FALL TV SCORECARD CBS SURPRISES, NBC AND FOX FALTER, AND - WHO KNEW? - SEX DOESN'T SELL.

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

It takes less and less time each fall season before the flop sweat starts to show on the brows of network executives. This season, it appeared before the leaves began to change color.

Fox's new fall shows have scarcely begun airing, and already panic has set in, as programmers abruptly yank the repeats of low-rated shows that were supposed to do nominally better than the low-rated shows they were replacing. NBC, too, is scrambling to patch its hemorrhaging ratings. ABC would be panicking, but its ratings have been so abysmal this season looks kind of good to them.

So here's an early report card on the networks' winners and losers.

WINNER: Baseball. Purists were lured back by the prospect of a World Series pitting the perennially snake-bit Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, and many stuck around even when the Florida Marlins, who have no fan base to speak of, upset the New York Yankees. Usually Fox executives lament the fact that baseball disrupts their fall schedule; this year, baseball rescued them temporarily from their fall schedule.

LOSER: Fox shows promoted during baseball. Anyone who sat through the playoffs and World Series saw at least an hour of promos for both ``Joe Millionaire'' and ``Skin,'' to the point that watching the shows themselves seemed practically redundant. And so, no one did. Too bad Fox had called upon both shows to patch up holes elsewhere in its lineup in repeat broadcasts.

WINNER: CBS. All but one of its new series have clicked, its Thursday lineup waxes as NBC's wanes, and its risky moves (such as kicking ``King of Queens'' to Wednesdays) have paid off. Every night has a positive of some sort.

LOSER: NBC and Fox. NBC's ratings have plummeted this year - even stalwart ``Friends'' has slipped, which doesn't bode well for next year's spinoff, ``Joey.'' (The other show NBC announced for next season, a computer-animated comedy about Vegas magicians Siegfried and Roy's tigers, is iffy given recent tragic events.) Moreover, the network's once-powerful Friday lineup now lags behind both CBS and ABC, with ``Boomtown,'' an acclaimed cop drama the network never really rallied behind, already cuffed and in the holding tank, and ``Miss Match,'' largely considered a sure thing before the season began, a distinct failure. Sexy ``Friends'' rip-off ``Coupling'' has already been canceled, while legal drama ``Lyon's Den'' lost steam early and is on hiatus during sweeps. Meanwhile, Fox's new shows all pulled immediate tank jobs, except for those based in Orange County: ``The O.C.'' was a summer success, and ``Arrested Development's'' ratings Sunday night were encouraging.

WINNER: John Ritter's legacy. Viewers made the late comic actor's final three episodes of ``8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter'' the most watched in the sitcom's short history and helped new show ``I'm With Her'' win sizable numbers in the bargain. Ritter's show debuts tonight with James Garner, the TV equivalent of comfort food, in a recurring role.

LOSER: Terrorism. No one's watching ABC's spy thriller ``Threat Matrix,'' while ``Whoopi,'' which mines humor from impending peril, lost much of its once-considerable viewership, although NBC keeps running it at various times during the week, hoping to pull in an audience.

WINNER: Crime procedurals, still. The ``Law & Order'' and ``CSI'' franchises remain unbeatable, ``Without a Trace'' is encroaching upon ``ER's'' onetime invincibility, and CBS' ``Cold Case'' is an out-of-the-box hit.

LOSER: Clever cop shows. We've already covered ``Boomtown's'' woes, and ``Karen Sisco,'' probably the best-reviewed new drama of the season, has been unable to seduce viewers away from ``Law & Order'' on Wednesdays.

WINNER: ABC's comedies. Critics hated them, one and all. But ``Hope & Faith'' is a bona fide hit on Fridays, ``I'm With Her'' successfully rode ``8 Simple Rules' '' coattails on Tuesdays, and ``It's All Relative'' hasn't alienated viewers on Wednesdays. Only Friday's hopeless ``Married to the Kellys'' hasn't found a significant fan base.

LOSER: ABC's Tough gals. ``Karen Sisco'' isn't catching the right men in her current time slot, while ``Alias'' hasn't been able to beguile anyone beyond its fan base at Entertainment Weekly, even though the network signed star Jennifer Garner through the 2008 season.

WINNER: Hip-hop comedies. ``All of Us,'' co-created by Will Smith, has emerged as UPN's first breakout sitcom. ``Eve,'' starring its eponymous rapper, fits easily in UPN's Monday lineup.

LOSER: Dumpy guys. CBS' ``The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire's'' triumvirate of portly middle-age guys couldn't find an audience larger than New Hampshire's population, while fans of Fox's ``Luis,'' starring character actor Luis Guzman, could comfortably fit inside the character's doughnut shop. Apparently, there's a compelling reason that ``King of Queens' '' Kevin James lost weight this year.

WINNER: God. CBS' ``Joan of Arcadia,'' about a teenage girl who converses with the deity in his and/or her many guises, is the season's surprise breakout hit, easily steamrolling ``Sex and the City'' creator Darren Star's latest creation for NBC, ``Miss Match.''

LOSER: Sexy sure things. Virtually every series prognosticated to emerge an out-of-the-box hit thanks to its plentiful pulchritude and romantic frissons - ``Skin,'' ``Coupling,'' ``Miss Match'' - has been a particular embarrassment.

NIGHTLY ROUNDUP

And now, we'll parse the winners and losers on a nightly basis:

SUNDAY: Last year, NBC tried to convince everyone that ``American Dreams'' was a hit; this year, it's obvious that it's not. But neither is ABC's new ``10-8.'' CBS' ``Cold Case'' shows staying power and, now that ``Lyon's Den'' is faltering, the wanly retooled ``Practice'' is showing unexpected signs of life.

MONDAY: Nothing can stop viewers from loving ``Everybody Loves Raymond,'' except the occasional football match-up. But viewers are also loving the Charlie Sheen vehicle ``Two and a Half Men,'' while NBC's ``Las Vegas'' has done better than roll snake-eyes. The WB's ``Seventh Heaven'' and ``Everwood'' are still more than merely competitive, and UPN's African- American comedies retain their niche viewership. Fox's ``Joe Millionaire'' and ``Skin'' imploded.

TUESDAY: NBC's ``Happy Family'' isn't a blockbuster, but it does better than lead-in ``Whoopi,'' as it battles ABC's ``I'm With Her.'' NBC's fading ``Frasier'' allowed ABC's lame ``According to Jim'' to gain ground, perhaps the most damning thing to be said about any show on any network. CBS' lineup - ``Navy NCIS,'' ``The Guardian'' and ``Judging Amy'' - holds its own; NBC's ``Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' hasn't trounced the competition. The WB's ``Gilmore Girls'' and UPN's ``All of Us'' keep those networks viable, if not competitive. Fox's ``24'' needs ``American Idol'' to be a bona fide hit.

WEDNESDAY: Had ``Ed'' been canceled last year, NBC might've infused this evening with a more dynamic programming sequence; as is, ``The West Wing'' and ``Law & Order'' are powerful enough. Particularly since ABC's crass ``The Bachelor'' isn't a compatible lead-in for ``Karen Sisco.'' and CBS' ``The King of Queens'' couldn't rescue ``The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire.''

THURSDAY: It's still a two-way race between CBS' ``Survivor'' and NBC's ` `Friends,'' between CBS' ``CSI'' and NBC's ``Will & Grace,'' and between CBS' ``Without a Trace'' and NBC's ``ER.'' Everything else is an also-ran.

FRIDAY: CBS emerges as a dark-horse victor, with ``Joan of Arcadia'' and ``JAG''; ``The Handler'' could use a little more bolstering now that NBC has successfully placed ``Third Watch'' opposite it. ABC's comedies offer a mild challenge early in the evening.

SATURDAY: No one's trying too hard, but CBS manages a bit of a victory, trouncing ABC's ``Disney'' specials and ``L.A. Dragnet.'' Fox's reality shows remain modest winners for that network.

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

8 photos, box

Photo:

An early look at TV's WINNERS AND LOSERS

(1 -- cover -- color) CBS' ``JOAN OF ARCADIA''

(2 -- cover -- color) FOX'S ``SKIN'

(3) Winner: The MLB playoffs on Fox, including the Chicago Cubs' divisional series victory over Atlanta.

John Bazemore/Associated Press

(4) Winner: Crime procedurals, including CBS' ``Without a Trace.''

(5) Winner: Hip-hop comedies, including UPN's ``All of Us.''

(6 -- 8) Not finding an audience: NBC's ``Miss Match,'' above; ABC's ``Alias,'' left; NBC's ``Coupling.''

Box:

NIGHTLY ROUNDUP (see text)