ABC's 'Dating in the Dark' wins time period; few desire NBC's 'Wanted'

The premiere of ABC's new underlit reality series "Dating in the Dark" managed to retain most of its "Bachelorette" lead-in and win its time period Monday night.

"Dating" (6.3 million viewers, 2.5 preliminary adults 18-49 ratings) shows singles getting to know each other in pitch-dark rooms while viewers watch via night vision cameras. Critics were kinder to the show than one might expect. Last night's premiere started a couple minutes past the hour, which means there's some "Bachelorette" overrun coming into play. "Bachelorette" (8 million, 2.7) matched last week, while "Dating" improved on the recent performance of "Here Come the Newlyweds" in the slot.

ABC won the night, followed in the demo by CBS with repeats and Fox with repeats.

In fourth, NBC had its underacheving "Great American Road Trip" (3.5 million, 1.0) continued to perform as it has been performing. The network had a repeat at 9 p.m. and at 10 p.m. launched "The Wanted" (3 million, 0.8), its investigative reporting show that goes after terrorist suspects. The show has generated plenty of media hand-wringing and some unimpressed reviews. The debut dipped from its lead-in and landed in last place.