Although it saw American Idol drop 21% from last week, Fox still won the ratings race in the 18-49 demo with an overall 5.0 rating/14 share Thursday night. Following Idol's 6.5 rating, Bones returned from last week's hiatus with a 3.4, up 3% from its last airing.
CBS, the only other network to show new telecasts, came in second with an overall 3.1/9. The Big Bang Theory remained flat from its last original with a 3.8 and Rules of Engagement improved by 17% to a 2.8. CSI (up 15% to a 3.1) and The Mentalist (up 7% to a 3.0) were both improved as well from their last new airing.
ABC (1.6/5), NBC (1.1/3) and The CW (0.4/1) all aired repeats.
