• by Wayne Friedman , April 10, 2009

Three new network shows competed on a high-profile second Thursday night in April, which resulted in an overall improvement for NBC.

The network's new 10 p.m. drama "Southland," which replaced its longtime "ER" (also from producer John Wells) posted a good -- but not great -- Nielsen preliminary 3.2 rating/9 share, winning the time period against another new 10 p.m. drama, CBS' limited series "Harper's Island, which earned a 2.7/8.

Looking at "Southland" more microscopically, NBC will point to the fact that the show grew half hour to half hour -- rising to a 3.3/10 from a 3.1/9.

Perhaps the better news took place earlier in the evening for its 8:30 p.m. premiere of the new comedy "Parks and Recreation," starring Amy Poehler, which took in a 3.0/9 among 18-49 viewers and a bigger 3.2/11 among the younger 18-34 crowd.

The show fared well against usual time-period leader "Survivor: Tocantins," which won with a 3.5/11 among the 18-49 audience.

Also somewhat striking was that NBC achieved a rare time-period win for "The Office," which went head to head against "CSI" at 9 p.m. "The Office" got a 3.9/11 (to "CSI"'s 3.7/10), the best-rated show of the night.

One caveat here: "The Office" did not have to contend with usual time period leader ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," which ran a repeat. "The Office" easily won among younger 18-34 viewers, with a 4.3/14.

While NBC preliminarily tied CBS for the top spot among the 18-49 demographic -- at a 3.3/10 -- the better news was that it easily beat everyone when it came to younger viewers. NBC had a 3.3/11 to second-place Fox at a 2.3/7.

Still, with ABC's two big shows in repeats -- "Grey's" and "Private Practice" (at 10 p.m.) -- the true effect of NBC's new program efforts will not be known until original episodes go head to head.

For ABC, however, the picture is clearer in the earlier part of the evening. Original episodes of "In the Motherhood" at 8:30 p.m. sat at a low 1.3/4, with "Samantha Who?" well behind "Parks and Recreation" at a 1.4/4.

Among 18-49 viewers, Fox came in third at 2.9/8, earning its best result from "Hell's Kitchen" with a 3.3/9. Univision was fourth at a 1.7/5, and tied for third among 18-34 viewers with CBS at a 2.0/6.

ABC was in next-to-last place, with a 1.4/4 among 18-49 viewers. CW, in repeats with "Smallville" and "Supernatural," averaged a 0.8/2 for 18-49 and 18-34 viewers.