Laughter Best Medicine In Syndication Universe

"Seinfeld," in its seventh off- network season, has regained the top spot among syndicated sitcoms with a 6.1 rating average, representing a 17% increase, according to Nielsen Media Research data for the week ending Oct. 28. The sitcom had slipped slightly in the rankings during the previous several weeks.

Laughter seemed much in demand, with several other popular off-network sitcoms posting significant gains for the week, including "King of the Hill" (2.4), up 33% week-to-week, and "Frasier" (3.4), up 13%.

In second place among the sitcoms was "Friends" (5.7), which dipped a slight 3% for the week, while "Everybody Loves Raymond" (5.0) was up 6% and scored its highest rating since its syndication debut five weeks ago.

Weekly hour programming also fared well during the week, with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" posting the biggest gain of the week with a 2.5 rating, up 32% despite being pre-empted by the World Series in 18 markets. Other weekly gainers included "The Practice" (3.1), up 24%, and "Stargate: SG-1" (3.1), up 19%. "The X-Files" (3.0) was up 20% week-to-week.

The top-rated weekly hour was the magazine show "Entertainment Tonight Weekend" (3.6), up 3% for the week. The new weekly sci-fi hour "Mutant X" was at a 2.8, which represented a 7% decline in its third week.

Among daily magazine shows, "Entertainment Tonight" (6.3) was the only program in the genre to post a week-to-week gain with a 5% increase.