The post-baseball return of House brought in big numbers for Fox on Tuesday night, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

It was ABC, however, that dominated primetime with Dancing With The Stars, which averaged 20.4m viewers and a 15% share in the adults 18-49 demographic between 8pm and 9:30pm. Closest to those numbers in the 8pm hour was CBS with NCIS, which posted a respectable 15.9m viewers and an 11% 18-49 share. Fox's Standoff placed third with 4.9m viewers and a 6% share in 18-49, while NBC's Friday Night Lights had an extremely weak performance with 3.9m viewers and a 5% 18-49 share.

At 9, Dancing led for the first half-hour but ABC's Help Me Help You took the network to fourth place in the last half of the hour with 9.5m viewers and a 7% share in 18-49. House made a triumphant return to Fox, having been bumped for baseball in preceding weeks, with the show averaging 14.1m viewers and a 15% share in 18-49. The Unit on CBS had 11.3m viewers and an 8% 18-49 share, while NBC limped in with Law and Order: Criminal Intent's 8.5m viewers and 7% 18-49 share.

At 10, NBC surged to first place with Law and Order: SVU's 13.2m viewers and 13% 18-49 share. Boston Legal on ABC placed second with 10.3m viewers and an 8% 18-49 share; CBS opted to run a CSI: NY repeat in the hour.

Tuesday nights and UK pickups