Extraordinary ordinariness mars November sweeps

Just how lackluster was the first sweeps month of the fall TV season? Even the big winner on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" found it hard to muster enthusiasm for the show that had made him rich. The freshly minted $ 1 million winner - a 31-year-old Connecticut resident who embodies the kind of viewer advertisers pay dearly to reach - last week admitted that he rarely watches TV and that, on this count at least, the money was not going to make him any different. Indeed, the most extraordinary thing about this November may be how ordinary it felt. Take away a certain game show and it's practically October all over again. There was even the occasional rerun, supposedly a no-no during a crucial Nielsen ratings month. Other than the nightly airings of "Millionaire," it has been three weeks since any program has drawn the oversized audiences that the sweeps were created for (Disney's remake of "Annie"). This weekend the highlight looks to be the network premiere of "Men in Black" (8 p.m. Sunday, Channel 41), the 1997 creature caper starring Will Smith that earned its director, Barry Sonnenfeld, not one but two chances to fail at network television ("Fantasy Island" and "Maximum Bob"). CBS, proud to be the network that appeals to viewers ages 8 to 80, offers something for both ends of the age scale: "Ricky Martin: One Night Only! ", featuring the music industry's flavor-of-the-year, airing at 7 tonight on Channel 5; and "One Special Night," a dependably homey CBS movie that pairs two aging stars - this time Julie Andrews and James Garner - in a small cabin cut off from civilization during a blizzard. It airs at 8 p.m. Sunday. Sunday's installment of "The X-Files" will finally bring to a close the unresolved story line of "Millennium," the show from "X-Files" creator Chris Carter that Fox canceled this spring and probably now wishes it hadn't. (Another Carter project, "Harsh Realm," took its place, but it mysteriously vanished last month after just two sightings.) The episode throws several curve balls. When we first see Lance Henriksen, the rumbly star of "Millennium," he is cooped up in isolation and strangely disengaged from his visitors, fellow FBI agents Mulder and Scully (David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson). He's unnaturally engrossed in a football game on TV and expresses no interest in discussing that weird fraternity he consorted with for three seasons. Henriksen eventually pulls out of his funk - if not for the sake of the FBI then for the sake of this show. By the way, Scully and Mulder kiss. The episode airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on Channel 4. The high water mark this weekend may be on cable: the debut of "Little Bill," the family cartoon from Bill Cosby featuring the voices of Ruby Dee, Gregory Hines, Phylicia Rashad and Madeline Kahn. It premieres 7 p.m. Sunday on Nick. Little Bill (voiced by Xavier Pritchett) is a wide-eyed 5-year-old turbine of curiosity sprung from the brain trust of Cosby and his advisers. The first words out of Little Bill's mouth - "Hello, friend" - have by now become identified with the memory of Cosby's son, Ennis, to whom the entertainer also dedicated a 1997 jazz record. Jazz is the dominant metaphor of "Little Bill": the soundtrack is entirely jazz-themed, and the very first episode involves Little Bill and the Dizzy Gillespie record being spun by his fun-loving pop (Hines). It's an apt metaphor, suggesting the improvised and repetitious groove that 5-year-olds know how to occupy. >>>