• by Wayne Friedman , April 3, 2009

For NBC, it was a flashback of sorts -- resuming its No. 1 status on Thursday night.

The finale of "ER" -- the network's last program attached to its longtime legacy of domination in the 1990s -- delivered pretty much as expected. The show rose to a big Nielsen preliminary 6.6 rating/18 share during the 10 p.m. hour. NBC posted a 5.2/14 for the night among 18-49 viewers.

NBC devoted the entire night to the show.

Only the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. hour -- a clip show about the longtime program -- did not win its time period. Still, the "ER" retrospective took a strong 3.5/10, just a bit behind CBS' "Survivor: Tocantins," which earned a 3.6/11. But among 18-34 viewers, "ER" won the time period with a 2.4/8.

The special two-hour finale, which featured many returning characters, got started at 9 p.m., where, during that initial hour, "ER" tallied a 5.5/14 -- easily besting "CSI" at 3.7/10, which came in at second place, and Fox's "Hell's Kitchen," which landed in third at a 3.2/8. Current 9 p.m. leader ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" went to a repeat and took a 1.5/4.

NBC says that the 16.2 million "ER" viewers is the biggest drama finale in 16 years, since CBS' "Murder, She Wrote" in 1996. Among 18-49 viewers, the "ER" numbers are the best since 2002, when Fox ended "The X Files."

CBS didn't back away from the night, going with all originals. This cost it a bit with its star show: "CSI" earned its lowest numbers ever, a 3.7/10 rating among 18-49 viewers. The network came in at second place with a 3.3/9.

Fox was next, with a 2.9/8. Its star performer was "Hell's Kitchen." "Bones" at 8 p.m. took a hit, dropping to a 2.6/8 from a 3.0/9 in its most recent original outing.

Univision was able to keep pace with a 1.8/5 for the night. Its "Mañana Es Para Siempre" rose to a 2.2/6 for fourth place at 9 p.m.

CW climbed out of the cellar with a nice 1.6/4 among 18-49 viewers and 1.7/5 for 18-34 viewers. "Supernatural" delivered its best adults 18-34 numbers -- 1.7/5 -- in two-and-a-half years, and its best adults 18-49 numbers -- a 1.6/4 -- and women 18-34 data, with a 1.5/4 in two months.

ABC took up the last spot among all networks with a 1.4/4, due in large part to two hours of repeats between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. against "ER." Earlier in the night, between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., was no picnic for its comedy originals. "In the Motherhood" dropped nearly 30% from its premiere week to a 1.6/5, with "Samantha Who?" earning a series low of 1.5/4.