World Series

Fox's World Series coverage kicked off with an average of 13.9 million total viewers (14.6 mil for the game proper) and topped the demos in almost every half-hour. That gave Fox its most-watched Wednesday night since the American Idol finale (5/21/2008). Elsewhere....

8 pm
CBS' Old Christine (eight million viewers, up 260K) and Gary Unmarried (7.85 mil, +140K) both hit season highs. Knight Rider slowed down by 430 thou, yet still placed third with 7.23 mil. After a one-week respite, Pushing Daisies resumed its sad slide, slipping 10 percent (to 5.67 mil). Top Model (4.38 mil) gained 500 thou from its last regular episode.

9 pm
Criminal Minds bested baseball in total viewers (delivering 14.72 mil, down seven percent week-to-week). Private Practice (7.78 mil, up 520K) edged out Deal or No Deal (7.6 mil) to claim third. The CW's Stylista (premiering to 2.46 mil) sewed up 56 percent of the Top Model audience.

10 pm
CSI: NY topped the hour with 14.24 mil, down 10 percent from last week. Behind baseball, Dirty Sexy Money did 5.86 mil, slipping a hair. Lipstick Jungle fell 12 percent, to 4.2 mil.

The World Series begins Wednesday with the turnaround Tampa Bay Rays hosting the Philadelphia Phillies. Fox's Tim McCarver says the team that excels at the basics will be the one to enjoy baseball's ultimate champagne bath. "Base-running, for instance, is a major part of the game that's not talked about a lot," says McCarver, who was a part of three Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals teams in the 1960s. "Also, one's ability to turn a double play. These hidden things add up to wins or losses ...A lot of people lump all that in the category of 'doing the little things well.' The little things are not little. They're the difference makers."

Stylista
9:02 pm/ET CW
The Apprentice meets Project Runway tonight in the CW's newest reality show, which mixes business with fashion.

Read on for previews of the World Series, Ghost Hunters, Criminal Minds and Top Design.
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