'Once Upon a Time' rebounds to 8.8 million for ABC

Once Upon a Time's ratings surged last night (Sunday) as ABC returned it to the schedules after two weeks off.

The fairytale drama's latest episode, aptly named 'The Return', was seen by 8.8m and a rating of 2.9 in the 18-49 adult demos - soaring away from its April 1 all-time low.

Movie Fireflight, airing in place of GCB, garnered 7.6m (1.6) between 9pm and 11pm.

CBS fell into second place in the primetime league table, despite seeing stable audiences from The Amazing Race (9.1m/2.5), The Good Wife (10.3m/1.8) and NYC 22 (7.5m/1.4) compared with last week.

In the 7pm hour, 60 Minutes climbed to 12.7m (1.7), and gave the Tiffany Network its only slot win.

Fox's 25th anniversary special, a celebration of the network's stay on US television, pulled in a slightly underwhelming figure of 4.3m (1.8) between 8pm and 10pm.

Original pilots of Married with Children (2.9m/1.4) and The Simpsons (3.2m/1.5) aired at 7pm.

Celebrity Apprentice fell to 6.2m (2.0) for NBC between 9pm and 11pm, prior to which Harry's Law held a steady but unspectacular 8.5m (0.9). Dateline interested 4.2m (1.2) at 7pm.