'Lie to Me' climbs, 'Life' returns

Fox's crime drama "Lie to Me" climbed slightly in the ratings Wednesday night and caught up to ABC's "Lost."

"Lie" (13 million viewers, 4.7 preliminary adults 18-49 rating and 12 share) was up three-tenths of a point among the early adult demo numbers, even as lead-in "Idol" (26.3 million, 9.9/27) slipped a couple tenths from its preliminary number last week. Moreover, "Lie" tied ABC's "Lost" after ranking below the mystery thriller for two weeks. "Lie" was aided this time by CBS not airing "Criminal Minds," but it did have some new, if weaker, crime competition from NBC's "Life."

The return of "Life" (6.7 million, 1.8/4) was steady, but that's not a good thing. The cop drama pulled nearly the same low rating as its last original airing in late December. Lead-in "Knight Rider" (4.9 million, 1.4/4) was no help, dropping below its average this week. At 10 p.m., NBC still won the hour with "Law & Order" (8.7 million, 2.4/7).

So Fox won the night. ABC was second with "Lost" (11 million, 4.7/12), down a couple rungs this week, which also helped "Lie to Me" tie for the 9 p.m. hour. And 10 p.m.'s "Life on Mars" (6 million, 2.1/6) matched its lackluster premiere. CBS tied NBC for third with repeats and "Katie Couric's All-Access Grammy Special" (6.8 million, 2.1/5), which performed pretty well what's essentially a promotion for an upcoming event. The CW aired repeats.