• by Wayne Friedman , January 29, 2010

TV network programmers took a break before heading into the big February rating period with many heavyweight shows in reruns on Thursday. This left a wide opening for Fox to slip through with new episodes of "Bones" and "Fringe."

"Bones" took in a Nielsen preliminary 3.6 rating/11 share among 18-49 viewers and "Fringe" earned a 3.1/8. "Bones" was up 3% from last week; "Fringe" was up 15% to a 3.0 rating, tying its highest 18-49 rating this season.

This gave Fox a 3.3/9 average for the night. The English-language networks were so behind the eight ball, Univision grabbed second place (tied with CBS) with a 1.8/5.

CBS, ABC, and NBC were all in repeats except for ABC's "The Deep End," CBS' special "Live for the Moment" and NBC's "The Jay Leno Show." "End" did a near-the-end 1.7/5, "Moment" went to a 1.1/3 and "Leno" was at a 1.2/3, down 14% from the week before.

CBS posted decent rerun numbers for "CSI," with a 2.0/5, and "The Mentalist" at a 2.3/7. NBC's "The Office" also did well in a repeat episode, with a 2.1/6.

The CW took advantage of the situation, too. Its rookie "Vampire Diaries" improved 13% to a 1.8 adults 18-49 rating. For the night, CW tied NBC and ABC, and was in third place among 18- to-34-year-olds, behind Fox (2.6/8) and Univision (2.1/7).