Maybe CBS has a repeat of Fringe to thank? Whatever the reason, The Mentalist hit a season high last night with its sixth episode. The freshman series then helped out Without a Trace’s numbers. All this activity gave the the network its best Tuesday since December ‘07. Unfortunately, House‘s hot demos meant FOX still had the lead last night in the 18-49 group.

8pm

• NCIS (17.1 million, 3.4/9 in 18-49) did the same as last week.
• House (13.1 million, 5.3/14) killed in the demos.
• ABC‘s presentation of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (3.4/9) had 10.4 million reminiscing.
• The Biggest Loser: Families (8 million, 3.1/9) packed on 700,000 more pounds.
• 90210 (1.6/4) returned to 3.2 million.

9pm

• Approximately 17 million saw Cloris Leachman’s elimination on Dancing with the Stars (3.8/9 in 18-49).
• The Mentalist (16.2 million, 3.8/9) picked up another 900,000.
• A Fringe* repeat (2.5/6) turned in 5.9 million.
• Privileged (2.2 million, 1.1/3) got help from a fresh lead-in.

10pm

• Without a Trace (12.1 million, 2.9/8 in 18-49) improved by 500,000.
• Law & Order: SVU (9.2 million, 3.4/9) was down slightly.
• Eli Stone (7.7 million, 2.0/5) gave up another 800,000.

*denotes repeat

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