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But last year, 10.3 million viewers saw a scholarship competition won by Miss Florida, Ericka Dunlap. Pageant officials and TV experts say the general shrinkage of the network television audience is partly responsible for Miss America's long ratings slide. But the event isn't doing well compared with other programming. For example, prime-time coverage of the summer Olympics on NBC attracted at least 18 million viewers each night - and sometimes more than 30 million. Episodes of CSI competing with the Olympics drew bigger audiences than last year's Miss America. Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University, said it's remarkable that the show has lasted as long as it has. He said he watches because it's part of his job, not because he enjoys it. "What Miss America used to do, there were not a lot of opportunities to see that kind of thing that Miss America afforded: women parading across the stage in bathing suits and evening gowns," Thompson said. Then came 1970s shows such as Charlie's Angles and Fantasy Island, full of scantily clad women, followed by plenty of cable programs that left even less to the imagination. On the other hand, Miss America has all the elements of some of today's most-watched reality television shows, from American Idol to Survivor, Thompson said: "It's a contest that eliminates people and features beautiful young women. Those are hardly the kinds of things that are the kiss of death of a television show." The competition has been trying mightily to tap that reality appeal. The organization has tried giving viewers a vote, but has now nixed the idea. A pop quiz was added in 2002 to dispel the myth that the beauties lack brains. Last year, the contestants for the first time competed in a casual-wear competition along with swimsuits and evening gowns, and there was live commentary from The Bachelorette couple Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter as they watched on TV. While Miss America may be losing traction among the population as a whole, it's still the big time for the small universe of people who host major television events. "For me," said Harrison, the host, "it's a chance to play in Yankee Stadium, so to speak." - Geff Mulvihill.

A seemingly endless struggle swirls around the original Star Wars Trilogy, finally coming to DVD this week after all these years. This battle is not between Empire and rebel forces, but between purists who prefer the films as they were released in 1977, 1980 and 1983 and those who like the digital juicing-up they received for their successful 1997 20th-anniversary theatrical re-release. Acting on the philosophy that an artist has the right to paint over his masterpieces, Lucasfilm has done more doctoring this time -- nothing major in terms of content -- but they do look and sound better than ever before. Digitally inserted, now, are brief clips of actors Hayden Christensen and Ian McDiarmid, who played young Anakin Skywalker and the evil Emperor respectively in the later-made prequels, so that, presumably, there will be more continuity in the future when all six episodes are viewed in sequence. The four-disc boxed-set includes three discs for each of the three titles -- Star Wars (now called Episode IV: A New Hope), The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. No sign of the original undoctored versions on DVD for the foreseeable future. A fourth disc includes a tasteful but not overwhelming collection of background material, including all the trailers and a whopping 2½-hour making-of documentary that encompasses all of the wished-for deleted scenes, outtakes and behind-the-cameras extras. Citing price point, a Lucasfilm spokesman says they could have been more elaborate, like the recent Alien Quadrilogy for example, but decided not to go that route. Screening the films again, one fondly recalls all the iconic touchstones of each title: Star Wars: Jawas, the sand people, Obi Wan, light sabres, the Mos Eisley spaceport, Chewbacca, Greedo shoots first, "That's no moon!", Death Star plans. Empire Strikes Back: The ice planet Hoth, "I am your father!", Imperial walkers, Cloud City, Yoda, R2D2 and C3P0 doing their Stan and Ollie routine. Return of the Jedi: Jabba the Hutt, sail barge, the Rancor, Sarlacc, Leia's skimpy slave costume, Ewoks. Disappointments? A few. The voiceover commentary by Lucas, Carrie Fisher and two of the film's technicians appears spliced together from various interviews. There's no sense of them watching the film with us, so the dialogue is seldom scene specific. Also, the promised preview of the approaching Episode III is limited to a few sabre-duel screen tests against a bluescreen background. But, for all of the debate, one thing is certain: while the original Star Wars was a troubled shoot, chaotic, under-budgeted and with few people having any faith in the project, it remains a bona fide motion picture icon simply because of its innocent energy, its breakthrough concept and its pure ambition. The four other films in the series are filthy with budget money and slicker F/X, but without their predecessor's originality or audacity. There's also the bothersome problem that, when Episode III comes to theatres next year, it will end the whole series on a downer note, with Anakin turned to the dark side of the Force and the brave rebels defeated and scattered and the galaxy in ruins. When viewed in sequence, the original film will suddenly appear retro in nature. But then again, all of this takes place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. The CGI shots inserted for the 1997 Star Wars release help a little to bring it up to speed with the new prequels, but they do seem distractingly out of place. Still, it's a petty issue in the end. What counts is that Star Wars is finally here, on DVD and looking and sounding magnificent. -John McKay.

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