USA scored a rare victory over multiple broadcast nets Friday night, topping Fox, the WB and UPN in total viewers with the premiere of the cabler's original movie "The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story."
Despite a slew of harsh reviews, the Dean Cain-toplined telepic averaged a big 5.1 million viewers and posted a 1.7 national rating/5 share in the key 18-49 category and a 2.0/5 in 25-54, according to Nielsen.
"Husband" outdrew Fox (3.8 million), the WB (3.2 million) and UPN (3 million) from 8 to 10 p.m, placing USA fourth for the night in the timeslot.
The 11 p.m. repeat drew 2.6 million viewers.
Telepic ranks as USA's highest-rated original movie since 2000's "Cabin by the Lake." "Husband" outperformed USA's last original efforts -- "D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear" drew 3.7 million total viewers in October and January's critically acclaimed three-night miniseries "Traffic" averaged 3 million.
"Husband" spans the time from Laci Peterson's disappearance in late 2002 to the arrest of her husband in April 2003.
"Monk," meanwhile, continued to dominate the cablescape, pulling 5.6 million total viewers (1.9/6 in 18-49, 2.5/7 in 25-54) in the 10 p.m. hour.
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