Fox wins Tuesday as special 'Unusuals' slips

'The Unusuals' tries to be a comedy
 and drama at the same time

ABC gave the freshman cop drama The Unusuals another shot to save itself Tuesday night. The network aired an episode in the former Cupid spot with a lead in from the potentially more compatible Dancing With the Stars results show instead of Wednesday night's Lost.

Yet even running against repeats at 10 p.m., Unusuals (5.3 million viewers, 1.3 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) placed last in the hour and dropped a couple tenths from last week to its lowest rating yet in the adult demographic.

Otherwise Fox ruled the night with American Idol (23.2 million, 8.0) contestants performing disco tunes. Though its rating will improve slightly in the nationals, the singing competition was down 6% from last week and off 12% from last year to post its lowest Tuesday number since 2002. Idol was followed by Fringe (10.5 million, 4.1). 

NBC was second with a two-hour Biggest Loser (9.3 million, 3.7) matching last week, followed by a repeat. Placing third in the demo for the evening and second among total viewers, CBS aired an all-repeat lineup. ABC had the second week of its According to Jim hour (3.7 million, 1.0), down a tenth from last week and the Dancing With the Stars results show (14.5 million, 3.2) slipping 9%.