Four weeks without a new episode did little to cool the libidos of Seattle’s sexiest interns. And it didn’t cool down ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” either.

The show, which has been broadcast’s hottest drama ever since its post-Super Bowl outing in February, returned to originals last night from three weeks of reruns and preemptions with a 9.7 rating in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights.

That’s 10 percent above the 8.8 rating “Grey’s” has averaged for the entire season. It also finished ahead of lead-in “Desperate Housewives,” which averaged an 8.9. “Grey’s” has bettered its lead-in for every original episode since the Super Bowl.

Before the Super Bowl, “Grey’s” had averaged an 8.1 rating. It’s jumped 0.7 since then, or 9 percent, going from broadcast’s No. 5 show to No. 4. Compared to the same week last year, the show was up nearly 20 percent.

“Grey’s” last original episode came April 2. Since then, ABC has aired a “Grey’s” repeat, the premiere of “What About Brian” and a recap episode of this season’s clips in the 10 p.m. Sunday timeslot.

It bettered the combined average of NBC’s “Crossing Jordan,” at 3.5, and CBS’s movie “Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise,” at a 2.7.

“Stone,” the third edition in the Tom Selleck film series, was up slightly, 4 percent, over its last outing, “Night Passage” in January. That averaged a 2.6.

Meanwhile, ABC finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 6.8 average rating and a 17 share. Fox was second with a 3.3/9, NBC third with 2.7/7, CBS fourth with 2.6/7, Univision fifth with 2.0/3 and WB sixth with 1.0/3.
 
ABC led each hour of the night, starting with a 2.8 rating at 7 p.m. for part one of “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.” Fox was second with a 2.4 for reruns of “The Simpsons” (2.2) and “King of the Hill” (2.7), CBS third with 2.1 for “60 Minutes,” NBC fourth with a 2.0 for “Dateline,” Univision fifth with a 0.9 for “Hora Pico” and “Chiquitibum,” and WB sixth with a 0.8 for two repeats of “Reba.”

At 8 p.m., ABC led with a 5.7 rating for part two of “Extreme Makeover,” followed by Fox with a 3.9 for “The Simpsons” (4.2) and the season finale of “War at Home” (3.6). CBS was third with a 2.9 for “Cold Case,” NBC fourth with a 2.2 for “West Wing,” Univision fifth with a 1.6 for the first hour of “Bailando Por Un Sueno” and WB sixth with a 1.3 for “Charmed.”

At 9 p.m., ABC led again with an 8.9 rating for “Desperate Housewives.” Fox was second with a 3.6 for “Family Guy” (3.9) and “American Dad” (3.3), NBC third with a 3.2 for “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and CBS fourth with a 2.7 for the first hour of “Stone.” Univision was fifth with a 2.1 for the second hour of “Sueno” while WB was sixth with a 0.9 for a repeat of “Charmed.”
 
At 10 p.m., ABC completed its sweep of the night with a 9.7 rating for “Grey’s.” NBC was second with a 3.5 for “Jordan,” CBS third with a 2.7 for “Stone” and Unvision fourth with a 2.3 for the second hour of “Bailando Por Un Sueno.”
 
ABC also led the night among households with a 10 rating and 16 share. CBS was second with a 9.2/15, NBC third with 5.7/9, Fox fourth with 4.1/7, Univision fifth with 2.0/3 and WB sixth with 1.6/3.