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The return of the cult favorite NBC series earned a 4.3 rating/7 share in Fast National ratings from The Nielsen Co., topping its Sunday performance, and posting the best Monday scripted ratings on NBC since "Trauma" premiered Sept. 28. The success didn't follow through to other shows, however, as "Heroes" matched a series low from the previous week in its new 9 p.m. timeslot, and the added publicity for Jay Leno didn't do much to boost the Monday ratings of his show.

"Heroes" earned a 2.9/4, according to Zap2it, losing nearly 33 percent of its lead-in audience from "Chuck." In fact, "Heroes" was NBC's lowest-rated show of the night as "Jay Leno" built on its lead-in by nearly 7 percent to finish with a 3.1/5. "Heroes" is now nearly 26 percent off its already low-rated season premiere, and almost 15 percent off its season average. The low matches what it did in the second hour of its previous week after posting a 3.4/5 in the timeslot now occupied by "Chuck."

If NBC didn't have much of a case to think about pulling "Heroes" from the air, back-to-back outings featuring a sub-3.0 household rating might be the final nail. "Chuck," however, seems to be the mild success NBC has been looking for. After finishing Sunday with a 4.1/7 average, "Chuck" built on its audience rather than see a traditional slip after the premiere to show it may have the staying power needed to anchor Monday nights. This particular outing was nearly 8 percent better than its season average last year.