Ratings: Beyond the Blackboard Helps CBS Chalk Up an Easter Win

Amid all the Easter dinners and visiting, prime-time television tried to lure viewers with a mishmash of first-run episodes, specials and repeats, and CBS won the night in total viewership — helped by the new Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Beyond the Blackboard.

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The two-hour Blackboard chalked up 8.49 million viewers for CBS from 9 to 11 p.m., according to preliminary Nielsen figures.
At 8/7c, CBS' The Amazing Race took the hour with 9.28 million viewers. ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (7.77 million) was the runner-up, while NBC's America's Next Great Restaurantserved 3.59 million — a series low.

Fox aired a repeat of The Simpsons Movie, which pulled in 3.63 million from 8 to 10 p.m.

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At 9/8c, a fresh episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives lured 9.87 million viewers. Meantime, NBC's Celebrity Apprenticegot 8.08 million from 9 to 11 p.m.

In prime time's final hour, a new Brothers & Sisters snagged 6.63 million viewers on ABC.