CBS' LES MOONVES TAKES DEMOGRAPHICS DATA TO TASK.

CBS entertainment president Leslie Moonves took his turn at the podium at the Television Critics' Association winter press tour on Tuesday and took some shots at the demographic-obsessed advertising community.

Moonves built CBS from a ratings-plagued network to the household ratings winner (in the past November sweeps) in merely 2-1/2 years. The network attributes some of that success to its continued interest in catering to a broad audience, despite detractors who like to say that the most important viewers to reach are those ages 18 to 49.

``I can't believe a 50-year-old today is treated the same way a 50-year-old was treated 30 years ago,'' he said. ``The old bugaboos about advertising and about rules and regulations no longer apply. This is a different generation. The fact that a 19-year-old is a better audience member than a 50-year-old is absolutely ridiculous.'' Moonves also quoted commentator Andy Rooney from CBS' ``60 Minutes'' on Sunday to drill home his point.

``He said, `So let me get this straight. People who watch `60 Minutes,' that are older, smarter and rich, are worse audience members than people who watch `Jenny,' who are young, dumb and poor,' '' Moonves said.

Based on its yet-to-be-launched promotional campaign, CBS certainly is not shying away from its image of including older viewers.

As part of an image campaign to celebrate 50 years of broadcast television, CBS will integrate dead stars in commercials with living stars.

Ed Sullivan, who is making something of a comeback (he also will be used in a special on the WB network) is part of it. Sullivan will appear with David Letterman, Edward R. Murrow will appear with ``Murphy Brown,'' Jackie Gleason with Ray Romano, Lucille Ball with ``The Nanny,'' and scenes from ``Gunsmoke'' with ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.''

A leg up

New Comedy Central sensation ``South Park'' has been vicious in its assault on every aspect of our popular culture, including Christmas, Kathie Lee Gifford and John Stamos.

Patrick Duffy, of CBS' ``Step by Step,'' was not spared. In an episode about hunting, ``South Park's'' Cartman told a scary story and the object of fear was Scuzzlebutt, which had Patrick Duffy for a leg.

``I love being the left leg of the Scuzzlebutt,'' Duffy said. ``I would rather be known for that than falsely be taken seriously by someone else for a favor.''

Duffy said that he did not watch the episode when it originally aired, but heard about it from friends.

``You want to get on certain shows,'' he said. ``You want to get mentioned on `The Simpsons.' That's always cool if you could do that. I've never been on that, but I figure I finally got old enough that my orbit has come back around and I finally have a chance to be cool.''

The darnedest things

Art Linkletter, who made an art out of interviewing children in his ``Kids Say the Darnedest Things'' television segments, says that kids today have a lot in common with their parents.

Linkletter was in town to promote the latest version of ``Kids Say,'' which is now hosted by Bill Cosby.

``They are still as cute as ever,'' said the father of five. ``Up to age 5, 6 and even 7, life is their family. That is their whole world.''

But Linkletter acknowledges that as kids get older, they do get a tad more sophisticated than their counterparts from generations back.

``An 8-year-old goes over to his grandparents' house to help them set up their VCR,'' he said.

Linkletter met several of the people he interviewed decades ago when they packed into the studio audience of the updated version recently.

``They all wanted to tell me what it was like,'' Linkletter said. ``They remembered what they were wearing, what they had for lunch. Some brought the gift I gave them, still wrapped.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--2) Patrick Duffy, left, of CBS' ``Step by Step,'' was not spared a ``South Park'' attack, becoming the object of a scary story by Cartman.