Brad Pitt Is a Hit on ‘Friends’

Thanksgiving took its toll on TV viewing over the long holiday weekend, but an appearance by Brad Pitt helped “Friends” serve up a far bigger ratings feast than a year ago, based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Reflecting the show’s red-hot performance this season, “Friends’” audience rose 46% compared to Thanksgiving 2000.

Movies were the networks’ garnish to the weekend menu, as Fox premiered “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace” to strong but unspectacular ratings--exhibiting the most force with younger viewers, including the week’s highest rating among teens--while ABC generated the biggest “Wonderful World of Disney” audience in a year with a repeat of “The Santa Clause.”

ABC settled for another distant third-place finish, despite the third-highest rated “Monday Night Football” game this season and the steadying Tuesday performance of “NYPD Blue,” which deflated competing new dramas “The Guardian” and “24” to their lowest ratings thus far.

Overall, CBS won its third consecutive week and is closing in on a November sweeps victory in total viewing, buoyed by “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and the Monday lineup anchored by “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

Brian Lowry