New programming is slowly returning to Thursday, but it was a show that’s been in originals for months that stole the night.

A special results edition of Fox’s “American Idol” airing at 8 p.m., pushed back one night by Wednesday’s charity gala “Idol Gives Back,” averaged a 6.8 adults 18-49 rating last night, according to Nielsen overnights. That boosted Fox past NBC and CBS, whose schedules were both in originals.

Fox averaged a 5.4 rating and 14 share, followed by CBS at 4.5/12 and NBC at 3.4/9. “Idol” was the night’s highest-rated show, followed by “CSI,” which averaged a 5.7 in its second week back from a writers’ strike-induced hiatus.

NBC’s 8 p.m. comedies “My Name is Earl” and “30 Rock” were about on par with their pre-strike averages, a decent performance considering the “Idol” competition. “The Office” was the network’s highest-rated show of the night, drawing a 4.8 rating, tying its best since last September’s season premiere.

“ER,” which was recently renewed for a 15th and final season, slipped to a 3.1 at 10 p.m., tying a series low.

ABC’s original Thursday programming won’t return for another two weeks, and that put the network well behind for the evening. Univision placed fourth at 1.7/4, ABC fifth at 1.6/4 and CW sixth at 0.7/2.
 
Fox started the night in the lead with a 6.8 rating at 8 p.m. for “Idol,” followed by CBS with a 3.8 for “Survivor.” NBC was third with a 2.8 for “Earl” (3.0) and “Rock” (2.7), Univision fourth with a 1.9 for “Al Diablo con los Guapos,” ABC fifth with a 1.1 for a repeat of “Desperate Housewives” and CW sixth with a 0.8 for a “Smallville” rerun.
 
CBS took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 5.7 for “CSI,” while NBC jumped to second with a 4.1 average for “Office” (4.8) and “Scrubs” (3.4). Fox slipped to third that hour with a 4.0 for “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” with Univision fourth with a 1.9 for “Pasion,” ABC fifth with a 1.8 for another “Housewives” repeat and CW sixth with a 0.6 for a “Supernatural” rerun.
 
At 10 p.m. CBS was first again with a 3.9 for “Without a Trace,” with NBC second with a 3.1 for “ER,” ABC third with a 1.9 for “Eli Stone” and Univision fourth with a 1.2 for “Amas de Casa Desperadas.”
 
CBS ended up first for the night among households with a 9.7 average overnight rating and a 16 share, followed by Fox at 9.2/15, NBC at 4.7/8, ABC at 3.8/6, Univision at 1.8/3 and CW at 1.4/2.