“Lost” and “Celebrity Apprentice” posted season-low ratings Thursday, while “American Idol” gave yet another lead-out a series high.

A special Thursday edition of “Idol” was No. 1 for the night, with a 9.1 in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers. That’s up 7% from last week.

“Idol” also boosted its lead-out, “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” to a series-high 5.2. “Idol” did the same thing Wednesday with its lead-out “Back to You.”

Fox finished first with a 7.2, the highest Thursday night for the network in nearly a year.

CBS finished second with a 3.3, anchored by a new episode of “Survivor: Micronesia” (4.2), up 2% from last week.

A new episode of “Lost” (5.4) helped ABC take a close third (3.2), but “Lost” put up its worst ratings this season, dipping 5% from last week. “Eli Stone” (2.7) did improve from last week (2.5).

NBC (2.5) dropped into the fourth spot, with new showings of “Celebrity Apprentice” (3.1) and “Lipstick Jungle” (2.5). “Apprentice” also had its worst showing this season.

The CW (0.6) ran repeats of “Smallville” (0.7) and “Reaper” (0.6), the latter in its time-period premiere.

“American Idol” took the top ratings spot again on Wednesday, helping Fox to its seventh consecutive Wednesday win. Its competitors fielded a tight pack of shows.

A 90-minute “Idol” took in a 10.4 in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic, down 7% from last Wednesday’s two-hour show. “Idol” gave a leg up to its lead-out show, “Back to You,” which tied its series-high rating with a 4.4.

Fox took first for the night with an 8.9.

NBC (2.6) placed second with new episodes of “Deal or No Deal” (2.2) and “Law & Order” (3.4), followed by a repurposed-from-USA episode of “Law & Order: CI” (2.2). “L&O” rose about 10% from last week, and took first in the 10 p.m. hour.

ABC (2.4) was third with “Wife Swap” (2.1), “Supernanny” (3.3) and the time-period premiere of “Men in Trees,” (1.7) which replaced “Cashmere Mafia” in the 10 p.m. slot.

“Supernanny” bounded up 43% from last week, thanks to a half-hour less of “Idol.” “Nanny’s” audience in the demo grew 36% in its second half-hour.

CBS (2.2) took fourth with “Big Brother” (2.1), and repeats of “Criminal Minds” (2.3) and “CSI: NY” (2.3). “Brother” improved slightly from last week’s 2.0.

The CW (1.5) placed fifth with “America’s Next Top Model” (2.0), up 5% from last week’s premiere. The network rounded out the night with a repeat of “Pussycat Dolls Presents: Girlicious” (1.0), which bounced up 25% from last week’s time-period premiere.

(Editor: Baumann)

Some NBC execs are incredibly relieved over the end of the writers strike, especially since the debut of the navel-gazing twentysomething drama “Quarterlife,” repurposed from MySpace during the strike, put up the worst performance in the Tuesday 10 p.m. time slot that NBC has seen in nearly 17 years.

“Quarterlife” clocked in with a 1.6 in the 18- to 49-year-old age group, according to preliminary Nielsen research, down 39% from the previous four-week average in that time period, mainly held by “Law & Order: SVU.”

New episodes of “Jericho” (2.2) and “Primetime: What Would You Do?” (2.9) handily beat the premiere.

Meanwhile, “Idol” was top-rated on yet another Tuesday (11.0), but down 3% from last week’s two hour show. Due to the “Idol” lead-in, a special “Back to You” (4.5) had its best numbers to date.

Fox finished first for the night with a 9.4.

Despite “Quarterlife’s” stumble, NBC placed second overall with a 2.6, helped by a new episode of “The Biggest Loser: Couples” (3.1), down a mere 6% from last week.

CBS was third (2.3), with an “NCIS” rerun (2.1) and new episodes of “Big Brother” (2.6) and “Jericho” (2.2). Both “Brother” and “Jericho” posted increases from last week, up 37% and 10%, respectively.

ABC took fourth (1.8) with tepid showings from two episodes of “Just for Laughs” (1.2, 1.3), “According to Jim” (1.4) and “Carpoolers” (1.2).

“What Would You Do?” was the star of the night for ABC, improving the previous four-week average by 81%.

The CW (1.1) was fifth with a repeat of “Reaper” (0.7) and a new episode of “One Tree Hill” (1.4). “Hill” was up slightly from last week (1.3), and tied its second-best showing this season.

UPDATED, 4:41 p.m.: "Quarterlife" actually dipped lower than the preliminary numbers totaled, ending up with a 1.3, according to Nielsen numbers.

NBC’s conclusion to its “Million Dollar Mission” on “Deal or No Deal” was Monday’s highest-rated show, but ABC won the night, powered by its adaptation of “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Putting up a 3.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers, the three-hour “Raisin” helped ABC (3.6) take a rare Monday win during February sweeps.

This breaks NBC’s six-week stranglehold on Monday nights.

“Raisin” was more than likely boosted by publicity from the Sundance Film Festival (ABC said it’s the first broadcast television film to be screened at the film festival) and leading man Sean “Diddy” Combs. It also was heavily promoted during ABC’s telecast of the Oscars Sunday night.

ABC has been suffering on Mondays during the February sweep, with mediocre showings from “Dance War” and stiff competition from NBC and Fox.

NBC (3.2) came in second, led by “Deal or No Deal” (4.2), which had half of its 26 cases marked for the million-dollar prize. The second week of “My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad” dipped 20% from its premiere last week with a 2.8.

A new episode of “Medium” (2.5) rounded out the night for NBC, tying a repeat of “CSI: Miami” on CBS despite putting up its worst ratings this season.

Fox was a close third (3.1) with a special episode of “Moment of Truth” (3.6) and a new episode of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (2.7).

CBS (2.6) was fourth with a scattershot of repeats and new episodes of “Welcome to the Captain” (1.8) and “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (3.0), down from last week by 9%.

The CW (0.7) took fifth with a “Gossip Girl” repeat (0.5) and “Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious” (0.8), down slightly from last week.

“American Idol” made a rare Thursday night appearance, stealing the top spot from “Lost” and giving Fox the nightly win.

“Idol” posted an 8.4 in the 18 to 49 demographic, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers. A new celebrity episode of “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!” rounded out the night with a series-high 4.8, giving Fox a nightly average of 6.6.

It was “Idol’s” lowest-rated results show since another Thursday airing in April 2004.

A new episode of “Lost” was second for the night with a 5.7, down slightly from last week. ABC came in second with a 3.4 for the night.

“Lost” is heading back to a 10 p.m. Thursday slot, as ABC announced “Grey’s Anatomy” will return at 9 p.m. April 24 with a run of five new episodes.

“Lost” made a similar move on Wednesdays last year, which caused some turbulence with its ratings.

ABC is banking on “Grey’s” to increase "Lost's" lead-in (“Grey’s” is guaranteed to do better than the anemic 1.7 the “Lost” repeat posted Thursday), and “Lost” is highly rated in DVR views.

Also in the wings to jump back into the fray on Thursday is “Ugly Betty,” meaning Thursday is returning to its big night status in April (NBC is readying its comedy block, CBS has “Survivor” and is prepping “CSI’s” return in early April, and Fox has “Lyrics” and “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”).

“Eli Stone” scored a 2.7, similar to last week.

CBS (3.3) took third with a new “Survivor” (4.0) and repeats of “CSI” (3.1) and “Without a Trace” (3.0). "Trace" ended up winning the 10 p.m. slot despite facing original programming.

NBC (1.2) came in fourth with a “My Name Is Earl” repeat (1.7), and new episodes of “Celebrity Apprentice” (3.2) and “Lipstick Jungle” (2.5).

“Apprentice” dipped 13% from last week for one of its lowest showings, but it lacked a “Deal or No Deal” lead-in this week.

The CW brought up the rear in fifth with a repeat (1.0) and a new episode of “Supernatural” (1.3), which tied the show’s season high.