New "Office" supplies season high

By James Hibberd

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - NBC returned to an all-original lineup Thursday night, highlighted by the much-anticipated resumption of "The Office."

Most of the network's comedies were roughly on par with their pre-strike averages, but "The Office" delivered its highest rating since the show's fall season premiere (9.2 million, 4.8 rating/12 share).

At 8 p.m., "My Name Is Earl" (7 million, 3.0/9) and return of "30 Rock" (5.7 million, 2.7/7) were down slightly from their averages as they were up against an "American Idol" results show. The return of "Scrubs" at 9:30 was up 6% (6.6 million, 3.4/8). At 10 p.m., "ER" returned to match its all-time low (5.9 million, 3.1/8).

NBC came in third place overall, with Fox in first place airing a special "American Idol" results show (20 million, 6.8/19), which matched Wednesday's "Idol Gives Back" event. Afterwards, an episode of "Don't Forget the Lyrics" performed strongly (10.9 million, 4.0/10).

In second place, CBS aired a series low "Survivor: Micronesia" (11.7 million, 3.8/11). "CSI" was down a couple ticks from last week's return to originals (20 million, 5.7/14), but effectively matched "Idol" as the most-viewed show of night. "Without a Trace" held steady (14.6 million, 3.9/11).

ABC was fourth with repeats and "Eli Stone" (5.9 million, 1.9/5). The CW had repeats.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter