Ratings, Strike Updates

In case you missed it, Sunday's Super Bowl telecast was the second-highest rated TV event ever, behind only the 1983 telecast of the final episode of "M*A*S*H."

The Super Bowl drew in 97.4 million viewers, thanks in part to the Patriots' attempted run at perfection, and the post-Super Bowl episode of "House" drew 29 million viewers, its highest-rating ever. (In case you were wondering, "M*A*S*H" drew 106 million viewers and a record 77 share — meaning more than three-quarters of any TV set turned on that night was tuned to CBS.) Fox is rerunning that episode of "House," guest starring Mira Sorvino, on Feb. 15.

Of course, the TV landscape is different now than it was in 1983. There was no internet to contend with, and cable options were much more limited. Also, many fewer households had VCRs, so TV shows had to be watched live.

The strike has had a major impact on the networks, as ratings are down all over the place while we are in the middle of sweeps week (when networks use their ratings to set ad rates).

Meanwhile, TVGuide.com's Michael Ausiello has updates about the prospects of several shows returning this season or next, assuming a deal between the writers and the studios is hammered out in the next couple of weeks. (What will likely happen is that if the union approves the tentative deal this Saturday, the writers will return to work while the lawyers hammer out the final details.)

Some shows on the bubble: It looks as if we may get the final four episodes of "Scrubs," but Friday's installment of "Friday Night Lights" may be the last first-run episode — ever. That one you can blame on NBC president Ben Silverman, not the WGA strike.

For more about the fates of other shows, click here: http://www.tvguide.com/ask-ausiello.

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: As part of Black History Month, PBS is airing the documentary "African American Lives" at 9 p.m.

There's a new episode of "Cashmere Mafia" (ABC, 10 p.m.) opposite a new "CSI: NY" (ABC, 10 p.m.)