was up 43% over the same week last year (its preem week), although it edged down 3% from the prior week.
Among "Dr. Phil's" fellow rookie talkers, the prognosis is not as good. Their ratings were all well below a 2.0.
"The John Walsh Show" -- up 18% week-to-week in its third frame to a 1.3 -- was the top rookie yakker after "Dr. Phil." "Walsh" was followed by: "The Caroline Rhea Show" (1.1 in week four), "Beyond With James Van Praagh" (1.0 in week two) and "The Rob Nelson Show" (0.9 in week two).
Elsewhere in the frosh races, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" earned a 2.3, and game revival "Pyramid" scored a 1.7. Both gamers were in week two.
Frosh mag "Celebrity Justice" earned a 1.2 in its fourth week on the air, and "Life Moments" earned a 0.9 in week three.
