Ratings: How Did the Girls Do?

Opening the night with 15.4 million viewers and surging to 20.4 mil by the end of its 90-minute run, Dancing with the Stars was Tuesday's big winner yet again, with House (14.2 million) and NCIS (13.8 mil) placing second and third in the 8 pm hour. The Season 7 premiere of Gilmore Girls, averaging 4.55 million viewers, came in last but gave the CW its best non-Top Model audience to date, was third in women ages 18-34, and actually edged out a Heroes encore in the hour's back half.At 9 the also-rans were The Unit (holding steady with a hair over 12 million), Law & Order: CI (10.45 mil) and Standoff (up a tick with 8.1 mil), while ABC's Help Me Help You, despite the help of its lead-in, was sampled by just 11.9 mil.Law & Order: SVU and its 14.3 million viewers took the 10 o'clock title, followed by a horse race between Boston Legal (9.95 mil) and Smith (averaging 9.55 mil, yet losing nearly a mil in its second half).