'Big Bang' hits series high; 'Heroes' sinks

UPDATED: Boosted by the comedy's biggest opening act Monday night, CBS'  "Big Bang Theory" hit an across-the-board series high in the early ratings for a special episode that aired after "Two and a Half Men."

"Big Bang" (12.7 million viewers, 4.5 national adults 18-49 rating and 10 share) retained a strong percentage of its "Men" (15 million, 4.8/11) lead in. The combo was an hour of comedies produced by Chuck Lorre and the numbers suggest to CBS that his shows might go well together in the future. After the comedies, CBS aired "CSI: Miami" (13.8 million, 4.0/10).

ABC's "The Bachelor" (11.6 million, 4.2/10) continued to perform terrific, setting a new season high nearly every week and pulled off the rare feat of beating "CSI: Miami" at 10 p.m.

In third place, NBC aired "Heroes" (7.9 million, 3.6/8) which fell from last week's post-Super Bowl episode to match its recent low. The second week of "Medium" (7.9 million, 2.6/7) slipping to place last at 10 p.m.

In fourth, Fox aired "24" (10.6 million, 3.4/8), which hit a new low for a regular original episode.

The CW was in repeats, with the network having to compensate for launching early this season by airing additional encore nights.

Barack Obama's first presidential press conference ratings here.