Last night's episode of “Samantha," its second, posted a 4.6 overnight rating among viewers 18-49, up just a slight 2 percent versus the 4.5 for last week’s premiere. While that might not seem like much in itself, it's a promising sign for the show. It's one of the few new shows this season to actually boost its rating during its second week.

“Samantha” also finished first in its timeslot among total viewers with 14.4 million, ahead of the 11.3 million NBC’s “Heroes” averaged in that half hour.

“Samantha's” small lift in 18-49s may very well have come at the expense of CBS’s competing 9:30 p.m. comedy “Rules of Engagement,” which slipped from last week’s 4.0 to a 3.9 last night. And that was despite its lead-in “Two and a Half Men” staying steady week-to-week at a 4.8.

“I think the audience that has been watching ‘Two and Half Men’ and not ‘Rules of Engagement’ could potentially go to ‘Samantha,’” Jordan Breslow, director of broadcast research at MediaCom told Media Life before last week’s premiere.

But there are two other factors that could have helped “Samantha” grow in its second week. First, lead-in “Dancing with the Stars” posted a 5.7 overnight rating in the half-hour leading into the comedy, up 16 percent from a 4.9 in its final half hour last week.

Also, Fox slipped 29 percent week-to-week in the 9 p.m. timeslot, to a 2.0 from a 2.8 last week, when the network was airing Major League Baseball playoffs. Last night's competition was considerably lighter, the fading rookie drama “K-Ville.”

Also airing in that half hour is "The Game," CW's highest-rated Monday comedy so far this season.

ABC ended up first for the night among viewers 18-49 with a 4.6 average overnight rating and an 11 share. CBS was second at 4.1/10, NBC third at 3.4/8, Fox fourth at 2.5/6, Univision fifth at 1.8/5 and CW sixth at 1.0/2.

At 8 p.m. ABC led with a 5.2 for its first hour of “Dancing with the Stars,” followed by CBS with a 3.5 for “How I met Your Mother” (3.4) and “Big Bang Theory” (3.5).

Fox was third with a 3.0 for “Prison Break,” NBC fourth with a 2.8 for “Chuck,” Univision fifth with a 1.2 for “Amar sin Limites” and CW sixth with a 1.0 for “Everybody Hates Chris” (1.0) and “Aliens in America” (0.9).

ABC led again at 9 p.m. with a 5.2 average for its last hour of “Stars” and its airing of “Samantha Who?” (4.6), with NBC second with a 4.9 for “Heroes.”

CBS was third with a 4.3 average for “Two and a Half Men” (4.8) and “Rules of Engagement” (3.9), Univision fourth with a 2.4 for “Destilando Amor,” Fox fifth with a 2.0 for “K-Ville” and CW sixth with a 1.0 average for “Girlfriends” (0.9) and “The Game” (1.2).

At 10 p.m. CBS took the lead with a 4.5 for “CSI: Miami,” while ABC slid to second with a 3.4 for “The Bachelor.” NBC was third with a 2.5 for “Journeyman” and Univision fourth with a 1.9 for “Cristina.”

Among households, ABC was first for the night with a 10.6 average overnight rating and a 16 share. CBS was second at 7.9/12, NBC third at 4.9/7, Fox fourth at 4.5/7, Univision fifth at 2.1/3 and CW sixth at 1.6/2.