Nellie Andreeva

This is a good way for a bubble show to finish the season. Fox’s Human Target popped up on Monday last night and drew a 2.1/6 in 18-49 and 7.8 million viewers at 8 PM, up 75% in the demo from its last telecast in the Friday 8 PM slot and up 24% from its last airing in its former regular Wednesday 8 PM berth. Fox had several extra original episodes of the comic book adaptation series left, so it put 2 on Fridays and then subbed a House repeat with another one last night. That last stint proved surprisingly successful, lifting Human Target to season highs in 18-49 and total viewers. And those highs may soon be surpassed as the show’s last 2 episodes of the season are set to air behind American Idol on Wednesdays. Fox’s Lie to Me (2.2/5) had a solid season finale. It was down 12% from last week’s inexplicable season high when the show posted 39% week-to-week ratings jump but Lie to Me had an original House as a lead-in then that almost doubled Human Target‘s numbers from last night. It was Lie to Me‘s second highest-rated episode this season (a tie), and the drama was up 16% from its Season 2 finale, which aired in August.

NBC’s midseason series Harry’s Law (2.1, 10.8 million) held steady in Week 3, even with its Week 2 demo rating, off only by a tenth from its premiere and once again the top-rated NBC series on the night. It also won the 10 PM hour in both 18-49 and total viewers. However, David E. Kelley’s legal dramedy is yet to face all-original competition. It aired against repeats of Hawaii Five-0 and Castle last night and a mix of original/repeat of the CBS and ABC series for its first two airings. NBC’s Chuck (1.7/5) was down 11% from last week to match its season low. It was a puzzling drop as the show had one of the most eventful episodes of the season, complete with the resolution of the big season-long Volkoff story arc, a new baby and a marriage proposal. Freshman The Cape (1.5/4) was down 6% for a series low.

ABC’s two-hour The Bachelor (3.2/8) was up 10% from last week for a season high. Even with Castle in repeat (1.7/5), ABC won the night in 18-49 (2.7/6) and total viewers (8.4 million). With all-repeats, CBS (2.4/6, 8.2 million) still managed to finish second, paced once again by top performer Two and a Half Men (3.1/8, 11.2 million). CBS must be loving those repeat numbers for Men as the network will have to use more repeats of the show in the coming weeks as production of the show was shut down to accommodate star Charlie Sheen’s rehab treatment.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.