Nellie Andreeva

Fox’s decision to pull red-hot new comedy New Girl after only three weeks on the air for a 4-week hiatus is coming back to haunt the network. Two weeks into New Girl‘s return, the freshman comedy (3.5/9) is still some 20% below the pre-break ratings levels. It matched its fast national number from last week. The enormous publicity surrounding Glee‘s teen sex-themed episode (3.1/8) resulted in a 0.2 increase from last Tuesday as the musical dramedy too is facing an uphill battle to return to its ratings levels before the 4-week hiatus. While Glee and New Girl are stable and in the case of Glee even slowly regaining ground, sophomore Fox comedy Raising Hope (2.1/5) is falling, down 16% from last week on top of the 14% drop it posted in its return from break last Tuesday.

Fox’s entertainment president Kevin Reilly had a point when he exclaimed “Can somebody kill NCIS?” at last month’s HRTS network chiefs luncheon. Last night, the veteran CBS drama posted a 4.1/11 in 18-49 and 20.3 million viewers. It was up 5% in the demo from last week and hit a season high in total viewers, crossing the 20 million-viewer mark in fast nationals/Live+Same Day for the first time this fall. NCIS: LA (3.4/8, 15.6 million) was even with last week and tied New Girl in the 9-9:30 half-hour among 18-49, while Unforgettable (2.4/7, 11.6 million) was up a tenth. CBS (3.3/9, 15.8 million) won the night in 18-49 and total viewers.

Much needed good news for NBC’s long-running reality series The Biggest Loser (2.4/6): it posted its third consecutive ratings increase (a tenth of a ratings point) to hit a season high in 18-49. However, Parenthood (2.0/6) at 10 PM was down 9%.

ABC’s Last Man Standing (2.6/7) was even with its fast national result last week, while fellow rookie Man Up! (1.7/5) was down a tenth as it still awaits word on its future. The Dancing With The Stars results show (2.7/7) was also down a tenth, followed by a country music news special (1.7/5). CW’s 90210 (1.6 million, 0.8 in 18-49, 1.0 in 18-34) inched up a tenth in adults 18-49 and posted its highest total viewer and 18-34 numbers since September 27, while Ringer (1.7 million, 0.7 in 18-34) was down a tenth in the demos.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.