• by Wayne Friedman , September 27, 2013

Two veteran TV performers -- with big brand names -- went head to head on a key Thursday night time slot in their respective premieres. Robin Williams’ “The Crazy Ones” easily outperformed “The Michael J. Fox Show.”

CBS’ “Crazy Ones” almost doubled NBC’s “Michael J. Fox Show” among key 18-49 viewers -- with a Nielsen preliminary 4.0/11 rating in the 18-49 demo to a 2.1/6 for the NBC show. But “Crazy” got lots of help.

“Crazy Ones” got a big boost from perhaps the strongest show in CBS’ lineup: “The Big Bang Theory.” A special one-hour episode posted a massive 5.6/17 rating -- up 12% from a 5.0 rating a year ago. At 9:30 p.m. after “Crazy" is the network's “Two and a Half Men,” which also earned a strong 2.9/8 -- down about half a rating point from its 3.5 premiere a year ago.

ABC had a strong 9 p.m. as well, with a two-hour premiere of “Grey’s Anatomy” at a 3.4/9. But this was a full rating point down from its 4.4 rating of a year ago. At 8 p.m., ABC ran an encore of its successful premiere “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," which grabbed a respectable 1.4/4 for the 8 p.m. time slot.

CBS also won big at 10 p.m. with its “Elementary” pulling in a 2.1/6, while NBC’s “Parenthood” took a 1.6/5. Still, both shows were down versus last season’s starts -- “Elementary" scored a 3.1 a year ago, while “Parenthood” earned a 1.9.

Fox was well behind all networks generally on the night. “The X Factor” at 8 p.m. got to a 2.0/6 rating -- about the same as a week ago. The season premiere of “Glee” was way down from a 2.0/5 for its 3.1 rating start a year ago -- coming in at fourth place in the time period behind “Michael J. Fox.”

For Thursday night overall, CBS was on top with a 3.7 rating/11 share among 18-49 viewers, followed by ABC at a 2.7/8, Fox with a 2.0/6; NBC at a 1.7/5, Univision with a 1.5/4, and CW at a 0.3/1 .