The new drama Blue Bloods, which marked the return of Tom Selleck to prime time, was a hit for CBS on an otherwise humdrum night for broadcast television. The cop drama attracted 12.8 million viewers and posted a 2.2 rating/7 share in adults 18-49 – a 22% increase versus what Numb3rs did last year. The drama also rocked its 10 p.m. time slot in the key demographic, along with posting wins among adults 25-54 and women 18-49.
Coupled with an impressive performance by the return of CSI: New York (10.27 million viewers) – which featured new castmember Sela Ward – CBS easily won the night in viewers (9.7 million) and adults 18-49. Medium also returned to the network at 8 but was down 39% among adults 18-49 compared to what The Ghost Whisperer was doing in the time slot a year ago. The Patricia Arquette series only averaged 6.1 million.
NBC aired a two-hour Dateline followed by the premiere of Outlaw, the Jimmy Smits starrer that only averaged 4.98 million. Still, NBC came in second in viewers (6.47 million) and adults 18-49 for the night.
The CW rolled out a new season of Smallville, which rocked its timeslot among teens and men 18-49 and averaged 2.9 million viewers. It scored the CW’s best performance in the Friday slot in two years among viewers and adults 18-49. Supernatural also staged a return, which also won its slot among teens and averaged 2.78 million viewers.
Fox aired a repeat of Human Target and an original of The Good Guys, which averaged 2.9 million. For the night, Fox finished in fourth place among viewers (3.0 million).
ABC repeated two of its comedies, The Whole Truth and an original 20/20. It finished the night in third place among viewers (3.98 million).