Despite a night of originals, the networks still felt the effects of the writers strike.  In the end, CBS and ABC returned to old habits.  The Eye network nabbed the most viewers while the Alphabet won the demos.

8pm

• Survivor: Micronesia (4.2/13 in 18-49) kicked off the night with 13 million.
• Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (2.3/6) averaged 8.6 million over two hours.
• Ugly Betty (8.5 million, 2.5/8) had its lowest rating for an original episode.
• My Name is Earl (6.1 million, 2.3/7) slipped by 700,000; Scrubs (5.3 million, 2.4/7) suffered from increased competition.
• Smallville (3.6 million, 1.4/4) managed to increase by 100,000.

9pm

• CSI (16.7 million, 4.6/11 in 18-49) had a tight race for first place.
• Grey’s Anatomy (16 million, 6.3/16) also hit a ratings low.
• The Office (7.6 million, 3.9/10) paled against the new dramas; 30 Rock (5.5 million, 2.8/7) skidded further from there.
• Supernatural (2.3 million, 1.0/2) picked up another 200,000.

10pm

• Without a Trace (13.5 million, 3.3/9 in 18-49) lost part of its lead-in.
• Lost (12.4 million, 5.5/14) doubled Eli Stone‘s last episode.
• ER (7.4 million, 2.9/8) saw a 300,000 decrease.

*denotes repeat

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