Ratings: Lost Returns... to Two Million Fewer Fans

Call it apples and oranges, as some of you will, but that is the short story here. This Wednesday's complete ratings recap:

" As Bones (12.64 million total viewers) surpassed last week's milestone performance, Friday Night Lights (6.56 mil) lost the same 300,000 heads that Beauty and the Geek (4.39 mil) gained. UPDATE: Bones tied its all-time high in viewers, and delivered its biggest numbers ever without an Idol lead-in.

" A "Supe'd up" Criminal Minds (17.23 million) improved upon its previous fresh Wednesday outing by nearly four million. American Idol, perhaps suffering from weirdo fatigue, slipped almost four mil week-to-week.

" One Tree Hill (2.86 mil) was up 600K. (Because someone will ask.)

" And finally, what your eyeballs are really here for: Lost was welcomed back by an audience of 14.68 million, a drop of 2.4 mil from its last Wednesdays-at-9 episode, but obviously a marked improvement over (take your pick) Invasion (8.6 mil), Primetime: Medical Mysteries (six mil) and The Nine (4.1 mil). Still, CSI: NY (15.78 million, up 2.4 mil) placed first in the 10 o'clock hour. ADDENDUM: Mind you, Lost's lead-in was its own recap show, which with 9.06 million viewers gave it a better shove-off than the According to Jim - In Case of Emergency 9 pm combo will.