NEW YORK (AP) – A ratings sweeps month on television is usually known for its stunts and specials.

The first full week of the May sweeps was most remarkable for its status quo.

The week’s two most popular shows – “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “American Idol” – have essentially been the country’s two favorite shows for the past few months.

All but two of last week’s top 20 shows were episodes of regular series. The two exceptions were reruns of “Friends” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday.

Last week’s network standings were just how they will shake out for the season as a whole: CBS with a slight edge over NBC among total viewers, NBC narrowly beating Fox among the advertiser-desired 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

CBS’ Sunday movie about Lucille Ball was a modest success with nearly 13 million viewers. Tim Allen’s retrospective on “Home Improvement” for ABC had 11.3 million viewers, more than any of its current comedies.

With the help of lead-in “American Idol,” Fox’s comedy “Bernie Mac” drew its best ratings ever last week.

Monica Lewinsky’s future as a TV star appears limited; Fox’s “Mr. Personality” was a dud with 7.9 million viewers. After months of failures, ABC may have a modest reality hit with “Extreme Makeover.”

For the week, CBS averaged 11.8 million viewers (8.0 rating, 13 share), NBC had 11.4 million (7.7, 13), Fox had 9.7 million (5.9, 10), ABC had 8.7 million (5.7, 9), the WB had 4.1 million (2.6, 4), UPN had 3.4 million (2.2, 4) and Pax TV had 1.1 million (0.7, 1).

NBC’s “Nightly News” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 9.4 million viewers (6.8 rating, 14 share). ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second, averaging 8.9 million viewers (6.5, 14) and the “CBS Evening News’ had 7 million (5.2, 11).

A ratings point represents 1,067,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 106.7 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of April 28-May 4, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 22.7 million; “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 20.4 million; “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 20.2 million; “ER,” NBC, 19.5 million; “Friends,” NBC, 19 million; “Law & Order,” NBC, 18.1 million; “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS, 17.9 million; “Survivor: Amazon,” CBS, 17.7 million; “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 17.2 million; “Friends” (special), NBC, 17.2 million.

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On the Net:

Nielsen Media Research Web site: http://www.nielsenmedia.com.

AP-ES-05-06-03 1654EDT

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