Despite low premiere numbers last Friday, ABC’s lineup picked up a little steam this week. This improvement, however, was not enough to take down CBS’ strong staples.

8pm

• Ghost Whisperer (9.4 million, 2.6/9 in 18-49) was up slightly.
• Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (5.8 million, 1.4/5) did the same as last week.
• Wife Swap (4.3 million, 1.5/6) improved by 1/2 million.
• America’s Toughest Jobs (4 million, 1.2/4) picked up another 600,000.
• Everybody Hates Chris (1.8 million, 0.7/3) slipped by 300,000; The Game (1.9 million, 0.8/3) remained steady.

9pm

• Deal or No Deal (6.5 million, 1.5/5 in 18-49) added on 200,000.
• The Ex List (5.7 million, 1.9/6) shrunk by 1.2 million.
• Supernanny (5 million, 1.8/6) rounded up 800,000 more.
• Don’t Forget the Lyrics (4.9 million, 1.4/5) raked in another 500,000.
• America’s Next Top Model* (1.4 million, 0.6/2) was down a notch.

10pm

• Numb3rs (8 million, 2.2/7 in 18-49) lost 100,000.
• Approximately 7 million watched the new Britney Spears video on 20/20 (2.2/7).
• Life (4.9 million, 1.4/4) slipped by 500,000.

*denotes repeat

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