ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" results show had its best delivery so far this year and led the network to second place against "American Idol"-powered Fox.

"Dancing" (17.7 million viewers, 4.4 preliminary adults 18-49 rating and an 11 share) spiked its Nielsens for the reality series' 100th episode. The competition series was boosted by a lead-in clip show special (10.5 million, 2.4/7) featuring "Dancing" judges' all-time favorite performances.

At 10 p.m., ABC's freshman drama "Women's Murder Club" (8.7 million, 2.2/6) took advantage of the boosted lead-in, climbing 22% over last Tuesday's time period debut for its best ratings since November. As "Murder Club" is considered on the bubble for a fall renewal and Tuesday's performance is a push in the right direction.

In first place, Fox's "Idol" (21.2 million, 8.2/23) continued its downward trend, falling another 9% from last week. This week's drop is more striking than in recent weeks as "Idol" ratings generally start to climb in May as the season finale approaches.

At 9 p.m., Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" (11.2 million, 5.2/13) was off a very slight 4%, but hit a new record for its "Idol" audience retention -- 63% (note: ratings for "Murder Club" and "Kitchen" typically include a couple minutes of overrun from their higher-rated lead-ins, so the shows tend to settle a bit in the nationals).

CBS was third with "NCIS" (13.8 million, 2.8/8) followed by a flat "Shark" (10.4 million, 2.2/5) and a repeat.

Fourth-place NBC had repeats leading into "Law & Order: SVU" (10.4 million, 3.5/10) which won 10 p.m. while hitting a series low.

The CW aired an on-par "Beauty and the Geek" (1.6 million, 0.7/2) and "Reaper" (2.5 million, 1.0/3).

'Dancing' soars to new heights

Fuels ABC to second place behind 'Idol'

By James Hibberd

May 7, 2008, 04:04 PM