All hands were on deck last night for the official Monday of the fall season. When the dust settled, House and Big Bang improved; Dancing with the Stars and Two and a Half Men fell; meanwhile, Jay Leno and Heroes sunk. (To see last September’s numbers, click here.)

8pm

• Although it had the night’s largest audience, Dancing with the Stars 9 (17.5 million, 4.1/10 in 18-49) was down 3.6 million from last fall.
• House (16.5 million, 6.5/16) improved by 1.8 million from its last Tuesday premiere.
• How I Met Your Mother (9.2 million, 3.5/9) was off 500,000; Accidentally on Purpose (3.2/8) opened to 9 million.
• Heroes (6 million, 2.7/7) plunged 3.7 million from one year ago.
• One Tree Hill (2.5 million, 1.2/3) did about the same as last week.

9pm

• Two and a Half Men (13.6 million, 4.4/10 in 18-49) gave up 1.3 million.
• The Big Bang Theory (12.8 million, 4.6/10) had its best numbers to date.
• Gossip Girl (2.1 million, 1.1/2) took a 400,000 hit.

10pm

• CSI: Miami (13.7 million, 4.3/11 in 18-49) dropped 3.2 million.
• Castle (9.4 million, 2.3/6) had 2.2 million less than its March premiere.
• The Jay Leno Show (5.7 million, 1.8/5) shrunk by 12 million since last Monday.

*denotes repeat

(You can review last Monday’s ratings here.)