• by Wayne Friedman , September 14, 2010

Coming off a decent week for its new shows, the CW slipped back somewhat for the season premieres of its returning shows. Both "90210" and "Gossip Girl" suffered a tumble in their key demographics -- falling around 30% among key viewer groups on Monday night.  

Among 18-34 viewers, "90210" fell to a 1.2 rating -- down 29% from a 1.7 rating in its premiere of a year ago. "Gossip Girl" sank 30% to a 1.4 rating among adults 18-34 from its 2.0 number of a year ago.

Looking at its more narrow target -- women 18-34 -- both shows were weaker: "90210" was at a 1.7 rating; "Gossip Girl" was at a 2.0. That said, the CW can crow that some of these numbers are the same or higher than both show's respective season-enders last year: "90210" is up 20% and "Girl" is even.

Other networks had little to smile about -- especially looking at their summer series season finales. ABC's "Bachelor Pad" sank to a series-low 1.8 rating/5 share among 18-49 viewers. It was down 10% from its week-ago episode. Fox's "Lie to Me" had a 1.6/4, a season low and down from its last original episode in August. At 10 p.m., ABC's "Dancing in the Dark" was at a 1.2/4, while NBC's "Dateline NBC" earned a 1.3/4.

Preliminary results show CBS and Univision in a tie for the top honors among the big 18-49 viewing group for the last Monday of the summer season, at 1.7/5. ABC was at a 1.6/4; Fox came in at a 1.4/4, NBC took a 1.3/4; and CW scored a 0.9/3.