'Apple's' Cop Star Can't Get Arrested

WHEN "Big Apple" was pulled over the weekend, it meant one more hitless inning for star Titus Welliver, who just can't get a break.

Cancellation of the critically acclaimed CBS cop show after five airings marked the third strike in a row for Welliver, who played FBI special agent Jimmy Flynn.

The actor was last seen on another short-lived CBS drama "Falcone," playing gangster Sonny Napoli.

And in 1997, he played another New York City cop on CBS' ill-fated drama "Brooklyn South."

Sadly, "Big Apple" was supposed to mark the triumphant return of "Married. . .with Children" star Ed O'Neill to television.

CBS gave the show a 13-episode commitment and placed it on Thursday nights, its most popular slot.

The assumption was that the network might have finally had a drama that could damage arch-rival NBC's perennially airtight ratings for "ER" - the highest rated drama on TV.

Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Despite strong lead-ins from "Survivor: The Australian Outback," and the white-hot "CSI, " "Apple" lost out to "ER."

The show, from "NYPD Blue" co-creator David Milch, revolved around the turf wars between the NYPD, the FBI and the Mob.

O'Neill - who played Det. Mike Mooney - had not appeared in a network series since the long-running "Married. . .with Children" ended in 1997.

The five "Apple" episodes fetched an average of 9.7 million viewers and a 3.4 rating among the ad-friendly adults 18-49 demographic. (Each adults 18-49 rating point represents 1.24 million viewers, 1 percent of the U.S. total.)

The show also failed to retain much of its lead-in. Last Thursday, "Apple" held on to just 31% of the young adults who tuned in to "CSI" (dropping from a 8.3 rating to a 2.6 rating).

"Big Apple" initially was supposed to debut against two repeats of "ER" - a move that would have at least given the show a chance to succeed. But NBC changed its plans at the last minute pulling a new episode of "ER" out of the woodwork, and decimating the ratings for "Big Apple's" debut.