TV ratings: NBC series hold, ‘Millers’ slips against World Series

As expected, Fox ruled Thursday night in the television ratings with the World Series as the St. Louis Cardinals came back from a sloppy Game 1 to tie the series with a 4-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

According to early numbers from Nielsen, Fox was the top network of the night, with a rating of 3.4 in the key 18-49 age demographic and an average viewership of 12.7 million. Against the heavy competition, CBS came in second with a 2.7 in the advertiser-coveted demo and a total audience of 10.3 million, with “Big Bang Theory” the most-watched telecast, bringing in 16.5 million people.

“Big Bang Theory” fell a bit in 18-49 to a 4.9, while the first-season Will Arnett comedy “The Millers” fell 13% compared with last week, drawing 10.9 million viewers. Robin Williams’ “The Crazy Ones” fell slightly to a 2.3 in the 18-49 segment. However, “Two and a Half Men” and the Sherlock Holmes-inspired “Elementary” both rose week-to-week, with the latter up 20% to a 1.8.

ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll

ABC’s hot beltway drama “Scandal” starring Kerry Washington fell 9% from last week to a 3.0. Before “Scandal’s” 10 p.m. airing, the fairy tale spinoff “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” fell 8% to a 1.1 and “Grey’s Anatomy” rose 4% to a 2.8.

Then there’s NBC’s recently overhauled Thursday lineup. “Welcome to the Family” is gone and “Parks and Recreation” is on hiatus, so NBC had a rerun of “The Voice” at 8 p.m. to lead in to the network’s struggling freshman comedies. “Sean Saves the World” was even with last week among young adults (1.1) but increased its total viewership by 20% to 4 million. “The Michael J. Fox Show” was also flat week-to-week in 18-49, at a 1.2, and was up about 5% in viewership, while “Parenthood” held steady at a 1.4.

The CW has some Thursday bragging rights with “Vampire Diaries” matching “Wonderland” in the key demo in the 8 p.m. time slot, though its 1.1 rating was down about 15% from last week, followed by “Reign,” which dropped 25% to a 0.6.

As with all early ratings for live sports, the World Series numbers for Fox are probably inaccurate because they are not adjusted for time zones. Based on the likely-to-change stats, young adult ratings for Thursday’s game were up 17% from the preliminary Nielsens for last year’s Game 2, but down a tick compared with the final numbers.

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ryan.faughnder@latimes.com