• by Wayne Friedman , March 15, 2010

Meet the new "Boss" -- not the same as the old boss.

In the first meeting between reality heavyweights, CBS' "Undercover Boss" easily dismissed NBC and Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice." But there was damage.

In the 9 p.m. hour, "Boss" earned a Nielsen preliminary 3.8 rating/9 share among 18-49 viewers, while the first hour of the premiere of "Apprentice" earned a 2.8/7. "Boss" did take a hit from the trumped-up debut for its competition -- down 25% from its last original episode.

But once freed from "Boss," the Donald Trump/NBC show grew to a 3.6/10 -- easily beating ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" and "Cold Case," which both earned a 2.5/7. Overall, "Apprentice"'s 3.2 rating/9 was down 18% from its 2009 season premiere.

ABC's "Desperate Housewives" took in a 3.6/9. The once-perennial Sunday night leader grabbed another series rating low -- and a second-place tie (with "Family Guy") to "Boss" at 9 p.m.

There was not much going on in early evening for viewers -- all network shows couldn't break through the 2.0 rating line. The winner was ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos," with a 1.9/6.

NBC's new reality effort "Minute To Win It" grabbed a slim 1.5/5 during that hour, but improved in the second to a 2.3/6.

Fox's new sitcom "Sons of Tucson" took a 2.1/5 in a tough 9:30 p.m. time period; it was not helped by its "Family Guy" lead-in.

CBS improved a bit with its 8 p.m. "Amazing Race," at a 3.0/8.

With its more steady results, across the night, CBS grabbed the win among key 18-49 viewers, at 2.8/8. Right behind were ABC and NBC in a tie: at a 2.6/7. Fox had a 2.0/6 and Univision finished at a 0.9/2.