Ratings need rally monkey

National ratings for the all-California World Series are lagging well behind last year’s New York-Arizona faceoff, tracking so far about on par with 2000 viewing levels, based on estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Not surprisingly, ratings are much higher locally, with Game 2 attracting roughly 30% of homes in the Los Angeles viewing area, compared to 12% nationally.

Because baseball skews to men and older viewers, certain programs can hold their own against the Series, which proved the case Sunday, with solid ratings for “The Practice” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

Last week’s box score for rookie series, meanwhile, was generally unimpressive -- particularly on Friday, when Fox’s “John Doe” and “Firefly” put up mediocre numbers, as did CBS’ “Robbery Homicide Division” and the once-promising “Hack.”

ABC’s “Push, Nevada” concludes its run Thursday, none too soon, as the mystery drew the lowest rating for that hour in the network’s history opposite CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” which again hit an all-time high. Despite that lead-in audience, however, CBS’ “Without a Trace” hasn’t made much of a dent in “ER” at 10 p.m. Thursdays, last week retaining a lowest-yet 48% of “CSI” viewers.

The WB’s “Smallville” also posted a best-ever rating, while “Birds of Prey” lost altitude in its second telecast, dropping nearly a third from its premiere.