Now for the list that really matters (versus the one that everyone cares most about).   American Idol anchors the top two spots on this list as well, but Desperate Housewives jumps to number 3 here (#6 on the overall list), Grey’s Anatomy jumps to number four (#7 overall),  House jumps to number five (up from #9 overall) and Hell’s Kitchen jumps all the way from #16 overall to sixth on this list.  CSI, Two and a Half Men, LOST (which was #21 overall) and Dancing With the Stars round out the top 10.

Gordon Ramsay is the man because I have no doubt that of all the shows in the top 10, Hell’s Kitchen is the cheapest to make.  When it comes to goofy network crossover stunts, an easy one would be having Ramsay be on House and have House’s Hugh Laurie run Hell’s Kitchen for a week. I’m pretty sure Ramsay can’t pull off the USA accent as well as his UK brother Laurie does, but I’d still love to see it.

Every show from the CBS’ Monday night lineup made the top 20 except for The Big Bang Theory (#28).  Family Guy makes this list for FOX, but The Simpsons did not (#27).  But American Dad (#25) beat The Simpsons in the 18-49 demo.  We’ll chalk that up to Bart and Homer airing earlier and being more impacted by Daylight Savings Time.  But, even with all that it’s hard for me to believe.  FOX’s Bones also ranked high at #23, but not high enough to get on the list.

NBC’s Law & Order: SVU had a few more 18-49 viewers than The Office, though I expect that once the live plus seven days DVR usage is factored in, The Office will jump over SVU.  Medium also had more than four million 18-49 year old viewers for NBC (#26).

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition joins the aforementioned Housewives,  Grey’s and DWTS at #11, and Brothers & Sisters landed on the list for ABC as well at #20.

Nielsen Top Twenty 18-49 Shows by viewers for the week ending 05/04/08:

Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2008 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved