• by Wayne Friedman , April 16, 2008

All of a sudden the music at ABC is slowing down. The network's high-flying "Dancing With the Stars" dropped a massive 20% in ratings from the week before to a 4.1/11 among 18-49 viewers--its lowest rating ever for a performance episode.

"Stars" followed the bad news for ABC's Sunday efforts, in which "Desperate Housewives," which hit a steep decline, dropped over 20% from its last original episode in January.

On Monday, it was a surprising CBS that took advantage, thanks to its resurging comedies. The best of its comedies was "Two and a Half Men," which scored a 5.3/13--the best-rated show of the night, at 9 p.m. The returning "Rules of Engagement" grabbed a nice 4.1/10 at 9:30 p.m., which helped CBS earn a Monday night-leading 3.6/9 average.

"Rules" also beat up on ABC's "Samantha Who?"--which sank to a 3.0/7 on the night, running at 9:30 p.m. With a third-place "The Bachelor: London Calling" at a 2.5/6 at 10 p.m., ABC was just behind CBS for second place on the night with a 3.4/9.

A special two-hour "Deal or No Deal" and an original "Medium" brought NBC in with a 3.0/8 on the night. Fox had original "Bones" and "New Amsterdam" on its schedule. "Bones" tied CBS' "Big Bang Theory" and "Deal or No Deal" for second place with a 2.9/8, while "New Amsterdam" clocked in at a modest 2.0/5. Fox was fourth on Monday, averaging a 2.5/6.

CW had a big of a resurgence, moving "One Tree Hill" into the 9 p.m. time slot. It achieved its best results ever for the network for its young viewers--a 2.0/5 among 18-34 viewers and a 3.0/7 for women 18-34.

"Hill" also grabbed a 1.4 rating among 18-49 viewers and a 1.0/3 for the night. Next week, original episodes of "Gossip Girl" at 8 p.m. will lead in "Hill."

Univision was ahead for CW among 18-49 viewers, averaging a 1.7/4. MyNetworkTV was last with a 0.3/1.