• by Wayne Friedman , January 12, 2011

Not missing a beat, CBS continues to rack up some midseason debut wins. Its "NCIS" at 8 p.m. is posting strong results, earning a Nielsen preliminary 4.5 rating/12 share among 18-49 viewers, the show's best results in a year and a half.

Better still, "NCIS" pulled in 22 million overall viewers -- the highest ever for the now 8-year-old series.

Although the two show's audiences differ, it may have helped "NCIS" that Fox had "Glee" reruns during the 8 p.m. time period. CBS was the top network among 18-49 viewers on Tuesday with a 3.5/9.

CBS' 9 p.m. show "NCIS: Los Angeles" rode the original series coattails, earning a 3.7/9, its best results since October 2010.

The network's 10 p.m. show "The Good Wife" could not keep up the pace, offering only a 2.3/6 share -- but good enough to win the time period. All this may prove TV research executives' point: There is increasing competition from viewers who watch the playback of DVR recorded shows during that time period.

NBC earned more steady results from its two-hour "The Biggest Loser," down a bit from the week before to a 3.2/8. NBC's 10 p.m. show "Parenthood" also slipped one-tenth of a rating point week to week, now at a 2.2/6. NBC was second on the night overall at a 2.8/7.

Although it didn't have a fresh "Glee" episode to count on for lead-in help, Fox's "Million Dollar Money Drop" was up 38% to a 1.8/5 among 18-49 viewers. The network had a 1.7/4 for the night overall.

ABC continued to struggle behind CBS and NBC, only getting to a 1.5/4, good for fourth place. "V" saw its best-performing show, at a 1.9 rating/5 share, down 10% from its premiere a week ago. "No Ordinary Family" fell further to a 1.5 rating/4 share, while "Detroit 1-8-7" lost one-tenth of a rating point to a 1.1/3.

For Tuesday night Univision averaged a 1.4/4, and CW, a 0.4/1.