• by Wayne Friedman , March 21, 2007

The return of ABC's hit show "Dancing with the Stars" picked up where it left off in the fall--sharp moves rocketed ABC back into the ratings race.

"Stars" sashayed around Monday night with a preliminary Nielsen Media Research 6.3 rating among 18-49 viewers for its two-hour premiere--up nicely from its 5.7 fall debut. The slick twirls sent ABC to the top of the heap--finishing first with a 5.2 rating among 18-49 viewers for the evening.

Fox was a distant second at 4.0 rating/10 share with its best effort a 4.7 rating for "24." Its "Prison Break" pulled in its standard numbers--a 3.4 rating among 18-49 viewers.

CBS was just behind Fox at 3.9/10. The net's 8 p.m. comedies took the brunt of "Stars" power--a 2.9 for "How I Met Your Mother" and 2.5 for "The New Adventures of Old Christine," which was a season low for the series. But by 10 p.m., CBS recovered with its usually strong "CSI: Miami," posting a 5.3.

NBC also suffered on the night, with a 3.6/9 average rating and share. NBC decided to sit this night out a bit--pulling out its prized "Heroes" at 9 p.m. and instead running a two-hour "Deal or No Deal" special, starting at 8 p.m. "Deal" did better in the second half hour with a 4.6 rating, up from a 3.8 the hour before.

At 10 p.m., NBC suffered again with "The Black Donnellys"--now getting a 2.4 rating. ABC had a bit more to cheer about during that time period, with its "What About Brian" rating a 2.8.

Univision was fifth at 1.7/4, and CW sixth at 1.0/3. CW got virtually the same rating for each of its comedies: "Everybody Hates Chris" (1.1),"All of Us" (1.0), "Girlfriends" (1.0) and "The Game" (1.0).