'Ugly Betty' premiere ratings bestial; 'Smallville' up

When Betty had her flash forward, did she see herself still on the air in April?

The two-hour return of ABC's "Ugly Betty" drew 5.1 million viewers and a 1.4 preliminary adults 18-49 rating.

That's matching the premiere of "Supernanny" in the slot last year, and down 58% from the show's previous Thursday debut (in the time period "FlashForward" has since co-opted). ABC points out the drama performed slightly better -- 16% -- than its October average last year among total viewers, for whatever that's worth. Also, Betty got a carefully calibrated makeover this season to be roughly 25% less homely, see photo.

Fox won the night with the first night of baseball ALCS playoffs, with ratings that won't be accurate until later.

CBS' "Ghosts Whisperer" (8.2 million, 2.0) and "Medium" (8.0 million, 1.9) declined slightly, though "Numbers" (7.8 million 1.8)  improved a bit.

NBC's "Law & Order" (6.6 million, 1.6) was up a tenth, but "The Jay Leno Show" (5 million, 1.2) hit a new low.

After all the "Smallville" (2.6 million, 1.1) angst this week, the CW superhero stepchild climbed 22% despite facing increased competition. In fact, "Smallville" posted a better adult demo rating than what "Dollhouse" has been averaging on the night (with an episode titled, of all things, "Echo"). If the number holds, it will be the best performance of "Smallville" in the slot in the demo so far this season. Its 18-34 demo rating was stable.