• by Wayne Friedman , September 25, 2009

ABC continues its winning ways in the first week of the new season: New sci-fi drama "Flash Forward" drew big numbers on Thursday, while the "Grey's Anatomy" big premiere crushed everyone.

Highly marketed "Forward" did what it was supposed to: Garner huge sampling among viewers for its series debut -- a Nielsen preliminary 4.1/12. It won the time period over CBS' stalwart "Survivor: Samoa," which reined in a 3.7/11 and easily bested "Ugly Betty" numbers in the time slot of a year ago.

At 9 p.m., ABC's big "Grey's Anatomy" two-hour premiere took over where it left off last year -- a monstrous 6.7 rating/18 share, crushing all comers. CBS's "CSI" premiere could only manage a 4.1/10 and NBC's "The Office" earned a low-ish 3.8/10.

NBC's new critically acclaimed comedy "Community" at 9:30 p.m., ducking for cover, could only get to a humble 2.8/7.

In the 10 p.m. hour "Grey" also took care of CBS' "The Mentalist," which moved into the time period this year. "Mentalist" earned a respectable 3.4/9. It could improve some when ABC's other good -- but not great -- rated medical drama "Private Practice" starts up later. CBS said "Mentalist" numbers were higher than what the time period earned in '08.

While results are still preliminary, "Anatomy" looks to tie Fox's "House" as the best-rated broadcast TV show of the new season.

NBC struggled throughout, especially early on: "SNL Weekend Update" Thursday got to a 1.8/5 and returning "Parks & Recreation" did the same 1.8/5. At 10 p.m., "The Jay Leno" show drifted to its lowest numbers in its two weeks on the air: 1.7/5. That said, network and media agency executives estimated the "Leno" season average to be in the 1.7 to 1.8 rating range.

Fox came in with some predictable results: "Bones" with a 2.7/8, in third place at 8 p.m. with "Fringe," in its new 9 p.m. Thursday time period, coming in lower than its average of a year ago: 2.3/6.

CW's strongest new show, "Vampire Diaries" at 8 p.m., generally maintained its numbers versus a week ago, its series debut grew a bit to 6% among 18-49 viewers to a 1.7/5. It stayed the same against its more core women 18-34 viewers, still a healthy 2.6/9. Among all 18-34 viewers, it earned a 1.8/6.

At 9 p.m., things were tough for CW's "Supernatural," slipping a bit among 18-34 viewers to a 1.2/3, but staying the same among 18-49 viewers: a 1.2/3 versus a week ago.

For the night, ABC was the easy leader among 18-49 viewers a 5.8/16; CBS was at a 3.7/10; Fox, a 2.5/7; NBC, a 2.3/6; Univision, a 1.5/4; and CW a 1.4/4.

Source: The Nielsen Company