Chris Haston / NBCYes, Virginia, some shows do fall faster and harder than Heroes.
ABC's holiday combo of Shrek the Halls and How the Grinch Stole Christmas together shed an entire Bones—or, nearly 10 million viewers—from last year to last night, Nielsen estimates said.
But because the shows were so big last year, they remained pretty big this year. Shrek (11.2 million) and Grinch (11.7 million) each easily won their time slots in the 8 p.m. hour.
NBC's Heroes (7.9 million) can't afford to bleed any viewers. And it didn't. It again held steady, and was even up a bit from last week. Except among the 18-49 demo, where it was down.
Returning from a holiday break, the CW's Gossip Girl (3.1 million) was up in viewers, and No. 1 in its hour among women 18-34. ABC's Samantha Who? (6.8 million) missed Dancing With the Stars. A repeat of CBS' How I Met Your Mother (8 million, down 2 million) got Grinch-ed at 8:30 p.m, while a repeat of CBS' Two and a Half Men (13.7 million) was Monday's biggest show.
Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chroncicles (5.9 million) and Prison Break (5.8 million) showed marked improvement over last week.