A head start wasn't all it was cracked up to be for Veronica Donovan, much less Prison Break.

Monday night's "fall" premiere of the Fox series, featuring the scamper for freedom by the formerly incarcerated Michael (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), and a shocking shot to the head for the brothers' legal-eagle friend Veronica (Robin Tunney), was down 11 percent from last year's series premiere, preliminary ratings showed Tuesday.

The second-season opener was watched by an estimated 9.3 million, Fox said. By comparison, the show's two-hour 2005 inaugural installment averaged 10.5 million.

Then as now, Prison Break premiered in August. But this time, it premiered even earlier in August, by about a week, and even deeper into viewers' summer vacations.

Early-bird Fox also used Monday to launch its first brand-new series of the not-quite autumn: Vanished. The drama about the gone-missing wife of a U.S. senator did a good job of not losing much of its Prison Break advantage, capturing an estimated 8.7 million viewers.

The two premieres helped Fox win Monday, or, in other words, saved it from losing to reruns on ABC and CBS--not to mention preseason NFL football on ESPN (an estimated 6.6 million viewers).

Prison Break and Vanished should have the rest of August and much of September to themselves before the first-string competition arrives.

Lot of good that'll do Veronica.

Jennifer Hudson got Dreamgirls; Fantasia Barrino, Hudson's third-season American Idol vanquisher, got a Lifetime movie. Fortunately for Fantasia, The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, based on the Idol champ's autobiography, and starring the authoress as herself, was cable's most watched show with 6.7 million viewers for its Saturday premiere. Another 5 million watched it again (or for the first time) on Sunday night. No Kristin Cavallari, no waves. The third-season premiere of MTV's Laguna Beach, introducing an all-new cast of Orange County, California, denizens, was observed by 2 million sociologists, down 38 percent from the reality show's second-season, Cavallari-enhanced average. Showtime's Weeds got lit up in front of a relatively whopping 5.8 million fans for its second-season premiere. NBC's America's Got Talent "concluded its summer run as the #1 new original summer series of 2006" with Thursday's coronation of Janis Joplin-channeling tyke Bianca Ryan (first place, 12 million). For the love of Benji Schwimmer, 10.65 million tuned in the Benji-crowning, season finale of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance (fifth place), which, in a remarkable coincidence, also concluded "its run as the highest rated series of summer." So, which summer series really was number one? Both. Overall, America's Got Talent was the most watched summer series, averaging 9.8 million viewers for its Wednesday and Thursday installments, compared to 9.6 million for So You Think You Can Dance. So You Think You Can Dance, meanwhile, scored with more demographically desirable 18-to-49-year-old viewers than the Rapping Granny-populated America's Got Talent. The two-part season-ender of Fox's Hell's Kitchen (ninth place, 9.5 million for the second half; 25th place, 7.6 million for the first half) netted a chef's job for winner Heather West, and improved ratings for the reality show (up 7 percent from last season). The promise of Kevin Federline's rap career blowing up (in a bad way) before it has barely begun lured 4.7 million to the Fox telecast of the Teen Choice Awards (62nd place), up 31 percent from the 2005 show. For those tracking the demise of Miss America, add NBC's Miss Teen USA (41st place, 5.7 million) to the list of pageants now outdrawing the "There She Is" lady. A 9 p.m., Thursday repeat of Grey's Anatomy (29th place, 7.3 million) "surged from its lead-in by 1.3 million viewers." Its lead-in? An 8 p.m., Thursday repeat of Grey's Anatomy (36th place, 6 million). TNT's The Closer (6.6 million) was the most watched cable series; Sci Fi Channel's Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (1.8 million) was the most watched cable series featuring Fat Momma and Major Victory. A Sunday night baseball rain delay on ESPN entranced 2.6 million; the actual New York-Boston game drew 3.9 million. Stargate SG-1 beamed 2.5 million to the Sci Fi Channel, and got canceled; Stargate Atlantis found 2.3 million, and got renewed. Comedy Central's William Shatner roast drew 3.6 million viewers, and cracked 3.7 million old, fat-guy-in-a-hairpiece jokes.

In the battle of the networks, CBS was the most watched among its broadcast peers, averaging 7.5 million, and topping NBC (6.5 million), Fox (6.3 million) and ABC (5.8 million).

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

1. America's Got Talent (Thursday), NBC, 12 million viewers
2. America's Got Talent (Wednesday), NBC, 11.6 million viewers
3. 60 Minutes, CBS, 11.5 million viewers
4. CSI: Miami, CBS, 10.7 million viewers
5. So You Think You Can Dance, Fox, 10.65 million viewers
6. CSI, CBS, 10.4 million viewers
7. House, Fox, 10.3 million viewers
8. Without a Trace (Thursday), CBS, 9.7 million viewers
9. Hell's Kitchen (9 p.m., Monday), 9.5 million viewers
10. Without a Trace (Sunday), CBS, 9.4 million viewers