Nielsen’s 10 top-rated shows for the 2005-06 television season contained few surprises—American Idol reigned supreme (again), and Survivor survived. See if you can figure out what’s missing from the Top 10:
- American Idol-Tuesday
- American Idol-Wednesday
- CSI
- Desperate Housewives
- Grey’s Anatomy
- Without a Trace
- Dancing With the Stars
- CSI: Miami
- Survivor: Guatemala
- NFL Monday Night Football
Give up? For the first time in TV history, not a single sitcom cracked the Top 10. (Two and a Half Men came closest, tied with 2 other programs at #13.) Under budget strain from falling ad revenues, TV networks are limiting sitcom production in favor of airing less expensive reality-based programs, which don’t require funding a large writing staff.
–Sarah Janssen
