'Glee' returns huge, rivals slip

UPDATED: Fox's pop TV phenomenon "Glee" exploded in the ratings Tuesday night.

The season two debut of "Glee" delivered 12.5 million viewers and a 5.6 adults 18-49 rating. That's the show's second highest-rated episode ever and up 60% from its premiere last fall. "Glee" ranked as the highest-rated show of the night. The "Glee" rating comes despite the musical comedy launching Fox's lineup at 8 p.m. instead of receiving a lead-in at 9 p.m. like last year.

As expected, Fox's new sitcoms "Raising Hope" (7.3 million, 3.1) and "Running Wilde" (5.6 million, 2.4) were a significant step down from "Glee," yet still made fair use of the powerful lead-in. Both shows marked an improvement upon "So You Think You Can Dance" in the slot last year.

CBS placed second with the procedural tag team of  "NCIS" (19.4 million, 4.0) and a two-hour "NCIS: Los Angeles" (14.7 million, 3.2). One wouldn't think "Glee" would necessarily cut into the crime drama, but "NCIS" was down 17% -- though still ranked as the night's most-watched show. "LA" fell a steeper 27%.

In third, ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" results show (18.5 million, 4.4) kept up the reality hit's strong pace and was on par with last year. (The network aired a recap special of Monday's program at 8 p.m.) The show offered up a big push to new police drama "Detroit 1-8-7" (9.3 million, 2.3), but the police drama was down 12% from "The Forgotten" in the slot last fall. "Detroit" managed to tie the second week of NBC's "Parenthood" (5.8 million, 2.4) at 10 p.m., with the NBC dramedy slipping a slight 7% for Week 2.

In fourth, NBC's two-hour "Biggest Loser" premiere (7.2 million, 2.9) fell to its lowest-rated premiere ever. The usually ultra-stable performer was down 24%, though last fall it debuted a week earlier against less competition.

On The CW, "One Tree Hill" (1.9 million, 0.9) and "Life Unexpected" (1.5 million, 0.7) dipped.