Fox’s new legal drama “Canterbury’s Law” had a terrible debut last night among adults 18-49, finishing fifth in its timeslot. Oddly, airing on the youngest-skewing Big Four network, the show did much better among adults 50-plus, where it placed first.

“Canterbury’s” averaged a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, placing fifth in the timeslot behind even Univision. The show, about a deeply troubled but brilliant lawyer played by Julianna Margulies, received decent reviews and promotion on Fox’s “American Idol.”

But leading off the night, especially with viewer drain from daylight savings taking effect, proved a difficult task for the dark show. That’s an hour usually filled by reality and comedy, and the drama’s serious tone may have turned of younger viewers.

Yet “Canterbury’s” did do well among the adults ages 50 and older who flock to other legal and procedural dramas like CBS’s “NCIS” and NBC’s “Law & Order.” In that demo, “Canterbury’s” averaged a 5.4 rating, 35 percent ahead of second-place ABC’s 4.0, boosting the show to No. 2 in the timeslot among total viewers with 7.6 million, just 100,000 behind leader ABC.

CBS was first for the night among viewers 18-49 with a 2.9 average overnight rating and an 8 share. NBC was second at 2.7/7, Fox and ABC tied for third at 2.1/6, Univision fifth at 1.8/5 and CW sixth at 0.6/2.
 
ABC started the night in the lead with a 2.6 rating at 8 p.m. for a special “Bachelor,” with CBS second with a 2.4 for a repeat of “How I Met Your Mother” and a new “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (2.7). Univision was third with a 2.2 for “Al Diablo con los Guapos,” NBC fourth with a 2.1 for “My Dad is Better than Your Dad,” Fox fifth with a 1.7 for “Canterbury’s” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for a repeat of “Gossip Girl.”
 
At 9 p.m. CBS took the lead with a 3.5 average for a repeat of “Two and a Half Men” and another episode of “Old Christine” (3.3), while NBC moved up to second with a 3.0 for “Deal or No Deal.” Fox was third with a 2.5 for episode three of “New Amsterdam,” well off from last week’s post-“American Idol” sneak previews, Univision fourth with a 1.8 for “Pasion,” ABC fifth with a 1.7 for its first hour of the season finale of “October Road” and CW sixth with a 0.8 for “The Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.”
 
NBC took the lead during the 10 p.m. hour with a 2.9 rating for “Medium,” with CBS slipping to second with a 2.7 for a repeat of “CSI: Miami.” ABC was third with a 1.9 for the second hour of “Road” and Univision fourth with a 1.5 for “Cristina.”
 
Among households, CBS led the night with a 6.1 average overnight rating and a 10 share, followed by NBC at 5.9/9, Fox at 5.2/8, ABC at 4.0/6, Univision at 2.1/3 and CW at 1.1/2.