The Winner: 'SNL Presidential Bash'

SNL's Presidential Bash 2008TV viewers were warming up for the big presidential election night, as they gave NBC and a special "Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash 2008" a major landslide on Monday night.

"Presidential Bash" won an easy decision as the top TV show of the night, with an eye-opening Nielsen preliminary 5.7 rating/13 share from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Pulling "Heroes" and "Chuck" from its usual Monday time slot turned out to be a smart move. NBC earned a big 4.4 rating/10 share average for the night, versus a 2.9/7 the week before.

NBC has been earning big results from special "SNL: Weekend Update" shows on Thursday night; the big draw is Tina Fey's impersonation of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Plus, for its usual Saturday night time period this past weekend, with presidential candidate John McCain in tow, "SNL" earned its second-best ratings since 1997.

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Steady CBS--the usual Monday night leader--didn't go away, averaging a 3.8/9 for second place. Among its comedies, "Two and a Half Men" led the network with a 4.6/10 at 9 p.m., and "How I Met Your Mother" earned a 4.1/10 at 8:30 p.m.

Two 9:30 p.m. shows--CBS' new show "Worst Week" and ABC's "Samantha Who?" each earned a 2.7/6. "Who?" was down a bit from its 2.8/6 numbers the week before. "Week" was down from its last original two weeks ago when it earned a 3.2/7.

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" was a bit lower--a 4.1/9--versus its week-before numbers. Coupled with lower "Samantha Who" numbers and non-growing "Boston Legal" ratings, it earned ABC a 3.1/7 for the night.

Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" continues to have anemic ratings with a 2.0/5--the same numbers it earned two weeks ago. (It was off the schedule last week because of the World Series.) "Prison Break" continued at about the same pace, with a 2.1/5. All that landed Fox in fourth place.

CW stayed steady, with "Gossip Girl" and "One Tree Hill" both taking a 1.7/4 among 18-49 viewers for the night--virtually the same as the previous week. The same went for its key 18-34 viewers: "Girl" with a 2.4/6 and "Hill" with a 2.5/6.

Univision dipped down to a 1.7/4, from a 1.9/4 a week ago. Both "Cuidado con el Angel" and "Fuego en la Sangre" moved down one-tenth of a rating point to a 1.9/5 and a 2.0/5, respectively.

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