Nellie Andreeva

UPDATE 2 PM: Big boost in the finals for Big Bang, which indeed posted a new 18-49 Thursday with a 5.4 rating, up from 5.1 in the fast nationals. Going up a tenth are ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, NBC’s The Office and Parks & Recreation, Fox’s The X Factor and the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, which hit a season high.

PREVIOUS: All series that were pushed down by Game 6 of the World Series last Thursday bounced back last night. CBS’ The Big Bang Theory (5.1/15 in adults 18-49, 15.5 million) was up 13% from its fast national 18-49 rating last week. The hot comedy posted a new Thursday high in total viewers and will do the same in adults 18-49 when the finals are released later today. (It currently runs tied with the Thursday demo high it logged just two weeks ago but will be adjusted up as it always does.) Big Bang once again ranked as the highest-rated program of the night in 18-49 and total viewers. Rules Of Engagement (3.7/10, up 12%, 11.9 million) also posted new Thursday highs in total viewers and 18-49. Person Of Interest (2.7/7, 11.7 million) was flat, while The Mentalist (2.9/8, up 16%, 13.6 million) hit a season high in 18-49 and drew its largest audience since the season premiere.

Fox’s The X Factor (3.6/10, 11.3 million) aired its first-ever result show, which also was the series’ first hourlong edition. For those reasons, there is no apples-to-apples comparison to previous episodes, but X Factor grew nicely half-hour to half-hour, from a 3.3 to a 4.0 in the demo. At 9 PM, Bones opened its seventh season with a 3.3/8 in adults 18-49 and 10 million viewers. In 18-49 that was up 22% from the show’s debut last season, but this year Bones had a lofty X Factor lead-in vs. being a self-starter at 8 PM last year. Additionally, there was a significant half-hour-to-half-hour drop-off, from a 3.5 to a 3.1, which you don’t want to see in a 9 PM drama. Still, Fox (3.4/9, 10.6 million) edged CBS (3.3/9, 12.9 million) for the top spot in 18-49 to post a seventh consecutive Thursday demo win this season.

NBC’s male-skewing comedies recovered from the steep losses against the World Series last week: Community (1.7/5) was up 21% to match its best 18-49 rating since September 29, Parks And Recreation (2.0/6) was up 11% and The Office (3.1/8) was up 7%. Whitney (2.1/5) and Prime Suspect (1.2/3) matched their fast nationals from last week. (Both were adjusted down in the finals.)

I’m sticking with my suggestion that ABC should try a Charlie Brown’s Angels series. A burn-off episode of canceled Charlie’s Angels (1.2/3) was flat with its most recent episode two weeks ago, which was the show’s lowest-rated ever. Vs. last week’s rebroadcast of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in the 8 PM hour, Charlie’s Angels was down 48%. Grey’s Anatomy (3.5/9) was down 5% while Private Practice (2.6/7) was up 8%.

The CW’s The Vampire Diaries matched last week’s season high in total viewers (3.3 million) and in 18-49 (1.5/4). The Secret Circle also held steady week to week in total viewers (2.3 million) and 18-49 (0.9/2).

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.