That "Family Guy“ would do well is hardly surprising. It's how well that's the surprise.

"There’s a lot of loyalty to this program and it’s a fresh program in this environment,” says Amy McMahon, associate media director and lead syndication negotiator at Starcom.

That loyalty is such, she notes, that when Fox canceled it a few years back, fans snapped up so many DVDs of the show that the network brought it back.

But also driving the "Family Guy" numbers is the shortage of hit sitcoms on broadcast, along with waning ratings for most of syndication’s older comedies.

“It’s a pipeline issue,” says McMahon. “When networks stop being able to generate hits like ‘Friends,’ it affects syndication.”

That explains why “Two and Half Men” is also doing well in its first year in syndication, generating a 3.3 rating, ranking it above “Friends.”

Unfortunately the pipeline effect is not extending to ABC’s “George Lopez” and the CW’s “Half and Half,” also new to syndication. Nielsen hasn’t yet released national ratings for “George,” but the show pulled a 1.1 rating in metered markets, according to an analysis by Katz Television Group.

There is one new syndicated show that's entirely new that is working out, "TMZ," the edgy entertainment newsmagazine spun off the web site of the same name. The question was whether the show would be able to maintain the edginess of the site, and it's done just that, breaking the story of O.J. Simpson’s recent arrest.

Nielsen hasn’t released national ratings yet but in metered markets "TMZ" pulled a 2 household rating. While far below shows like “Entertainment Tonight,” it’s improving on its lead-ins and its timeslots from last season.

“Any station that has it has to be reasonably pleased with the initial numbers,” says Bill Carroll, vice president and director of programming at Katz. “You’re talking about better than a 1 rating, and in prime access it’s doing almost a 2, and you have [markets] where it’s doing 3s and 4s.”

Among dramas, the weekly “Cold Case” is doing well, pulling a 1.9 rating.

Of new talk shows, “Steve Wilkos,” a spinoff of “Jerry Springer,” is doing fairly well with about a 0.9 rating. That puts it in line with the returning “Martha.”

Less promising is the talk show “Morning Show,” which premiered earlier this year in a few markets. It’s pulling a 0.8 rating.

And game shows “Temptation,” which includes a home-shopping angle, and “Crosswords” are off to slow starts, with a 1.1 in metered markets and a 0.8 national rating, respectively.

“‘Temptation’ is being double run, usually in daytime and usually in less-visible time periods,” says Carroll. “‘Crosswords’ is in very difficult time periods, particularly in top markets where it’s taking on ‘Oprah’ and ‘Judge Judy.’”