Ben and Jen Help NBC Take Ratings Race

By Stephen M. Silverman

Wednesday July 23, 2003 01:00 PM EDT

Their box-office prospects with their upcoming romantic comedy "Gigli" may be open to debate, but Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez steadfastly proved that they know how to pull in TV viewers.

Their interview last Thursday on "Dateline NBC" pulled in 10.6 million viewers and helped push the network into first place for the week, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The two discussed their relationship -- though the interview, with "Access Hollywood" correspondent Pat O'Brien, could hardly have been considered deep. At one point, however, Affleck did tell Lopez, as she was over-praising his virtues, not to sound like his mother.

Meanwhile, the new NBC reality shows fared okay, if not spectacularly: "Who Wants to Marry My Dad?" came in 20th, with 8.5 million viewers, while 33rd-ranked "The Restaurant" premiered to 7.5 million.

FOX's telecast of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the week's most popular program, though the network placed third for the week behind NBC and CBS.

For the week of July 14-20, the Top 10 shows were as follows:

1. FOX Major League Baseball All-Star Game, 13.8 million viewers
2. "Law & Order," NBC, 12.4 million
3. "CSI," CBS, 12 million
4. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 11.1 million
5. "CSI: Miami," CBS, 10.8 million
6. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," NBC, 10.6 million
7. "Dateline NBC," 10.6 million
8. "Without a Trace," CBS, 10.56 million
9. "King of Queens," CBS, 10. 5 million
10. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC, 10.4 million