Little viewer interest in Ventura talk show

NEW YORK - Jesse Ventura's America isn't very crowded.

The former Minnesota governor's MSNBC talk show debut was seen by a tiny audience of 194,000 last weekend.

It badly trailed its cable news competition and scored fewer viewers than a rerun, taped profile of first lady Laura Bush that MSNBC aired in the same Saturday evening time slot a week earlier, according to Nielsen Media Research figures released Tuesday.

Ventura had as guests California Gov. Gray Davis and Arianna Huffington, a columnist and former candidate in California's recall election. He had a studio audience and ended his show by designating a "hero of the week" and "dork of the week."

"We're happy with the show's debut, and the ratings are in line with live programming in that time period," said MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines, adding that the ratings don't necessarily mean Ventura's show is endangered.

In the same time slot, Fox News Channel's Fox Report Saturday was seen by 841,000 viewers, and CNN's Capital Gang had 553,000, Nielsen said.

The Bush profile Sept. 27 was seen by 279,000 people.

The last time MSNBC had a live news program in the time slot, earlier in September, it had fewer viewers than Ventura, Gaines said. MSNBC generally fares better on the weekend with taped programming, he said.

Ventura fans would have had to be paying close attention even to know the show was on the air. MSNBC barely promoted it, running on-air promotions for the debut Friday night and Saturday. The network didn't buy print ads or commercials on other networks.

Ventura's show has been troubled almost since MSNBC hired him. It was envisioned as a daily prime-time fixture, but after its premiere was delayed several times, the network said the show would run once a week, on Saturday, generally the least-watched night of television.

On his debut, Ventura thanked MSNBC for "finally having the courage" to put him on the air.

Friends star Matthew Perry will reprise his guest role on The West Wing next month. He was nominated for an Emmy for the role last season.

Perry will return to the White House drama for one episode during November sweeps, again playing Joe Quincy, a Republican lawyer who has a job in the Bartlet administration. He appeared on the show twice last season.

The episode will be shot this month; Perry will work around his Friends schedule. Both shows are produced by Warner Bros. and film on the studio's vast Burbank, Calif., lot.

The recent surge in moviegoers' interest in documentaries has led Showtime to expand its offerings in the genre.

Starting this month, the pay-cable network will debut a documentary each month under the banner of "Sho Exposure." The series will be a combination of original films, acquisitions and theatrical releases such as Bowling for Columbine.

First up, on Oct. 14, is Orson Welles: The One Man Band, which chronicles the life of the legendary director/actor/writer through interviews and clips from his films. The documentary, narrated by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, also includes footage from unreleased Welles adaptations of Moby Dick and The Merchant of Venice and from The Other Side of the Wind, his final, unfinished film.

Future offerings include James Ellroy's Feast of Death, about the author's fascination with grisly unsolved crimes, and Trust Me, about an interfaith summer camp designed to defray racial tension in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Showtime has also bought the rights to Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine, the surfing documentary Step into Liquid and Mayor of the Sunset Strip, a profile of Los Angeles DJ and music scenester Rodney Bingenheimer.