• by Wayne Friedman , March 22, 2006

Who says comedies--and game shows--are dead? Not CBS or NBC. CBS has improved its comedy lineup with viewership of "The New Adventures of Old Christine," starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, for the second week--always a good sign for programming executives. "Christine" was the most-watched show in its time period, grabbing a healthy 15.13 million overall viewers. It also ranked a close second among viewers 18-49 to Fox's "24," which grabbed a 5.1 rating/12 share.

CBS seemingly has made "Christine" work the old-fashioned way--through a strong lead-in from its hit comedy, "Two and a Half Men." Not only that, but it may have overdelivered in this area, holding on to virtually "Men"'s entire 18-49 audience, which came in at 5.4/13. The week before, "Christine" had 15.09 million viewers and a 4.8/11 in adults 18-49.

Overall, adding "Christine" to CBS' already strong comedy block helped CBS to a Monday night win among adult 18-49 viewers, at a 5.1/12. If the Louis-Dreyfus show can hang on until next season, she'll be the only "Seinfeld" alumni to have secured a long-term prime-time show on a network schedule.

No doubt, CBS will try to amp up her success to advertisers in the coming weeks leading into the upfront sales market--perhaps pushing up CBS' in 18-49 viewers who have incomes of $75,000 or $100,000 plus. It was these numbers for "Seinfeld" that gave NBC its strongest advertising sales position.

CBS won't be the only one to crow about success on Monday night. NBC's game show "Deal or No Deal" racked up its best numbers--a 5.5/14 in 18-49 and 16.6 million viewers overall. Strong "Deal" numbers pushed "The Apprentice 5" to its highest numbers to date--a 4.2/10 in 18-49 and 10.6 million viewers overall.

But a repeat of "Medium" at 10 p.m. pulled NBC closer to earth, with a 2.6/7 in 18-49 and 7.5 million viewers overall. That put NBC into third place for the night. The return of Fox's "Prison Break" posted a healthy second-place finish, with a 4.3/11 in 18-49 and 10.3 million viewers. With the continued strength of "24," a 5.5/13 in 18-49, and 13.6 million viewers, Fox came in second to CBS for the night.

Overall, the preliminary numbers look like this: CBS, 5.1/12; Fox, 4.9/12; NBC, 4.1/10; ABC, 3.5/9; UPN, 1.2/3; WB, 1.1/3.