Big Apple Titus Welliver Article 1

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

(By DON KAPLAN, New York Post)

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.