CBS soared Monday night to win the evening among total adults 18 to 49, overthrowing “Heroes”-powered NBC.

CBS’s comedy and procedural block, including a strong series premiere for “Rules of Engagement,” gave the network its highest-rated Monday of the season, a day after the network’s Super Bowl broadcast posted the second-biggest audience ever for the NFL championship game. CBS’s performance overtook NBC, which has dominated Monday nights this season thanks to “Deal or No Deal” and “Heroes.”

The evening on CBS kicked off with the Super Bowl-themed episode of “How I Met Your Mother” (a season high 3.9 rating, according to preliminary Nielsen Media Research figures), followed by “The Class” (a 3.6, the best rating since the show’s premiere), “Two and a Half Men” (a season high 5.8) and then “Rules of Engagement” (5.2).

NBC was second for the evening with “Deal” (5.0), “Heroes” (6.4) and “Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip” (3.2), ratings that were on par with their performances this season.

Fox slipped down to third, despite “Prison Break” (4.1) and “24” (5.0) still performing strongly.

ABC lagged in fourth once again with “Wife Swap” (3.5), “Supernanny” (3.8) and a special “In Style Celebrity Weddings” (2.6).

The CW averaged a 1.2 with its comedy block.

(Editor: Romanelli)