Nellie Andreeva

30 Rock Live 2012NBC’s 30 Rock (1.6/5) saw only a marginal ratings boost from staging a live episode, up a tenth from last week. That still constitutes a six-week high for the Emmy-winning comedy. 30 Rock was one of only two series in positive territory last night, the opening night of the May sweep, when the broadcast networks faced the NFL draft coverage on ESPN and the NFL Network. The other was 30 Rock‘s lead-in, Community (1.4/4), also up a tenth. At 9 PM, veteran The Office (2.1/6) was down a tenth to a new series low. Parks And Recreation (1.6/4) was down two tenths from last week’s fast national, one from the final, also to a series low. Awake (0.8/2) matched its series low fast national from last week, slipping a tenth from the final.

The CBS lineup was sluggish in its return to originals after two weeks off. The Big Bang Theory (4.0/13) was down 5% from its fast national three weeks ago (9% from the final) to a season low but still edged Fox’s American Idol (3.9/12) for the top spot on the night among adults 18-49. Rules Of Engagement (2.5/7), which kept the lights on for CBS on Thursday with originals the last two weeks, was up 14% from last week when it followed a Big Bang rerun. After logging its first ever ratings victory over Grey’s Anatomy with its last original 3 weeks ago, rookie Person Of Interest (2.4/6) was down 17% from its fast national that night (20% from the final) to finish well behind Grey’s (3.2/8, flat with its fast national last week, down a tenth from the final) and hit a series low. At 10 PM, The Mentalist (2.1/6, also a series low), was down 13% from its last original. The procedural is currently tied with Scandal (2.1/6, flat with last week) for No. 1 at 10 PM, but the ABC newbie will likely be adjusted down because of a Grey’s overrun. At 8 PM, another new ABC drama, Missing (1.3/4), matched its series low fast national from last week, down a tenth from the final.

Following American Idol’s results show (3.9/12, even with last week’s fast national, down a tenth from the final), Fox’s Touch (1.9/5) hit a new series low, down two tenths from last week. Fox won the night in adults 18-49, while CBS took the total viewer crown. The CW’s The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle matched last week’s series lows in 18-49 but saw an uptick in 18-34.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.