This has not been a strong year for new sitcoms. Only four have debuted so far, with two earning a 3.0 or lower in their first outing. Last night ABC’s new Ted Danson comedy “Help Me Help You,” which received strong reviews, tied for the best debut for a new sitcom this season, despite losing a good portion of its lead-in.

“Help” averaged a 3.6 in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights, tying with CBS’s “The Class” for the best comedy premiere yet. Three more sitcoms – ABC’s “Knights of Prosperity,” NBC’s “30 Rock” and NBC’s “Twenty Good Years” – are debuting next month.

By comparison, last year’s top sitcom debut was “My Name is Earl” at a 6.6.

“Help” placed third in its 9:30 p.m. timeslot, just 0.1 behind the second halves of CBS’s “The Unit” and NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” “Help” was second behind “Unit” for the hour in total viewers with 11.9 million to the latter’s 12.2 million.

And it was better than the season averages for all of ABC’s sitcoms last year. The network has struggled to program successful new comedies the past few years.

But “Help” lost a big 42 percent of “Stars’” 6.2 average at 9 p.m. while matching the debut rating for “Men in Trees,” another new ABC show that premiered after “Stars’” season bow two weeks ago.

Another new series, CBS’s “Smith,” showed some erosion from week one, dipping 11 percent from a 3.5 to a 3.1 in adults 18-49. It did place second in its timeslot but once again lost viewers from its first to its second half hour.

Led by the powerful “House,” Fox won the night with a 4.7 average rating and 13 share, followed by ABC at 4.2/11, NBC and CBS tied for third at 3.4/9, Univision fifth at 1.9/4, and the CW sixth at 1.4/4.

At 8 p.m., Fox dominated with “House” at 5.9, followed by ABC’s “Stars” at 4.6, CBS’s “NCIS” at 3.4, NBC’s “Heroes” rerun at 1.8, and the season premiere of the CW’s “Gilmore Girls” and Univision’s “La Fea Mas Bella” tied at 2.0.

At 9 p.m., ABC moved into the lead with a 4.9 for the last half hour of “Stars” (6.2) and the series premiere of “Help” (3.6). NBC’s “CI” and CBS’s “Unit” tied for third at 3.4, followed by a 2.1 for Univision’s “Barrera de Amor” and a 0.8 for a rerun of the series premiere of the CW’s “Runaway.”

At 10 p.m., NBC surged ahead with “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” at 5.0, followed by “Smith’s” 3.1, ABC’s “Boston Legal” at 2.9 and Univison’s “Ver para Creer” at 1.5.

Among households, ABC led with a 9.5/15, followed by CBS at 7.6/12, Fox at 6.9/11, NBC at 6.7/11, Univision at 2.3/4 and the CW at 2.2/3.