THE White House is hot – but Kramer is not.
That’s the word from a new poll that names “The West Wing” the best show on TV last year and berates the already-cancelled “Michael Richards Show” as the worst.
NBC’s award-winning drama about the inner workings of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue got top honors in a nationwide survey of TV critics by Electronic Media, the TV industry newspaper.
In the midst of an otherwise sleepy Presidential election year – until the end, of course – the drama of fictional President Jed Bartlett’s White House was more compelling than the real thing.
Meanwhile, Fox’s quirky family comedy “Malcolm in the Middle,” finished second.
The highest ranked new show was the David Letterman-produced “Ed,” followed by the surprise-hit “Gilmore Girls.” Veteran series “Law & Order” rounded out the critics’ top five.
The critics had a hard time figuring out how they really felt about “An American Tragedy,” the O.J. Simpson docudrama on CBS.
The writers made the miniseries their top choice for best miniseries, movie or special – and it also landed third on the critics’ “worst” list.
No matter, the O.J. two-parter was a bust in the ratings and will likely be the last Simpson movie for some time to come.
Rounding out the best miniseries, movies and specials list were “For Love or Country,” an HBO movie about the Cuban jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, “Napoleon” on PBS, A TV version of the famous sci-fi series “Dune,” and the adventurous “Hopkins 24/7,” an ABC documentary series about life in an urban hospital.
Richards’ show – highly anticipated because its star was the popular Kramer on “Seinfeld” – led the year for disappointments.
The show underwent major changes even before it went on the air last October. But nothing could save it from viewer indifference.
The No. 2 bomb was “Tucker” (NBC), followed by “Yes, Dear” (CBS) and then two shows that critics as well as viewers had trouble telling apart: “Normal, Ohio” (Fox) and “The Trouble with Normal” (ABC).
Geena Davis’ return to network TV, “Geena” (ABC), was just more of the same old sitcom fare, the critics said.
“Titans” (NBC), a return to the glory days of “Dallas” and “Dynasty,” was a bad idea too, they said.
“Jackie” (NBC) was yet-another Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis movie that proved that there are limits to how often you can tell the same story and it ranked among the worst miniseries/movies of the year.
And the on-tape “2000 Summer Olympics” also made the worst specials list.
Best shows on television
1. “The West Wing” (NBC)
2. “Malcolm in the Middle” (Fox)
3. “Ed” (NBC)
4. “Gilmore Girls” (WB)
5. “Law & Order” (NBC)
6. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (WB)
7. “The Simpsons” (Fox)
8. “Once and Again” (ABC)
9. “Will & Grace” (NBC)
10. “Sex and the City” (HBO)
Worst shows on television
1. “The Michael Richards Show” (NBC)
2. “Tucker” (NBC)
3. “Yes, Dear” (CBS)
4. “Normal, Ohio” (Fox)
5. “The Trouble with Normal” (ABC)
6. “Geena” (ABC)
7. “Titans” (NBC)
8. “Cursed” (NBC)
9. “Dr. Laura” (Syndicated)
10. “Jackass” (MTV)