ABC wins with 'Bachelor' finale; 'Rules' debuts

UPDATED: ABC's "The Bachelor" finale and "After the Rose" special drove the network to dominate Monday night in the ratings while the return of CBS' "Rules of Engagement" and NBC's "Law & Order" posted average numbers.

The two-hour "Bachelor" (15.2 million viewers, 5.3 adults 18-49 rating) was up sharply from last week to deliver a season high in the time period for ABC. It's the second-highest-rated "Bachelor" finale since 2004. "After the Rose" (13.9 million, 5.3) continued the "Bachelor" tradition of being the only broadcast reality post-finale special to rival its lead-in.

CBS was second with a high-flying episode of "How I Met Your Mother" (10.4 million, 3.9), followed by the return of "Rules" (9.7 million, 3.4). "Rules" was up from the "Accidentally on Purpose" average in the time slot, though down slightly from its premiere last year in CBS' stronger 9:30 p.m. time period. A high-rated "Two and a Half Men" (16.9 million, 5.7) and "Big Bang Theory" (15.7 million, 5.9) were on par with their most recent performances, with "Big Bang" topping the night. A Rob Zombie-directed episode of "CSI: Miami" (12.1 million, 3.4) placed second at 10 p.m.

Fox was third with a repeat of "24" (8.6 million, 2.5), down 11% from last week. NBC's "Chuck" (6.7 million, 2.4) climbed slightly, followed by the time-period debut of a two-hour "Law & Order" (7.8 million, 2.0). In the 10 p.m. hour, "Law & Order" was up 31% from Jay Leno's Monday-night average in the slot this season. The CW's "Life Unexpected" (1.8 million, 0.8) slipped a tenth without an original episode for a lead-in.