The past few months have been very good for television searches on Lycos. We had reality shows that took over America, and popular shows like Dawson's Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended their runs. With the TV season over and the final Nielsen ratings out, how do these Internet searches compare to America's actual viewing habits?

We took 55 different prime-time television shows -- network, no cable -- and ranked them according to Lycos searches. So that shows that ended in the past few weeks didn't get a false boost, we determined search numbers by adding queries in the first week of each month from October through May. We used an average based on how long the show was on the air so that, for example, Monday Night Football doesn't seem less popular because it hasn't been on since December. Finally, we took these Lycos search numbers and compared them to the Nielsen ratings for the 2002-2003 season.

There's definitely no surprise when it comes to the shows that are of similar popularity online and in the ratings. All of this year's big nationwide infatuations finish high in both rankings: American Idol, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Joe Millionaire. Less obsessive shows that also match online and in the ratings: Scrubs, which ranks in the teens on both lists; Friends, #2 in the ratings and #7 online; and UPN's The Parkers, which nobody seems to watch or search for. It was #55 on both lists.

The shows that rank higher on the Internet than in the Nielsens won't be much of a surprise: these shows are almost all youth-oriented. Of the top eight shows whose Web popularities far overshadow their ratings, five are on the WB network, two are on UPN, and the eighth is FOX's hit teenager sitcom, That 70's Show. Here are the top ten TV shows that are more popular online than in the Nielsens:

1) Charmed (WB)
2) Star Trek: Enterprise (UPN)
3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (UPN)
4) Smallville (WB)
5) 7th Heaven (WB)
6) Dawson's Creek (WB)
7) Everwood (WB)
8) That 70's Show (FOX)
9) 24 (FOX)
10) The Bachelor (ABC)

The high popularity of 24 online is interesting, but not unexpected, since that show's massive amount of plot twists and turns probably kept fan message boards as active as Kiefer Sutherland's character on the show.

If the shows with the most searches aren't the ones with the most viewers, can Internet searches really be used as a guide to TV popularity? Well, if you work for an advertising firm, the answer is a definite yes. High ratings are impressive, but the young Internet surfers who fill our search logs with requests for Buffy websites constitute those heavy-buying 13-18 and 18-34 demographics that advertisers crave. The WB may be struggling in ratings, but it is soaring in pop culture impact. UPN, meanwhile, seems to be in big trouble now that Buffy is off the air.

The flip side of these teen-oriented WB programs are the cop and lawyer shows. Many of them get great ratings, but very few Web searches. CSI, for example, was the top-rated show of the 2002-2003 Nielsens; while it is quite popular online, it pales compared to the reality shows. Without a Trace and Judging Amy make the ratings top 20 but don't get many Web searches.

Family comedies also fall short on the Web despite high ratings. We don't get many Internet searches for the shows in CBS' Monday night line-up -- The King of Queens, Yes Dear, and Everybody Loves Raymond -- or ABC's Wednesday night duo of George Lopez and My Wife and Kids.

The one show that you might expect to be more popular online, but is not, is NBC's Law and Order. Despite an avid following, three different versions on NBC that ranked #8, #14, and #18 for the 2002-2003 season, and repeats playing nearly every night on TNT, it gets very few Web searches. Perhaps this is due to the show's "no personal life" policy -- since each episode is completely separate, and the characters don't have subplots that develop each week, there is no reason for fans to search out discussion on whether character X will die, or character Y will sleep with character Z. Particularly if character Z is Richard Belzer. Yuck.