Mysteries tend to repeat well; serialized dramas do not. NBC's Sunday lineup -- a two-hour "Dateline" and reruns of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Crossing Jordan" -- was No. 1 in total viewers in Nielsen's estimates, outperforming ABC's schedule of repeats, including "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy." In total viewers, NBC also edged out CBS for the night, which featured a repeat of "60 Minutes," Sunday's most-watched program with 10.21 million viewers, and the Tony Awards (6.62 million). Among adults 18 to 49, ABC and Fox tied for first. Amid its comedy repeats, Fox continues to feature original episodes on Sundays of Seth MacFarlane's resuscitated "Family Guy" and his new animated series, "American Dad." "Family Guy" yielded Fox's best ratings for the night in both total viewers (7.23 million) and among 18- to 49-year-olds. In the next half-hour, "American Dad" lost more than a million of those viewers. KATE AURTHUR

Continue reading the main story