The results are in. "Frasier" is the show the majority of voters would renew based on voting in the Post-Gazette's "Kill 'Em or Keep 'Em" poll.
The NBC sitcom garnered 1,012 "keeps" and only 292 "cancels" in voting by 1,889 people (585 didn't vote either way). "ER" was No. 2 on the keepers list, with "Friends" third, "60 Minutes" fourth and "The X-Files" fifth.
The Top 5 shows viewers would cancel: "America's Funniest Home Videos" (954 cancels to 208 keep votes), followed by "The Nanny," "Melrose Place," "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Candid Camera."
"Kill 'Em or Keep 'Em" isn't a scientific poll, and by posting it on the Internet, we definitely got some skewing. The presence of "The X-Files," "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "The Simpsons" in the Top 20 is a testament to the power of the Internet and the popularity of these shows among Net users compared to their weekly Nielsen ratings.
Overall, NBC ranked No. 1 in the keep-to-cancel ratio. ABC was second, CBS third, Fox fourth, WB fifth and UPN sixth. With the exception of ABC and CBS switching places, that ranking mirrors the weekly Nielsens for the most- and least-watched networks.
There were 1,068 female voters compared to 771 men (about 50 people didn't register a gender), and the majority of voters were evenly divided between the 18-34 and 35-54 age groups. Complete results are available at http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/ Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "Results."
Here's a summary of how each network fared:.
ABC
Men were partial to "The Drew Carey Show," while women were most positive about "The Wonderful World of Disney." "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" was the top keeper among teens, "Spin City" topped the list for 18-34s, and "NYPD Blue" was ranked first in every other age group.
Women and men were in agreement on their least favorite ABC shows: "America's Funniest Home Videos," "Fantasy Island" and "The Secret Lives of Men."
Critics faves that got thumbs down from voters included "Cupid" (561 cancels vs. 361 keeps), "It's Like, You Know..." and "Maximum Bob."
"Sports Night" won a reprieve, but almost double the number of those people voted to keep "The Practice" on retainer.
CBS
Although "60 Minutes" was a "keeper," its sister series, "60 Minutes II," garnered more "cancel" votes than "keeps." CBS will bring back "Cosby" next season, but the majority of those who voted would cancel the comedian's sitcom.
"Everybody Loves Raymond" was the No. 3 series among women and men, while women gave "Touched By an Angel" the top spot. Guys went for a one-two combo of "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours." "Minutes" ranked second among women, but was No. 1 in every age category from 18 on up.
"The Magnificent Seven" tallied 546 keeps to 195 cancels, but that was likely influenced by the Internet campaign to save the western a second time.
At the other end of the spectrum, "The Nanny" was the least favorite show for every age group from 35 on up. Men hated that sitcom the most, while women voted "Candid Camera" the worst program.
Fox
Those Internet fans voted in full force for "The X-Files," making it the No. 1 show on the No. 4 network. It was also tops among women, while guys ranked "The Simpsons" first and "X-Files" second. "Ally McBeal" was No. 2 among women voters, but overall it tallied 651 keeps to 465 cancels, not overwhelming support.
Viewers gave thumbs down to the new animated shows "Family Guy" and "Futurama," and "Party of Five" received more cancel votes than keep votes, too.
The programs that received the greatest number of cancellation notices included "Melrose Place," "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "World's Wildest Police Videos."
NBC
Despite a plum time slot in the Thursday night schedule, "Veronica's Closet" was among the least favorite shows in every age group from 18 on up. Guys hated the show most, and it was No. 2 on the women's least favorite list, coming in second to "World's Most Amazing Videos."
"Frasier" topped the list of favorites for men, followed by "Law & Order" and "ER." Women put "ER" first, followed by "Frasier" and "Friends."
UPN
For this last-place network, there's only bad news and more bad news. If our voters had their way, they'd cancel every show on the network except "Star Trek: Voyager," which ranked No. 1 among men and women and viewers age 18-69.
Men put "Dilbert" in the No. 2 spot with "The Sentinel" third. Women put "Legacy" No. 2, followed by "The Sentinel."
The most-hated shows included "Love Boat: The Next Wave," "America's Greatest Pets" and "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer."
The WB
Everybody loves "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." And yes, I only voted once.
"Buffy" ranked No. 1 overall, followed by "7th Heaven" and "Dawson's Creek." Those three shows dominated every age group from 18 to 70-plus. "Charmed" was No. 3 among women and No. 2 with the 12-17 crowd.
REDUX: Channel 11 general manager John Howell e-mailed a reaction to last week's column in which I condemned his station for a news report on "Watch 11 to Win" contest winners. He pointed out, rightly so, that the Post-Gazette and other newspapers do the same thing.
The difference in my mind is one of proportion. Papers may do a short story on a contest winner, but it's not going to be a huge article. WPXI's report lasted more than a minute, giving it undeserved legitimacy by putting it on par with other more newsworthy stories in the newscast.
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Rob Owen can be reached at 412-263-2582 or rowen@post-gazette.com.
