'FlashForward' wins hour; 'CSI' falls sharply

Thursday night's clash of the titans had a clear victor: ABC dominated every hour of the night with the series premiere of "FlashForward" and the return of "Grey's Anatomy."

>>"FlashForward" (12.4 million viewers, 4.1 preliminary adults 18-49) opened with a large rating and dominated its tough time period, easily improving upon last year's "Ugly Betty" opener (+24%). Here's an impressive statistic: "FlashForward" is the first regular series telecast on any network to beat "Survivor" in the adult demo since "Friends" in 2004.

>> "Grey's" (16.8 million, 6.6) generated powerful numbers. "Grey's" slipped 11% from last year, but that's very modest for a ship this big -- a relief, really.

>> The return of CBS' "CSI" (15.7 million, 4.0) was devastating, dropping 44% following last season's steady drops.

>> The second week of Fox's "Fringe" (5.8 million, 2.3) also fell sharply, down 23%.

>> Same story with NBC's "Community" (5.4 million, 2.8), down 26%.

>> The debut of "The Mentalist" (14.3 million, 3.4) in its new time period was off a tenth compared with its Tuesday debut last year. Though "Mentalist" improved on "Eleventh Hour," this opener is somewhat disappointing given the high expectations on this newly minted hit that was promoted into this key slot. Starting next week "Mentalist" will face "Private Practice" and could post gains.  

Overall, ABC won the night in viewers and the demo. CBS was second with "Survivor" (11.9 million, 3.7) improving slightly its second week -- a neat trick considering the heightened competition. "CSI" and "Mentalist" followed, helping CBS take second-place trophies in the adult demo. 

Fox moved into third place with "Bones" (8.8 million, 2.7), down 13% from its debut, then "Fringe." Fox points out Thursday was up 25% in the demo compared with last year, but the gain is coming at a high price given how "Fringe" is taking a pounding in the toughest time period of the week.

NBC was in fourth place. The network was in third place on Thursdays last season and doesn't want last night's ranking to become a trend. The network aired "Weekend Update" (4.7 million, 1.8), "Parks and Recreation" (4.2 million, 1.8), "The Office" (7.3 million, 3.8) and "Community." "Parks" fell 14% its second week back; "Office" slipped half as much. At 10 p.m., "The Jay Leno Show" (5 million, 1.7) unsurprisingly hit a new low, yet it wasn't as low as one might expect.

The CW had some great news: "Vampire Diaries" (3.8 million, 1.7) went up this week. Not a whole lot, but still managed to reverse its trend against (all together now) increased competition. "Supernatural" (2.6 million, 1.2) was steady.