For Every Network, Can't-Miss TV

Everyone's a winner in Premiere Week. No, seriously. Though critics already are working on "No New Hits" stories bemoaning the lack of a "Desperate Housewives" or "Lost," every network had something to smile about the first week of the TV season, and the four returning networks -- ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC -- each bagged a bigger crowd than the same week last fall.

Here's a look at the week's winners and losers:

WINNERS

CBS . Premiere Week's most-watched network -- now for five years in a row.

ABC's Thursday. Programming chief Steve McPherson's risky "Grey's Anatomy" move catapulted the network from dead last to first on the week's most competitive night among young viewers. Last time ABC did that, "Mork & Mindy" was in the lineup. Against CBS ratings powerhouse "CSI" (22.6 million viewers), "Grey's" (25.4 million) still landed in the week's No. 1 spot -- up 6.4 million compared with last fall's debut on Sunday night. It was the doc drama's third-largest audience ever -- behind only both halves of the two-parter that kicked off right after the Super Bowl in February.

"America's Next Top Model." On its first official night of business, the new CW network finished first among 18-to-34-year-olds (the Holy Grail of Madison Avenue) as "Top Model," the reality series CW inherited from the defunct UPN network, equaled its biggest opening audience ever -- more than 5 million viewers.

NBC . Back in the game after finishing the season's first week as the most improved network, up 1.2 million viewers and 18 percent among younger ones -- thanks largely to five hours of "Deal or No Deal" and the addition of "Sunday Night Football." On the other hand, like ABC, NBC rolled out only two of its nine new shows in Premiere Week.

"ER." Sure, it's not doing the numbers it once did, but in its 13th-season debut, "ER" whomped much-ballyhooed newcomers "Shark" and "Six Degrees." "ER" also debuted stronger than last fall -- impressive given that the two new 10 p.m. Thursday series were served up lead-in audiences in the mid-20-millions, while "ER" made do with a "Deal or No Deal" lead-in audience half that size.

ABC Sunday . Despite the loss of "Grey's Anatomy" on the night, ABC won Sunday with a hefty 2.7 million viewers ahead of closest competitor CBS. And while no new series cracked the week's Top 10, "Grey's" replacement "Brothers and Sisters" is the No. 1 new series so far, with an average audience of about 16 million viewers.

"Dog: The Family Speaks." A&E capitalized on Dog the Bounty Hunter's arrest with this one-hour special, which drew 4.4 million viewers. That was up nearly 300 percent compared with the net's Tuesday 10 p.m. prior four-week average with the half-hour "Dog" series and companion half-hour "King of Cars."

"Steve Irwin Changed the World Memorial Service." Animal Planet's dubiously named telecast of its dead star's memorial service clocked nearly 3 million viewers -- the net's biggest audience since "Dragons: Fantasy Made Real" in March '05.

LOSERS

"Happy Hour." Fox's Thursday sitcom about a martini-loving guy and his new roomie was last week's lowest-ranked new series -- No. 76 out of 79 programs -- and is the first new series pulled off the schedule. Fox says it'll be back.

"Justice." Fox's Wednesday drama about a brilliant but unpleasant lawyer and his team of hot young lawyers was last week's second-lowest-ranked new series -- No. 74 out of 79 programs -- and is being taken off the lineup after this week. Fox says it'll be back. One more and we have a trend story.

New 10 p.m. dramas. NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," CBS's "Smith" and "Shark," and ABC's "Six Degrees" and "Brothers & Sisters" all got off to good starts last week, averaging between 11 million and 16 million viewers. But each drama started with a much bigger crowd; large swaths of viewers -- between 840,000 and 3.3 million -- bailed out halfway through each program. In the TV industry, that's called "rejection." The remaining new 10 p.m. drama, NBC's "Kidnapped," tanked, attracting fewer than 8 million viewers -- no surprise given the lousy night and the chump-change "Biggest Loser" lead-in audience of 7.1 million.

The week's 10 most watched programs, in order, were: ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives"; CBS's "CSI"; ABC's "Dancing With the Stars"; CBS's "CSI: Miami" and "Without a Trace"; ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"; and CBS's "Survivor: Cook Islands," "Cold Case" and "CSI: NY."