Are Jerry Springer's two left feet the saviors of the fall TV season?

So far this fall, some of TV's biggest hits are sizably smaller. CSI is averaging nearly 6 million fewer viewers. Desperate Housewives, Lost and Without a Trace are all down about 5 million.

And yet, network viewership is up.

Which brings us back to Jerry Springer and his two left feet. Last week, ABC's Dancing with the Stars, featuring the intended smooth moves of the talk host and others, hit season highs in viewers. Per the latest Nielsen Media Research rankings, Tuesday's competition episode ranked second, with 21.3 million armchair dance judges; Wednesday's results episode—in which fate and Sara Evans' unexpected departure the previous week momentarily spared Springer and fellow low-vote-getter Joey Lawrence from elimination—placed fifth, with 19.2 million.

Now three seasons old, Dancing with the Stars had never before aired in the fall. But without it, this might be a season of big-time discontent for network television.

CBS' CSI has been cut down a size by ABC's Grey's Anatomy. CBS' Without a Trace has looked merely mortal on Sunday nights. Second-season storyline slumps have translated into third-season viewership declines for ABC's Desperate Housewives and Lost.

But partly due to the Dancing with the Stars factor, the networks overall are gaining, not losing, ground. Together, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox averaged 10.9 million viewers through last week, compared to 10.6 million for the same period last year. (The CW doesn't count, because it didn't exist last fall.)

Other shows boosting the bottom line: CBS' CSI: NY, averaging 2.3 million more viewers this season than last; CBS' Criminal Minds, averaging 4 million more viewers (and breathing down Lost's neck); and, CSI-killer Grey's Anatomy, averaging nearly 6 million more viewers each week on Thursday night.

Several new shows are also keeping the networks in the black. Not so much because they're huge—and none of the freshman series are—but because comparatively they're huger than what came before them.

CBS' Jericho is an upgrade over Still Standing and Yes, Dear on Wednesdays. NBC's Heroes is a step up on Mondays over Las Vegas. ABC's Ugly Betty is an improvement on Thursdays over anything else ABC aired there for the last 20 years.

ABC's Brothers & Sisters is no Grey's Anatomy on Sunday, but it's no Push, Nevada, either. The sturdy midsize sedan, averaging 13.4 million viewers to the gallon, has allowed ABC to fill its other long-standing crater on Thursday—with Grey's Anatomy—without digging a new one on Sunday.

Put it all together, and the fall season is showing about as much unlikely popularity as Jerry Springer.

So far.

Other ratings highlights for the TV week ended Sunday:

• CBS' Shark (20th place, 13.7 million) finished second in its time slot to NBC's aged ER (19th place, 13.72 million)—and still managed to emerge as the week's most watched new show.
• CW's The Game (102nd place, 2.6 million) placed behind every other show on English-language network TV—and still managed to snag a full-season pickup. (As did Shark.)
• The CW appears to be using reverse psychology, or something like it, on 7th Heaven (92nd place, 3.3 million). Instead of putting down the fading show, it picked it up for the rest of the season. 
• NBC goner Kidnapped, now playing out its string on Saturdays, proved a more effective viewer repellent than ever in its new night and time. At 8 p.m., 6.5 million people caught the network's weekend offering of Dateline (63rd place). At 9 p.m., 2.3 million ran for their lives rather than watch Kidnapped (4.2 million, 82nd place). Then, at 10 p.m., 4.6 million, apparently assured Kidnapped was over, tuned back into NBC to enjoy a rerun of Law & Order: SVU (61st place, 6.9 million).
• Why NBC hates 8 p.m.: Last fall, My Name Is Earl looked like a cool new hit on Tuesdays at 9 p.m.; this fall, My Name Is Earl (49th place, 8.6 million) looks Wife Swap on Thursdays at 8 p.m.
• One more reason NBC hates 8 p.m.: It's the time of night where nobody watches 30 Rock (66th place, 5.7 million) and Twenty Good Years (70th place, 5.1 million).
• Sadly, NBC's Studio 60 (55th place, 7.7 million) can't blame 8 p.m. for its new season low.
• Even sadder, NBC's Studio 60 can blame its new season low on its time-slot rival, ABC's What About Brian (58th place, 7.3 million). 
• Just in case 8 p.m. is to blame for the slow start by Friday Night Lights (62nd place, 6.6 million), NBC will try it in Studio 60's 10 p.m. Monday home next week.
• Yes, when compared to the history books, today's baseball playoff ratings stink. But when compared to now, they don't. Only five shows on all of television, broadcast or cable, drew bigger audiences than Game 2 of the World Series (sixth place, 18.2 million). Only eight more shows drew bigger audiences than the decisive Game 7 of the National League Championship Series (ninth place, 16.5 million).
• Um, quite a bit more shows drew bigger audiences than Game 1 of the World Series (26th place, 12.8 million).
• The meltdown of the Arizona Cardinals proved suitable entertainment for 14.2 million viewers of ESPN's Monday Night Football, cable's top-rated offering.
• The premiere of the new Disney Channel movie, Return to Halloweentown, spooked a combined 17.4 million through three airings last weekend.  
• A Bravo-record 5.4 million watched Jeffrey Sebelia weep and win on the third-season finale of Project Runway.
• Kevin Federline's inevitable descent into the world of pro wrestling was observed by 4.8 million during a two-hour block of USA's Monday Night Raw.

In the weekly network battle, both CBS and ABC claimed victories. The former averaged more viewers (12.6 million) than the competition; the latter averaged more ad agency marks than the competition.

Boosted by baseball, Fox ran second in viewers (11.9 million), followed by ABC (11.2 million).

Minus Sunday Night Football, which took the week off in observance of the World Series, NBC reverted to its old self: a pair of fourth-place finishes in total viewers (8.9 million) and the 18- to 49-year-old demo.

The CW averaged 3.6 million WB and UPN loyalists.

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

1. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 22.1 million viewers
2. Dancing with the Stars (Tuesday), ABC, 21.3 million viewers
3. CSI, CBS, 20.5 million viewers
4. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 19.7 million viewers
5. Dancing with the Stars (Wednesday), ABC, 19.2 million viewers
6. World Series—Game 2, Fox, 18.2 million viewers
7. CSI: Miami, CBS, 18.1 million viewers
8. Deal or No Deal (Monday), NBC, 17.5 million viewers
9. National League Championship Series—Game 7, Fox, 16.5 million viewers
10. Lost, ABC, 16.3 million viewers