• by Wayne Friedman , July 23, 2008

If you're keeping score, the theory that some reruns are better than originals--especially in the summer--works.

While CBS has been the proponent of this programming strategy for some time--especially with its procedural crime dramas--the network proved that on certain nights this also extends to its comedies.

On Monday night, CBS tied for the best results along with Fox, with a Nielsen Media Research preliminary rating 2.2 rating/7 share among 18-49 viewers. CBS' 9 p.m. comedy anchor "Two and a Half Men" bested all shows with 3.0 share/9 share among 18-49 viewers. A rerun of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" also grabbed a decent 2.4/7; the third-best-rated show of the evening.

Fox kept pace with CBS, led by a rerun of "House" at 8 p.m., which earned a 2.7/8, second-best show of the night. A rerun of "Bones" grabbed a 1.7/6 at 9 p.m.

All that meant original programming on NBC and ABC took a back seat.

The weakest of the bunch--and to date, the most surprising--has been a low performance of "High School Musical: Get in the Picture," a reality effort riffing off the Disney Channel's wildly successful "High School Musical" franchise. The ABC real-life version grabbed a 0.9/3 among 18-49 viewers.

ABC's other original effort--the debut of "Wanna Bet," a game show with a new take on Stupid Human Tricks--posted a nearly weak 1.1/3.

Adding in a lackluster 1.4/4 effort from "The Mole" at 10 p.m., all this gave ABC a fifth-place spot on the night, averaging a 1.1/3.

NBC was a bit better off with reality show "Nashville Star," "American Gladiators" and "Dateline", earning a 1.6/5, a 1.8/6 and a 1.6/5, respectively. NBC ended in a tie with Univision, at a 1.7/5 for the night.

The CW drifted in with a 0.5/2 to complete the top five broadcast networks.