• by Wayne Friedman , February 17, 2009

ABC's "The Bachelor" is doing its best "NCIS" impersonation these days.

The 7-year-old reality show continued to have improving numbers-- unique for a veteran show. Last fall, CBS' 6-year-old drama "NCIS" went through a similar resurgence.

"The Bachelor" averaged a Nielsen preliminary 4.9/11 among 18-49 viewers--winning its 9 p.m. hour. It beat a Fox original "24" episode and CBS' "Two and a Half Men," although in rerun. "The Bachelor" also grabbed a solid second place with a 4.0/10 for its 8 p.m. hour--up against Fox's "House," which earned a 5.2/13.

"The Bachelor" averaged around 12.5 million overall viewers for the night, higher than its typical 10 million viewer average over the past several years.

Overall, "Fox" had its usual way with "House" in the lineup--the best-rated program of the night, earning a 4.4/10 among the 18-49 crowd with a 3.6/9 against 18-34 viewers. ABC was right behind with a 4.0/10. But it beat Fox among 18-34 viewers by a hair, with a 3.7/10.

CBS made the best of its rerun programming specialty--this time for its Monday night lineup of comedies. For example, although "The Bachelor" won the 9 p.m. time period, "Two and a Half Men"--the usual time-period winner--grabbed a very respectable 4.0/9. "The Big Bang Theory," also in repeats, went to a 3.0/8. CBS averaged a 2.9/7 among 18-49 viewers.

NBC had the same results for Monday night--a 2.9/7--but it expended more energy getting there with original shows. Its best result was from "Heroes," with a 3.6/8 at 9 p.m. "Medium," at 10 p.m., earned a 2.8/7.

CW also went the route of its sister network CBS, with reruns for "Gossip Girl" and "One Tree Hill." This gave it a 0.5/1 in both 18-49 viewers and among its more core 18-34 viewers.

Univision did a bit better than CW, as it has recently--securing a 1.8/4 among 18-49 viewers and a 1.9/5 among the 18-34 audience.