TV Top Ten - The Mentalist Hypnotizes New Viewers

With Dancing With The Stars out of the way there was a chance for other cream to rise to the top. CBS' new hit The Mentalist floated right up to become the most watch show last week followed closely by two other CBS faves NCIS and CSI. The show didn't just jump in ratings share but in general viewership as well, perhaps stealing away folks who otherwise spent their TiVo time watching Dancing.

Sure it's a little odd for a show that has otherwise been hovering around as the seventh and eighth most watched positions should suddenly jump up to first place, but better that than other shows already past their prime, like ABC's aging Desperate Housewives.

Fox and NBC were only able to sneak into the top ten this week with their sports connections. NBC's Sunday Night Football squeaked into the tenth place spot with an 8.1 ratings share while Fox' new NFL commentary show pulled in a 9.6 ratings share and sixth spot.

The cable world got even more chaotic as holiday specials began throwing themselves into the mix. While Monday Night Football continued its tradition of being the only thing on cable pulling a steady crowd, the Drake and Josh Christmas special snuck into the top ten twice and Lifetime's special showing of An Accidental Christmas snuck into a tie with SpongeBob and WWE Raw for the last place in the chart.