RATINGS RECAP: 10/11/11

ABC
8:00 Last Man Standing
Viewers: 13.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.6
9:00 Dancing with the Stars Results
Viewers: 16.9 million, 18-49 demo: 3.3
10:00 Body of Proof
Viewers: 9.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8

CBS
8:00 NCIS
Viewers: 19.0 million, 18-49 demo: 4.0
9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles
Viewers: 15.4 million, 18-49 demo: 3.3
10:00 Unforgettable
Viewers: 11.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3

NBC
8:00 The Biggest Loser
Viewers: 5.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
10:00 Parenthood
Viewers: 5.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1

FOX
8:00 MLB Playoffs
Viewers: 8.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5

Tim Allen's return to ABC got off to a great start on Tuesday night as the series premiere of his new sitcom Last Man Standing delivered stellar ratings. In a season filled with hot starts for comedies, this was the second best debut in terms of viewers and third in the demo for new comedies. Also good news was that the second episode at 8:30pm actually outperformed the pilot at 8pm. While it's too early to call it a hit, this could be yet another comedy success story. At 9pm, Dancing with the Stars Results seemed to benefit from the better lead-in as it was up a nice 1.6 million viewers and four tenths in the demo, outperforming the performance show. But the news was not as good at 10pm where Body of Proof was down a million viewers and two tenths in the demo despite the better lead-in. This show is skewing very old and may not be around for the long haul.

CBS has its trio of dramas. At 8pm, NCIS was down four tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo for a season low, but it's still a great number. At 9pm, NCIS: Los Angeles was up six tenths in viewers but down a tenth in the demo. Will CBS consider moving this show to 10pm to buffer a new show in the middle, possibly next season? The reason that might work is because Unforgettable is looking more and more like The Good Wife each week. The new show was up a tenth in viewers but down two tenths in the demo for a series low. While it still won the hour in both categories, it's coming perilously close to not winning the hour in the demo category.

Over on NBC, The Biggest Loser continued to fall as it was down another tenth in viewers and the demo. Even when it was slipping last year, it was still ok for NBC but it is just dropping like a rock this year. NBC is in terrible shape but this show might need the ax anyway. If NBC's going to wipe the slate mostly clean as they should, this should be gone. At 10pm, Parenthood was up two tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo, finishing second in the latter category. This is one of NBC's few shows that's not consistently last in the demo so don't expect it to go anywhere anytime soon. In fact, it may be able to eke out a demo win at some point this season. FOX's lineup was preempted for baseball and the Glee/New Girl/Raising Hope combo would have surely gotten a better demo performance.