• by Wayne Friedman , September 30, 2010

NBC got a mixed bag of results for its second Wednesday of the season.  

The premiere of new show "Law & Order: Los Angeles" won its 10 p.m. time slot with a Nielsen preliminary 3.1 rating/10 share among 18-49 viewers. It was some 24% ahead of CBS' new show "The Defenders," which drifted back from its week-ago premiere numbers to a 2.5/8. NBC's "LOLA" did even better than its older sister show: "Law & Order: SVU," which had a 2.8/8 at 9 p.m.

On the other side of the coin, "UnderCovers," NBC's new spy drama, sank below the 2 rating mark of its week-ago premiere to land with a 1.6/5 in the 8 p.m. time period.

NBC wasn't the only network to get nicked. Many network shows were down versus their week-ago premieres, which was somewhat expected. CBS won the night among 18-49 viewers, with a 3.2 rating/9 share. Fox was at at 2.9/9; NBC earned a 2.5/7; ABC scored a 2.4/7; Univision took a 1.9/6; and CW finished at 1.1/3.

CBS' "Survivor" was down but won the 8 p.m. time period -- with a 3.5/11. At 9 p.m., the network's "Criminal Minds" earned a 3.6/10, good for second place.

ABC's strong "Modern Family," which took on a 4.6/13 at 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., easily continued as the best-rated show of the night. But it was -- like all other ABC Wednesday night shows -- down from a week ago: "The Middle" (2.4/8) and "Better With You" (2.2/7), and "Cougar" (2.9/8). ABC's "The Whole Truth" was a virtual no-show, just reaching a 1.2/4.

Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" was a steady performer, with a 2.8/9 for its 8 p.m. showing, and a 3.0/8 for its 9 p.m. hour.

CW's "America's Next Top Model" did its usual good thing, with a nice 2.1/7 among women 18-34 viewers; new show "Hellcats" came in a bit under this, but was steady at a 1.8/5.