'L.A. Ink' Is in the Black, and 'The Closer' Keeps on Going

Los Angeles really is more interesting than Miami, and Flavor Flav is no Pamela Anderson. You can learn a lot watching TV.

Here's a look at the week's best and worst:

WINNERS

· "L.A. Ink." When "Miami Ink" co-star Kat Von D had a falling-out with her tattoo shop's co-owner, TLC network offered her her own series. Nearly 3 million people caught last Tuesday's unveiling, more than doubling the draw of the Miami version's two seasons.

· "The Closer." TNT's Kyra Sedgwick drama made it eight straight weeks as cable's No. 1 show, scoring more than 7.5 million viewers.

· "Hell's Kitchen." Almost 10 million people laughed and cried as Rock Harper, exec chef at B. Smith's in Washington's Union Station, beat out a California nanny to win Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" this past Monday -- the competition's best numbers of the summer and Monday's biggest audience on any network. (For all things Rock, see The Reliable Source, Page C3.) Last week, the penultimate episode logged nearly 9 million.

· "Power of 10." Opposite the most popular show on TV these days ("America's Got Talent"), CBS's preview of the Drew Carey-hosted game show nonetheless scared up 9.2 million viewers -- good enough to land in the No. 4 spot for the week. (Sadly, the next night, in its time-slot debut, "10" fell to 7.8 million viewers.)