Locklear barely boosts 'Melrose'; 'V' falls again

The CW was hoping for a little more than this. 

Heather Locklear joining "Melrose Place" boosted the show a paltry 14% Tuesday from its series-low-matching performance last week. The CW soap was seen by 1.5 million viewers and drew a 0.8 preliminary rating among adults 18-49. Among the CW's key women 18-34 demo, however, the show improved more -- rising 33% to six-week highs -- though that's still dropping 30% from its "90210" lead-in. 

Over on ABC, the third episode of "V" (9.3 million, 3.1) fell another 18%. And on CBS, the network's entire drama lineup hit across-the-board season lows.

Yet there was some positive ratings news last night: After rising 17% on Monday, NBC's "Jay Leno Show" (6.1 million, 2.0) rose 5% -- matching its highest rating on any night in six weeks and coming in second place at 10 p.m. despite its "Biggest Loser" (9.4 million, 3.7) lead-in dropping a notch. 

On CBS, the broadcaster won the evening once again with "NCIS" (20.2 million, 4.1), "NCIS: LA" (14.8 million, 3.4) and "Good Wife" (12.7 million, 2.6) each falling about 8%. NBC's "Merry Madagascar" special (9 million, 2.9) did pretty well, placing second in its half hour, followed by "Loser" and "Jay." After "V," ABC aired "Dancing With the Stars" results show (15.9 million, 3.2), down a couple notches, followed by a steady "Forgotten" (7.7 million, 1.9). Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" (6 million, 2.4) was on par. On the CW, "90210" (2.1 million, 1.1) was down 8%.