In its series debut, Fox’s new “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” showed even more muscle than NBC’s gladiators.

“Connor” surpassed “American Gladiators” to become the season’s top-rated premiere last night, averaging a 7.6 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, in its 8 p.m. timeslot.

Of course the show rode a tremendous lead-in for the New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game earlier in the night. In its final hour, the Giants’ surprising second-round upset of the top-seeded Cowboys drew a huge 14.5 18-49 rating and 37.2 million total viewers, and the game will likely be the most-watched program of the season when final ratings are released.

As a reminder, fast nationals measure timeslot and not program data, so they will adjust when final ratings come out tomorrow. But even if “Sarah” got an artificial bump from football, it was still a great debut.

From its first to its second half hour, the sci-fi show, based on the popular “Terminator” movies, did decline 12 percent, from an 8.1 to a 7.1. But that’s not a significant falloff.

Its rating was well ahead of last Sunday’s “Gladiators,” which averaged a 5.9. “Connor” averaged 18.3 million total viewers and easily won its timeslot in every major demo, doing especially well with young men.

“Connor” faces a much tougher test tonight, when it moves to its regular 9 p.m. timeslot. There its lead-in will be “Prison Break,” which also does well in male demos but will obviously provide a much smaller lead-in. 

Meanwhile, the bare-bones Golden Globes announcement on NBC last night managed just a 1.7 18-49 rating at 9 p.m. and 5.8 million viewers, or less than a third who watched last year’s full-blown ceremony.

Not surprisingly, Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with a 9.0 average overnight rating and a 21 share. ABC was second at 3.9/9, CBS third at 3.1/8, NBC fourth at 1.4/3, Univision fifth at 1.2/3 and CW sixth at 0.4/1.
 
At 7 p.m. Fox was first with a 14.5 rating for the end of its NFL football coverage, followed by ABC with a 2.2 for “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” CBS was third with a 1.8 for “60 Minutes,” Univision fourth with a 1.1 for “Hora Pico,” NBC fifth with a 0.9 for its first half of “Dateline” and CW sixth with a 0.2 for “CW Now” (0.2) and a repeat of “Aliens in America.”
 
Fox led again at 8 p.m. with a 7.6 for “Connor,” with ABC second with a 3.8 for a repeat of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” CBS was third with a 3.7 for “The Amazing Race,” NBC fourth with a 1.3 for another hour of “Dateline,” Univision fifth with a 1.1 for its first of three hours of “5 Magnificos” and CW sixth with a 0.4 for a repeat of “One Tree Hill.”
 
ABC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 5.5 for an original episode of “Home Edition,” while Fox slid to second with a 4.8 average for “Family Guy” (5.6) and “American Dad” (4.1). CBS was third with a 3.5 for the first hour of the miniseries “Comanche Moon,” NBC fourth with a 1.7 for its Globes press conference, Univision fifth with a 1.3 for the second hour of “Magnificos” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for another “Hill” rerun.
 
At 10 p.m. ABC led with a 4.2 for “Brothers & Sisters,” with CBS second with a 3.2 for “Comanche Moon.” NBC was third with a 1.9 for a repeat of “Gladiators” and Univision fourth with a 1.3 for its last hour of “Magnificos.”
 
Among households, Fox was first for the night with a 13.0 average overnight rating and a 19 share. CBS was second at 8.0/12, ABC third at 6.6/10, NBC fourth at 3.2/5, Univision fifth at 1.4/2 and CW sixth at 0.7/1.