• by Wayne Friedman , May 15, 2009

In a still-dreary network viewing environment, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" pulled off the best season finale for a network show so far.

For its two-hour season ending show -- 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. -- "Grey's" easily distanced itself from other competitors, earning a Nielsen 5.9 rating/16 share among 18-49 viewers. NBC's "The Office" was next at a 3.5/9, with CBS' "CSI" at a 3.4/9.

But the overall news for network TV on this high-profile night was not good. With some 12 season finales on tap, many shows struggled. CBS' "CSI" had its lowest-season-finale episode ever. NBC had a quartet of season finales, but still ended the week down to a 2.3/6 from a 2.5/7 the week before.

Earlier in the evening, CBS' steady "Survivor: Tocantins" easily won the 8 p.m. time slot with a 3.8/12. Fox's "Bones" earned a 2.6/8 for second place. "Survivor" will have its season finale on May 17.

After "Bones" was ABC's "Ugly Betty" at a 2.0/6, and NBC's half-hour comedies "My Name is Earl" with a 2.0/7 at 8 p.m. "Parks and Recreation" earned a 2.0/6 at 8:30 p.m. The jury is still out on whether "Earl" will return for another season.

Fox landed some positive news: A finale for "Hell's Kitchen" took in a 3.2/8. Along with steady numbers for "Bones," the network showed improvement on the night, year-to-year.

In the 10 p.m. hour, NBC's "Southland" continued to trend down, now at a 1.6/4 versus a nice 3.2/9 at its debut back in early April. CBS' "CSI: NY" did better in the time period than "Southland," at a 3.0/8.

ABC easily won the night with a 4.6/13. CBS earned a 3.4/10; Fox took a 2.9/8; NBC pulled in a 2.3/6; and CW finished at a 1.3/4, with MyNetworkTV at a 0.3/1.