Hatchett sharp, but ‘Mars’ orbit falling
The revamped “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus” is cooling off after a hot start with new hosts Sam Phillips, Christina Ferrare, Rondell Sheridan, Bo Griffin and Dr. Drew Pinsky.
For the week ending Feb. 12, “Mars” (10 a.m./Ch. 4) averaged a 0.7 (about 700,000 HHs) nationally-which is lower than its average with ex-host Cybill Shepherd.
The news was better for another Columbia TriStar show, “Judge Hatchett,” which had a terrific February sweep on Ch. 5 (10:30 a.m.) and was up 30 percent over last November’s numbers (180,000 HHs). “Ricki Lake” was also up 23 percent in Feb. over November 2000.
But “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” took a ratings tumble (w/o Feb. 12), averaging 2.9 million HHs – down a whopping 31 percent from the same week in February 2000.
Solid info as Reege goes for variety
Alert viewers of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” will notice that host Regis Philbin is no longer sporting the monochromatic, tone-on-tone look that kicked off a fashion craze and spurred a Van Heusen “Regis” clothing line.
It’s a conscious decision made by Van Heusen – which wants Reege to vary his eponymous line of threads.
Says Van Heusen president Lee Terrill: “We are confident that the addition of updated colors, textures and patterns will attract a strong customer base . . . it was a natural progression for both Regis and the collection to branch out.”
Charo’s wiggle room: ‘Coochie’ explanation
The inestimable Charo reveals on today’s “WB11 Morning News” (6-8 a.m. on Ch. 11) the derivation of her famous catchphrase, “Coochie, Coochie.”
She says that, when she was 3, she had a dog named Coochio.
“The dog wiggled. When I would go to feed the dog I would call him and I would wiggle and I would say, ‘Come on, Coochie! Come on, Coochie Coochie Coochie! People think I invented it – but I got it from the dog.”
Charo will be opening in “Pete N’ Keely” at the John Houseman theater.
This just in . . .
* “Port Charles” kicks off its second 12-week story arc (“Time in a Bottle”) Monday (12:30 p.m. on Ch. 7). The first arc increased women 18-49 by 15 percent and teens by 29 percent.
* NBC has confirmed that it will shoot a pilot with “Seinfeld” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
* Now it’s gone: Ch. 2’s Ira Joe Fisher showed up yesterday sans the beard he sported on Wednesday.
* The Producers Guild of America will honor Microsoft Networks/Web TV exec Bruce Leak with its New Media Award tomorrow.
“The Starr Report” can be reached at [email protected].