Although it was the most-watched show overall, the return of Desperate Housewives got off to a slow start. CBS’ Masters overrun didn’t help matters either.  In the end, the Alphabet network came away with both the viewers and the demos.

8pm

• Big Brother (10.7 million, 2.7/7 in 18-49) benefitted from the golf game.
• Oprah’s Big Give (8.9 million, 2.9/8) suffered a bit in its new time slot.
• The Simpsons (6.9 million, 3.3/9) and King of the Hill (6 million, 2.8/7) had nice gains from last week.
• Monk (5.2 million, 1.1/3) slipped by 500,000.
• Everybody Hates Chris (1.3 million, 0.5/1) and Aliens in America* (1.1 million, 0.4/1) both saw improvements.

9pm

• Desperate Housewives (16 million, 5.7/13 in 18-49) was yesterday’s biggest draw.
• Cold Case (8.8 million, 2.5/6) took second to the ABC show.
• Family Guy* (6.5 million, 3.0/7) was up slightly from last Sunday; American Dad* (5.4 million, 2.5/6) dropped about 1 million from there.
• Psych (4.2 million, 1.2/3) lost a good chunk of its lead-in.
• The Game (1.5 million, 0.6/1) had a 300,000 bump; Girlfriends* (1.1 million, 0.4/1) declined by 100,000.

10pm

• A special episode of Eli Stone (9.2 million, 2.9/7 in 18-49) got a nice time slot boost.
• Dexter (8.2 million, 2.4/6) grew by 1.1 million.
• Law & Order: SVU* (1.5/4) settled with 5.5 million.

*denotes repeat

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