• by May 13, 2004

BEFORE FRASIER LEAVES THE BUILDING - Tonight's series finale of "Frasier" may have been overshadowed by the hype surrounding last week's final episode of Thursday night bunkmate "Friends," but nearly as many TV viewers plan to tune it in. According to a survey of 1,000 online Americans conducted during the past 24 hours by InsightExpress, more than 40 million people plan to watch "Frasier" tonight. While that still falls short of the 52 million-plus people who watched last week's "Friends" finale, it will make the "Frasier" episode the fourth most watched TV program this year after the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards and the "Friends" finale, in that order.

But the ratings delivery of its final episode may not do justice to the place the long-running sitcom holds in the hearts and minds of American TV viewers. According to the InsightExpress research, "Frasier" ties for fifth place with "All In The Family" as the "favorite" all-time sitcom of American TV viewers. That puts "Frasier" just behind "M*A*S*H," "Friends," "The Simpsons," and "Seinfeld," but interestingly puts it ahead of "Cheers," the show that spawned it. Also interesting, is that among that "favorites" list, only one series, Fox's "The Simpsons," will run as an original network primetime series next season.

Favorite Sitcoms Of The Past 30 Years

                 % Of American Viewers 
M*A*S*H                            27% 
Friends                            19% 
The Simpsons                       16% 
Seinfeld
16% 
All In The Family                  8% 
Frasier                            8% 

Source: InsightExpress. Base = 1,000 people surveyed online.