• by Wayne Friedman , January 15, 2008

Is there a writers' strike going on? Viewers may not think so--at least not if they are watching Fox.

Fox's new action show "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" scored big numbers, perhaps setting the tone of what's coming, especially with its big heavyweight show--the season debut of "American Idol"--arriving next Tuesday.

"Terminator" rocketed to a 7.6 rating for adults 18-49, the best season premiere for a new show. The show did get a major push earlier in the evening from a big lead-in, a major NFL playoff game between rivals New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys. The close game--in which the Giants won--upset the prime-time networks' scoreboard with an eye-popping 14.5 rating in 18-49, which will likely be the highest-rated show of the season when finals numbers are released.

With all that, Fox easily won Sunday night with a high-flying 9.0 rating/21 share. ABC was way back at a 3.9/9, CBS was next at 3.1/8, NBC was fourth at 1.4/3, Univision came in fifth at 1.2/3 and CW was sixth at 0.4/1.

Not surprisingly, NBC's "Golden Globes," deflowered as a wrap-up show sans stars and hosted by "Access: Hollywood"'s Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell, could only muster a sub-stellar 1.7 rating. Those numbers were only one-third of what they were a year ago.

Up until "Terminator," NBC's "American Gladiators" posted the best new show season debut numbers, averaging a 5.9 rating last Sunday. "Gladiators" has since drifted lower--but is still a good NBC performer in the 3-plus rating. The network has ordered more episodes. "Terminator" will probably go in the same direction. It heads into its permanent time slot, Monday at 9 p.m.--which could get a tougher job, as it won't have the huge NFL football rating lead-in, but simply the much smaller 8 p.m. viewer lead-in of "Prison Break."

Among the other top shows of Sunday: an original episode of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" grabbed a 5.5 rating at 9 p.m.; Fox's "Family Guy" earned a 5.6 from the 9-9:30 p.m. time period (getting a big "Terminator" lead-in push); and CBS earned an steady 3.5 rating with its mini-series, "Comanche Moon" at 9 p.m. and a 3.2 at 10 p.m. for the mini-series second hour.