Who Came Back—and Who Got Left Back? (Hint: Good News for Parenthood Fans!)

Did Paula Abdul's new dance show kick it in the TV ratings race? What about the returns of V and Parenthood?

Paula Abdul's back. V, Parenthood, Pretty Little Liars, The Biggest Loser and The Bachelor, too. 

So, yup, vacation's definitely over. But which one of these shows might be, too? 

A ratings rundown of the new year's new shows:

WINNERS

• The Biggest Loser (estimated 8.7 million viewers): You think many people resolved to lose weight in 2011? Last night's season opener scored as the biggest show among adults 18-49. 

• Live to Dance (estimated 10.2 million viewers): Was Abdul's show the second coming of American Idol? Nope. Could CBS have gotten better ratings last night from new episodes of NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles? Yup. But Live to Dance did just fine for Live to Dance. (And, hey, overall, it was Tuesday's most-watched show!)  

• Brad Womack: So much for women being fed up with Mr. Wrong… Monday's Bachelor premiere (estimated 9 million viewers) was the night's top show among double-X chromosonal types aged 18-34 who just can't help themselves.

• Charlie Sheen: Speaking of Mr. Wrong… Two and a Half Men picked up where it left off: on top.  It got the most viewers of any Monday night show, 15.3 million.

• Parenthood (estimated 6 million viewers): Enjoyed its biggest audience since its season premiere, thanks in part to the Biggest Loser boost. Hear that? It's the sound of P-hood fans rejoicing.

• Pretty Little Liars (series-high 4.2 million viewers): What's Gossip Girl again? 

• Oprah Winfrey: The queen's OWN cut through the clutter, and established itself on premiere night as the third-most-watched cable network in primetime.

UN-WINNER

• V (estimated 6.6 million viewers): In a way, there's not much difference between this show's winter opener and Parenthood's—and in a way, there is. Parenthood is supposed to struggle; V was supposed to have breakout potential. Now, V's struggling to pull a bigger demo rating than Parenthood. Last night, against less-than-full-strength competition, it fell short. 

On the plus side, V had dipped so low last spring that last night's performance was actually an upgrade.

Here's a quick look at some of the top primetime shows from the latest Nielsen Media Research weekly rankings:

• Most-watched scripted show: Desperate Housewives, 12.2 million viewers

• Most-watched reality show: Undercover Boss, 11.9 million viewers

• Most-watched scripted show—cable: The Closer, 6.5 million viewers