• by Wayne Friedman , December 3, 2008

New strong network shows CBS' "The Mentalist" and Fox's "Fringe" went toe-to-toe on Tuesday, with the CBS drama getting the edge in the broader demographic viewer group for the second week in a row.

CBS' "The Mentalist" grabbed its best-ever 18-49 ratings, a Nielsen preliminary 3.8/ rating/9 share. Fox's "Fringe" was just a tick behind with a 3.7/9. NBC's "Biggest Loser: Families" earned the same 3.7/9 numbers in its 9 p.m. hour. The week before, "Mentalist" was at a 3.7/9; "Fringe" took a 3.4/9.

But the Fox show (as well as the NBC show) continued to get better results in the younger demos. Both "Fringe" and "Loser" recorded a 3.2/9 among 18-34 viewers, with "Mentalist" trailing at a 2.5/7.

Fox had the last laugh for the night overall. It earned a 4.3/11, ahead of NBC at a 3.4/9, CBS at a 3.3/9, ABC at a 2.2/6, Univision at 1.6/4, and CW at 0.4/1.

Now, out of the November sweeps, there was a bit of reshuffling--some of which had to do with ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," which is now off the schedule until next March. Other shows were allowed to gain viewers. In the 8 p.m. hour, for example, "Biggest Loser" rose to a 3.1/8 from a 2.6/7 the week before. In the 9 p.m. hour, "Fringe" grew three-tenths of a rating point from the week before.

CBS' "NCIS" continued its solid track this year, now at a 3.7/10. Fox's "House" continued at the best-rated 18-49 show of Tuesdays with a 5.0/14, although it was down a bit from the 5.2/14 the week before.

NBC had good results at the end of the night: "Law & Order: SVU" topping the 10 p.m. time period with a 3.6/10. CBS' "Without A Trace" was behind with a 2.5/7.

ABC seemed to sit out the night, scoring its best result with a rerun of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" at a 3.1/8. After that, it offered up a new episode of the old series "According to Jim," which earned a 2.2/6 at 9:30 p.m. At 10 p.m., the network's now-canceled drama "Eli Stone" took in a 1.6/4.