Fall Shows Off and Running

Howie Mandel wasn't a spring fling. Charlie Sheen was on his mark. And David Caruso was David Caruso, if slightly less so.

The new fall TV season opened Monday night with Deal or No Deal, Two and a Half Men and CSI: Miami picking up where they left off.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, meanwhile, picked up where the hype left off, and managed a respectable debut.

A two-hour Deal or No Deal averaged an estimated 15.6 million for NBC, Nielsen Media Research said. The second-season opener of the Mandel-manned game show was on par with its Monday performance from last spring, and was big enough to help the Peacock, previously the struggling Peacock, to a nightly win.

Two and a Half Men, henceforth the Emmy-nominated Two and a Half Men, began its fourth season on CBS before 15.1 million sitcom traditionalists. Like Deal, the Sheen comedy equaled its 2005-06 season average.

In the 10 p.m. hour, the fifth-season premiere of CBS' CSI: Miami was the most watched show of the night, with the forensic franchisee serving 17.6 million.

And yet...

The Caruso crime drama was down more than 8 percent in viewers from its 2005-06 premiere. Among ad-friendly 18-to-49-year-olds, it was down nearly 19 percent.

The blip could be a blip, or it could be Studio 60.

The new hourlong NBC series about the behind-the-scenes doings at a faux Saturday Night Live delivered nearly 2 million more viewers than its 10 p.m., Monday predecessor, Medium. Overall, the show, starring Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, averaged an estimated 13.4 million.

Solid Studio 60 numbers could be key to NBC. The network is devoting about 7 percent of its prime-time schedule to shows about the behind-the-scenes doings at faux SNLs. Its half-hour version, 30 Rock, is scheduled to debut Oct. 11.

Among other Monday premieres, The New Adventures of Old Christine (12 million) was the biggest CBS comedy after Two and a Half Men, followed by How I Met Your Mother and the all-new The Class (10.5 million each).

On Fox, steady Prison Break and disappearing Vanished combined to average an estimated 8.4 million, leaving their network a distant third behind NBC (14.9 million) and CBS (13.8 million). ABC (7.6 million) was a more-distant fourth with three hours of wife-swapping and nanny-advising action.

All by itself, Monday Night Football pulled in 13.3 million for ESPN--a new record for the cable network. The old ESPN record was set last week. By Monday Night Football.

The all-new CW, featuring shows from the old WB and the old UPN, began its reconstituted life with a 7th Heaven rerun, a preview special (read: commercial), and, on average, an estimated 2 million viewers for the night.

The fledgling network rolls out its first fresh show--the season premiere of the UPN-salvaged America's Next Top Model--on Wednesday.

In daytime TV on Monday, Food Network star Rachael Ray's new self-titled talk show got off to a fast start--supposedly the fastest start for a talk debut since Dr. Phil in 2002. Self-titled talk shows starring Megan Mullally, a man known as Dr. Keith Ablow and the spiky-haired comic guy who wants to provide relationship counsel (Greg Behrendt) did not get off to fast starts.

All of Monday's prime-time numbers will be reflected in next week's Nielsen rankings.

As for this week's Nielsen rankings...

Judging by the numbers, America likes the tango (as seen on ABC's Dancing with the Stars--first place, 20.2 million for Tuesday's ballroom competition) a smidgen more than the touchdown (as seen on NBC's Sunday Night Football--second place, 18.4 million). Not content with nabbing No. 1, Tuesday's Dancing chipped the paint on Fox's House (sixth place, 15.2 million), down 23 percent from the previous week. In a special post-Dancing time slot on Tuesday, Anne Heche was the star of the new ABC hit series Men in Trees (12th place, 11.7 million). In its regular Friday time slot, Heche was the star of the most watched TV program of the day before Saturday (33rd place, 8.1 million). The pre-Tom Cruise Katie Holmes was observed, wistfully perhaps, by 1.4 million in the 1998 Dawson's Creek pilot (117th place), as aired on the WB's Sunday night swan song. The 1997 Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot, meanwhile, made 1.6 million (112th place) feel prematurely old. In the WB's last-ever week, a Reba repeat (105th place, 2.1 million) was the netlet's most watched show. In the UPN's last-ever week, a Veronica Mars repeat (202nd place, 446,000) was the netlet's least watched show. Once-canceled Family Guy (19th place, 9.2 million) was Fox's most watched Sunday cartoon. Mike "Boogie" Malin won Big Brother: All Stars (31st place, 8.4 million); Lukas "Rossi Posse" Rossi won Rockstar: Supernova (43rd place, 7 million for the Wednesday finale); Fox lost bigger than Carly "Somebody" Patterson with Celebrity Duets (57th place, 5.8 million for Thursday's performance show; 83rd place, 4.5 million for Friday's results episode). Fear Factor's (82nd place, 4.5 million) reign of bug terror is over on NBC. CBS' Amazing Race 10 (13th place, 10.1 million) began with the Emmy-winning series' biggest numbers since, well, "the premiere of The Amazing Race 9." A Thursday Primetime (32nd place, 8.2 million) on "what happens when teen-age girls with cruel intentions come together with technology" scored its best numbers with adults--scared adults, presumably. An hourlong ABC special (read: commercial) about its new fall comedy and reality shows (29th place, 8.7 million) was watched by more people than two actual new Fox comedies, 'Til Death (49th place, 6.6 million) and Happy Hour (64th place, 5.4 million). A Jimmy Kimmel prime-time special, Jimmy Kimmel's Live All-Star Salute to Jimmy Kimmel (87th place, 4.4 million), "added exposure to the franchise." Meredith Vieira's Today debut was watched by 6.9 million; Katie Couric's second week at the CBS Evening News averaged 7.9 million. Both were first-place finishes. The first half of an ESPN Monday Night Football doubleheader (12.6 million) was the most watched cable show of the week. The second half (10.5 million) was the second-most watched cable show of the week. Bravo's Project Runway worked toward its finale before 3.9 million. VH1's Flavor of Love 2 was tasted by 3.5 million. USA's Psych rounded up 1.4 million viewers for a 1 a.m., Thursday rerun--and got a second-season pickup; USA's The Dead Zone found 806,000 viewers for a 1 a.m., Tuesday rerun--and got a sixth-season pickup.

The 2005-06 TV year ended Sunday. Dancing-dominated ABC finished the final ratings period as the most watched network, averaging 9.4 million viewers. CBS (9.2 million), NBC (7.9 million) and Fox (7.2 million) trailed.

In the final battle of the doomed netlets, UPN (900,000) managed to be watched by even fewer stragglers than the WB (1.6 million).

Here's a look at the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:

1. Dancing with the Stars (Tuesday), ABC, 20.2 million viewers
2. Sunday Night Football (Washington vs. Dallas), NBC, 18.4 million viewers
3. Survivor: Cook Islands, CBS, 18 million viewers
4. Dancing with the Stars (Wednesday), ABC, 16.3 million viewers
5. CSI (9 p.m., Thursday), CBS, 15.6 million viewers
6. House, Fox, 15.2 million viewers
7. CSI (10 p.m., Thursday), CBS, 14.7 million viewers
8. NFL National Postgame, CBS, 13.6 million viewers
9. 60 Minutes, CBS, 13.1 million viewers
10. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (9 p.m., Sunday), ABC, 12.1 million viewers