Reality on the rise Thursday

Fox, NBC draw viewers with unscripted shows

By RICK KISSELL

Fox and NBC saw their unscripted shows post solid numbers Thursday, a night without original episodes of top shows "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC and "CSI" on CBS. Fox won the night, marking the first time it had won a Thursday with regular programming in 15 years.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, Fox opened things a winner with "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" (3.7 rating/10 share in adults 18-49, 11.5 million viewers overall) as the quizshow posted its best numbers of the season and beat out its only firstrun competition, ABC's "Ugly Betty" (3.0/8 in 18-49, 9.5 million viewers overall).

And at 9, "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (3.4/9 in 18-49, 8.8 million viewers overall) logged its best Thursday numbers ever, though it finished behind NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" (3.9/10 in 18-49, 9.0 million viewers overall), which was the night's top-rated program in the 18-49 demo and was up week to week. Also competitive in demos and a winner among total viewers was a repeat of CBS drama "CSI" (3.5/9 in 18-49, 14.1 million viewers overall).

The 10 o'clock battle of firstrun dramas saw NBC's "ER" (3.5/9 in 18-49, 9.0 million viewers overall) edge out CBS' "Without a Trace" (3.3/9 in 18-49, 13.2 million viewers overall) in 18-49, though "Trace" still held a considerable advantage in total viewers. ABC's "Big Shots" (1.8/5 in 18-49, 4.8 million viewers overall) remains a laggard, posting its weakest scores to date.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 3.5/9; NBC, 3.2/9; CBS, 2.9/8; ABC, 2.5/7; CW, 1.0/3.

In total viewers: CBS, 12.2 million; Fox, 10.1 million; NBC, 7.7 million; ABC, 7.2 million; CW, 2.5 million.