• by Wayne Friedman , January 15, 2007

NBC is revisiting an old friend: a high-rated Thursday night lineup.

With the absence of a new "Survivor" episode, NBC's "My Name is Earl" and "The Office" hit their season highs, with "Earl" getting a 4.6 rating/13 share and "Office" notching a big 5.0/13 number.

The shows are up nearly 50% over the network's average in the same time slot a year ago. This gave NBC a nice second-place win, with an average 4.4/11 for the night.

CBS mostly sat on the sidelines with no "Survivor" and a repeat of "CSI" and a second night of a new reality series, "Armed and Famous," which offered up a lackluster 2.7/7.

With CBS mostly out of the picture, ABC told an old story even better than in the fall--easily dominating the night with "Grey's Anatomy," which pulled down a strong 9.3/22 rating. This would be on par with the show's most recent original airing.

An original of "Ugly Betty" also seem to gain slightly from the absence of "Survivor." "Betty" got a 4.4/12, its best numbers since October.

ABC's "Men in Trees" has showed better numbers at 10 p.m.--its new time period versus its Friday night time slot--with a 3.4/9 in viewers 18-49. The downside is that it retains less than 40% of "Grey's" lead-in.

Fox still struggled to find any rhythm on the night; with all three of its shows barely at, and mostly below, the 2.0 water level mark. "Til Death" at a 1.8/5; "The War at Home" with a 2.0/5; and "The OC" at a 1.8/4.

ABC earned best-network honors for the night, with a 5.7 rating/15 share in adults 18-49. NBC was second at 4.4/11, CBS was next at a 3.0/8. It was a tight race for fourth: Univision had a 1.8/5; Fox ran just behind with a 1.8/4, and then came the CW at a 1.7/4.