In another super-tight night, the second hour of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” gave the network the slight edge it needed to best Fox for No. 1.

ABC averaged a 4.6 rating and 12 share among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights, just a hair ahead of Fox’s 4.5/12. While “Stars” finished behind Fox’s power-“House” at 8 p.m. in that demo for the second straight week, it peaked with a 5.9 and more than 20 million viewers in its second hour to push the network ahead for the night.

That awarded ABC its first nightly victory of the very young season, following NBC’s win on Monday night. But things could get more interesting next week, when ABC debuts new sitcom “Help Me Help You,” which will cut “Stars” down to 90 minutes.

NBC also had a strong debut night with its new 9 and 10 p.m. combination of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “L&O: Special Victims Unit.” The later won the 10 p.m. hour with a 5.1, slightly ahead of last season’s 5.0 average. “CI” took second behind “Stars” with a 4.0 at 9 p.m., up 25 percent over last season’s 3.2 average in its old Sunday 9 p.m. timeslot. That boosted NBC to a third-place 4.1/11 for the night.

But CBS did not have as strong a night. The network, which had the night’s only new show premiere, averaged a fourth-place 3.4 in 18-49s and, perhaps more alarmingly, finished only third among households and total viewers, behind both ABC and NBC and not too far ahead of Fox.

“Smith,” the well-reviewed Ray Liotta drama that debuted at 10 p.m., averaged a 3.5 18-49 rating and fell slightly in its second half hour, tying for third in the timeslot with ABC’s “Boston Legal.” “Smith” was also third in total viewers with 10.7 million, though it did finish ahead of “Legal” by 0.2 in 25-54s with a 4.4.

Meanwhile, Univision averaged a 1.7/4 for the night and the CW was last with a 0.6/2. The latter, emerging from the combination of UPN and the WB, does not make its official debut is not until tomorrow night, when “America’s Next Top Model” launches. Ratings for Sunday through Tuesday will not be included in any official estimates for the CW.

At 8 p.m., Fox’s “House” dominated with a 5.8, 1.4 ahead of ABC’s “Stars.” NBC’s “Deal or No Deal” special and CBS’s “NCIS” premiere tied for third at 3.3, followed by a 1.9 for Univision’s “La Fea Mas Bella” and CW’s 0.6 for a “Gilmore Girls” rerun.

At 9 p.m., ABC steamed ahead with “Stars’” 5.9, followed by NBC’s “CI” at 4.0, CBS’s “The Unit” at 3.5, Fox’s “Standoff” at 3.3, Univision’s “Barrera de Amor” at 1.9” and CW’s “Launch Party” at 0.5.

At 10 p.m., “SVU” led with a 5.1, followed by “Legal” and “Smith” at 3.5 and Univision at 1.4.

Among households ABC also led with a 10.6/7, followed by NBC at 8.0/12, CBS at 7.7/12, Fox at 6.6/10, Univision at 2.1/3, and the CW at 1.0/2.