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Farrah TV tops Jackson

ABC's Farrah Fawcett hour emerged as the most popular of the instant news specials broadcast Thursday night as networks rushed to deal with the stunning deaths of two pop culture icons — Miss Fawcett and Michael Jackson, who died hours apart.

Prime time on much of broadcast TV took on the feel of E! or VH1 as images of the two filled the airwaves, with no less than four programs on three networks vying for viewers, notes TVWeek.com.

ABC's "20/20" special on Miss Fawcett, hosted by Barbara Walters from 10 to 11 p.m., generated the biggest audience of all the coverage among adults 18 to 49.

CBS' "The Life and Death of Michael Jackson," airing in the same time slot, ranked second for the hour.

Among all viewers in the 10 p.m. hour, "20/20" notched 8.3 million viewers, compared to 7.6 million for CBS and 5.8 million for the second hour of a special "Dateline" on NBC with a split focus on Mr. Jackson and Miss Fawcett.

However, because there were more shows devoted to Mr. Jackson, his death clearly generated the most combined interest from viewers. Still, it's noteworthy that ABC was able to emerge in first place at 10 p.m. with coverage of the former "Charlie's Angels" star even though the network was up against two Jackson specials, TVWeek said.

Starring for Spielberg

Original "ER" cast member Noah Wyle has been set as the lead in the upcoming science-fiction series from Steven Spielberg, Variety reports.

Scheduled to air on TNT, the untitled series will feature Mr. Wyle as the leader of a ragtag group of soldiers and civilians as they struggle against an occupying alien force.