Nellie Andreeva

With the distractions of Thanksgiving Week gone, viewers are returning to television in droves. After most Monday shows posted healthy week-to-week gains, their Tuesday brethren followed suit last night. Too bad shows are starting to go on hiatus as another holiday is just around the corner. But let allow network executives enjoy the current ratings upswing while it lasts. Ironically, the only series to post week-to-week declines last night was CBS’ Vegas (1.6/4 in adults 18-49) — one of only two series in positive territory last week when most shows were down or flat. The freshman drama dropped 11% to tie a series low as it faced atypical competition on ABC — the Dancing With The Stars finale vs. Private Practice last Tuesday. But the other two CBS dramas were up. NCIS (3.5/10, 19.6 million viewers) spiked 17% from last week in the demo, while  NCIS: LA (2.9/7) inched up 4%.

Fox’s comedies were all up double digits after flirting with or hitting lows last week. Raising Hope (1.7/5) was up 13%, Ben & Kate (1.4/4) was up 27%, New Girl (2.3/6) up 15% and The Mindy Project (1.5/4) up 15%. The week-to-week gains for NBC’s lineup were as follows: The Voice (3.8/10, up 12%), Go On (2.5/6, up 19%), The New Normal (1.7/4, up 13%) and Parenthood (1.8/5, up 6%).

Following Christmas kids specials How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2.4/7) and Shrek The Halls (2.5/7), both down a tenth from last year’s airing, the finale of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars All Stars (3.0/8) was up 50% from last week but down 27% from last year’s fall finale. ABC still squeaked by CBS to win the night in 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 2.7/7), while CBS was tops in total viewers.

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