'Community,' 'Parks' rise; 'Fringe' drops

UPDATE: In the nationals, CBS' "The Mentalist" (3.6) beat "Private Practice" (3.4) for the first time. If CBS' sophomore crime procedural keeps growing, and "CSI" continues declining, I expect the network will shift "Mentalist" to 9 p.m. and push "CSI" to 10 p.m. like all its spinoffs. Also, NBC's "The Office" (4.1) improved notably and "Vampire Diaries" dipped (1.9).

PREVIOUS: "Community" and "Parks & Recreation" rose to their highest ratings in weeks on Thursday night. The NBC comedies were recently picked up for full seasons and showed spark on a night when most shows declined. While over on Fox, some viewers didn't get the message that no Game 7 meant the return of "Fringe" -- the series hit a dramatic series low.

ABC won the night, with its lineup slipping about 4% across the board: "FlashForward" (8.5 million viewers, 2.6 preliminary adults 18-49 rating), "Grey's Anatomy" (13.6 million, 5.0) and "Private Practice" (9.2 million, 3.5). Both medical dramas won their hours.

CBS was tops in total viewers and second in the demo with "Survivor" (12.7 million, 3.7) continuing to perform strong and win its hour. "CSI" (15.1 million, 3.4) was steady and "The Mentalist" (15.4 million, 3.4) dropped a couple notches from last week's rise.   

NBC's "Community" (5.6 million, 2.3) reached its best rating since moving to 8 p.m., while "Parks & Recreation" (4.9 million, 2.2) had its highest number since last April. Curiously, even though the earlier comedies rose, "Office" (7.9 million, 3.9) and "30 Rock" (5.9 million, 2.9) dropped about 6% each. "The Jay Leno Show" (4.7 million, 1.6) was up 7%. This is the second night this week Leno's talk show has posted gains. Could "Leno Show" ratings finally be settling? 

Returning after a two-week hiatus, Fox's drama lineup had "Bones" (8.5 million, 2.5) down 11%. At 9 p.m., "Fringe" (5 million, 1.7) hit a serious low, falling 23%.

On the CW, "Vampire Diaries" (4.2 million, 2.0) admirably retained its recent gains. "Supernatural" (2.7 million, 1.2) continues to pretend like its not paired with a hit show, falling 14% this week.