Tuning In

Romano mulls return

Three years after the end of CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond,” star Ray Romano could soon be back on the small screen.

The comedian is starring in “Men of a Certain Age,” a TNT pilot that he created with “Raymond” writer/producer Mike Royce, TVGuide.com reports, citing a story in Variety.

According to the Web site, “Men” will center on three fortysomethings in midlife crises, offering what’s described as a “Sideways-ish” tone as well as a dash of “thirtysomething.”

At a recent movie premiere, Mr. Romano hinted at his new gig and described his philosophy for the series as “write what you know and write what you cry about.”

Back on ’CSI’

After lengthy negotiations, “CSI” star William Petersen has inked a deal to return for the drama’s ninth season, the Hollywood Reporter says.

Under a one-year pact with “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” producer CBS Paramount Network TV, Mr. Petersen will appear in a reduced number of episodes for a salary said to be in the neighborhood of $600,000 an episode. In addition to starring, he will also serve as an executive producer on the show.

Mr. Petersen had requested a reduced workload to accommodate his work in the play “Dublin Carol.” He took a break to appear in the production of the Christmas-themed play in Providence, R.I., last season when Liev Schreiber subbed for him on “CSI.”

Ebert signing off TV

Movie critic Roger Ebert will resume writing reviews later this month but will not rejoin his syndicated television show because he is still unable to speak, FoxNews.com reports.

In a letter published in yesterday’s Chicago Sun-Times, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and co-host of the “Ebert & Roeper” TV show, said that a January surgery in Houston ended in complications and that his ability to speak was not restored. He said the return of speech would require another surgery.

“But I still have all my other abilities, including the love of viewing movies and writing about them,” Mr. Ebert wrote.

Mr. Ebert said he is looking forward to his annual film festival at the University of Illinois on April 23 and added, “I will resume writing movie reviews shortly thereafter.”

Famous for his “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” critiques, Mr. Ebert underwent surgery in 2006 to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland. He also had emergency surgery that year after a blood vessel burst near the site of the operation.

He had undergone cancer surgery three times before the 2006 operation — once in 2002 to remove a malignant tumor on his thyroid gland and twice on his salivary gland the following year.

Reality rules ratings

Singing and dancing scored again with TV viewers last week.

Fox’s “American Idol” placed first and second in the ratings, with ABC’s two editions of “Dancing With the Stars” right behind, Associated Press reported yesterday, citing data from Nielsen Media Research.

CBS’ crime drama, “CSI: Miami,” followed in fifth place, but the week’s most-watched shows were chiefly in the reality area. ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Oprah’s Big Give” and “Primetime: What Would You Do?”; CBS’ “60 Minutes” and an NCAA championship basketball game (Louisville versus UNC); NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” and “Deal or No Deal”; and Fox’s “Moment of Truth” all landed in the Top 20.

Fox’s legal drama, “Canterbury’s Law,” premiered in a puny 78th place, with just 4.7 million viewers welcoming Julianna Margulies back to series TV.

Overall, Fox won the week, averaging 9.9 million viewers; the network’s 11th straight weekly victory. CBS was a close runner-up with 9.4 million viewers, while ABC had 8.83 million viewers and NBC had 7.6 million viewers. Bringing up the rear were the CW with 2.3 million viewers, My Network TV with 1.3 million and ION Television with 520,000.

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with a 3.8 million-viewer average, followed by Telemundo with 1 million viewers, TeleFutura with 480,000 viewers and Azteca with 190,000 viewers.

For the week of March 24 through 30, the top five shows, their networks and viewerships were: 1) “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 25.7 million; 2) “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 24.7 million; 3) “Dancing With the Stars” (Monday), ABC, 20.5 million; 4) “Dancing With the Stars” (Tuesday), ABC, 17.4 million; and 5) “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 16 million.

On tap tonight …

Caring for Your Parents ( 9 p.m. WETA-Channel 26 and WMPT-Channel 22): As the baby boom generation ages, its members are increasingly dealing with the issue of how to care for the people who cared for them. This 90-minute PBS special tracks the stories of five families from Rhode Island through the day-to-day sacrifices they make — including the wrenching decisions to place parents in nursing homes and the conflict that occasionally breaks out amid siblings over what to do. The special is followed by a half-hour discussion moderated by Art Ulene on how to start the conversation with parents on how they want to be treated.

• Compiled by Robyn-Denise Yourse from staff, Web and wire reports