Ratings: ‘This Is Us’ Return Tops Tuesday in Key Demo, but ‘Zoey’s’ and ‘Nurses’ Drag NBC Down

“This Is Us” returned Tuesday from an unplanned hiatus due to another coronavirus production shutdown. And while the drama finished first in demo ratings, lead-in “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” and lead-out “Nurses” let NBC down in terms of primetime averages. CBS, which returned procedurals “NCIS,” “FBI” and “FBI: Most Wanted” from rerun-land, topped primetime outright.

CBS was first in ratings with a 0.8 rating/5 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 7.5 million, according to preliminary numbers. “NCIS” at 8 p.m. posted a 0.9/6 and 9.5 million viewers. At 9, “FBI” put up a 0.8/5 and 7.6 million viewers. “FBI: Most Wanted” at 10 received a 0.6/4 and 5.5 million viewers.

NBC was second in ratings with a 0.6/4 and third in viewers with 3 million. “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” at 8 had a 0.4/3 and 2.1 million viewers. “This Is Us” at 9 drew a 1.0/6 and 5 million viewers. At 10, “Nurses” got a 0.3/2 and 1.9 million viewers.

Tuesday’s “This Is Us” episode saw Kevin (Justin Hartley) rushing home to Los Angeles from a movie set in Vancouver in hopes of making it in time to see Madison (Caitlin Thompson) give birth to their twins. Kevin gets delayed first when he stops to help a man who has been in a car accident, and again at the airport when he realizes he lost his ID while helping the man. The episode ends on that cliffhanger, leaving fans to wonder if Kevin will manage to find a way onto that plane.

ABC was third in ratings with a 0.5/3 and second in viewers with 3.1 million. “To Tell the Truth” at 8 had a 0.6/4 and 3.8 million viewers. At 9, “Black-ish” got a 0.4/3 and 2.3 million viewers. At 9:30, “Mixed-ish” matched its lead-in’s rating and share, but the spinoff’s overall audience declined to 1.9 million viewers. At 10, “Big Sky” picked things back up with a 0.6/4 and 3.6 million viewers.

Fox was fourth in ratings with a 0.4/3 and in viewers with 2.6 million. “The Resident” at 8 had a 0.5/3 and 3.3 million viewers. At 9, “Prodigal Son” got a 0.4/2 and 1.9 million viewers.

Univision and Telemundo tied for fifth in ratings, both with a 0.3/2. Univision was fifth in total viewers with 1.3 million, Telemundo was sixth with 936,000.

The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.1/0 and in viewers with 397,000. At 8, “Two Sentence Horror Stories” had a 0.1/0 and 520,000 viewers. Following a rerun, “Trickster” at 9 got a 0.1/0 and 367,000 viewers.