Close Ratings Call

By Stephen M. Silverman

04/16/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

There IS nothing like a dame . . . in this case, Glenn Close. Her appearance last week as Navy nurse Ensign Nellie Forbush in ABC's "Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific" helped boost that network's ratings and even topped the competition: CBS's "Everybody Loves Raymond" and NBC's latest "Crocodile Hunter" special. According to the Nielsen ratings, "South Pacific" drew 15.8 million viewers, giving ABC's Monday movie its largest audience in nearly a year. (The rating is the percentage of the nation's estimated 102.2 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 1,022,000 households.) The Top 10 for March 26-April 1:

1. "Survivor II," CBS, 16.6, 17.0 million homes
2. "E.R.," NBC, 16.3, 16.6 million homes
3. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 13.8, 14.1 million homes
4. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Tuesday, ABC, 12.9, 13.2 million homes
5. "Friends," NBC, 12.1, 12.4 million homes
6. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Sunday, ABC, 11.8, 12.1 million homes
7. "CBS NCAA Basketball Championship Saturday Game 2: Duke vs. Maryland," CBS, 11.6, 11.9 million homes
8. (tie) "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Thursday, ABC, 11.3, 11.6 million homes
8. (tie) "The Practice," ABC, 11.3, 11.6 million homes
10. (tie) "ABC Monday Night Movie: Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific," ABC, 11.2, 11.4 million homes
10. (tie) "Law and Order," NBC, 11.2, 11.5 million homes