Ellen DeGeneres debut marks mild 'Idol' ratings bump

Paula who?

The debut of Ellen DeGeneres at the judges table on "American Idol" coincided with a mild ratings increase Tuesday night. 

The Fox reality hit was seen by 27.9 million viewers and drew a 10.1 adults 18-49 rating, up 12% from last week. How much of that gain was attributable to DeGeneres is tough to say as the start of Hollywood Week typically results in a ratings gain for the show. Compared with the start of the Hollywood rounds last year, the show is up 1%.

The largest question is whether DeGeneres can fill the shoes of Paula Abdul. Last night's ratings suggest a certain degree of curiosity tune-in. More important, DeGeneres enjoyed positive reviews from critics and fans: "She was jokey, yes, but also honest with her critiques in a way that Paula was incapable of" ... "She appeared to easily slide into the memorial Paula Abdul seat on "American Idol" without disrupting the show's flow." ... "a breath of fresh air that Ellen was really honest and she was giving constructive criticism."

"Idol" led into the series debut of procedural drama "Past Life" (8.3 million, 2.8) which significantly underperformed the debuts of "Fringe" and "Lie to Me" in the slot, causing Fox to go from first place at 8 p.m. to fourth place at 9 p.m. 

CBS placed second with a typical "NCIS" (19.8 million, 4.1), a strong edition of "NCIS: LA" (17.9 million, 4.1), and "The Good Wife" (14.8 million, 3.1) rebounding from last week.

Over on ABC, the second week of "Lost" (11.1 million, 5.0) fell 9% from its two-hour premiere, but helped improve "The Forgotten" (5.9 million, 2.0) from its last airing.

NBC ran "The Biggest Loser" (8.9 million, 3.5) and the final episode of "The Jay Leno Show" (5.6 million, 1.7), both down slightly from last week. The CW aired repeats.