OK start for ABC's 'Man Up'

A special off-night edition of ''The X Factor'' kept Fox on top of Tuesday among young adults, while the CBS drama lineup prevailed in its target demo. ABC's Tim Allen comedy ''Last Man Standing'' had a good second-week showing, and the new show behind it, ''Man Up,'' did OK in its debut. According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, ''The X Factor'' averaged a 3.8 rating/10 share and 10.1 million viewers overall , down from its season average but better than both of its airings last week in a frame that was disrupted by baseball. Fox led its two-hour block in adults 18-49 and also topped the three-hour averages of ABC, CBS and NBC. The presence of ''X Factor'' had an effect on the reality shows opposite it, as both NBC's two-hour ''The Biggest Loser'' (1.9/5 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall) and ABC's 9 p.m. ''Dancing With the Stars'' results show (2.6/6 in 18-49, 13.5 million viewers overall) down week to week. At ABC, ''Last Man Standing'' (3.0/9 in 18-49, 10.2 million viewers overall) retained nearly 90% of its 18-49 score in the 8 o'clock half-hour last week and again provided nice time-period improvements, placing third in its half-hour among 18-49ers. It was followed by the debut of ''Man Up'' (2.4/6 in 18-49, 7.8 million viewers overall), which did OK though a network usually likes to see better retention for a new 8:30 half-hour due to rising television usage at that time; it was up slightly over ABC's performance at 8:30 on the same night a year ago. CBS, the night's leader in 25-54 and total viewers, ruled Tuesday's opening hour with ''NCIS'' (3.8/10 in 18-49, 19.0 million viewers overall), which tied ''X Factor'' as the night's No. 1 show in 18-49 while standing alone as the top draw in both adults 25-54 (4.7/10) and total viewers. While the original was down slightly week to week, 9 p.m. spinoff ''NCIS: Los Angeles'' held steady (3.3/8 in 18-49, 15.3 million viewers overall), placing second in 18-49, tying ''X Factor'' in 25-54 (4.7/10) and winning in total viewers. At 10 p.m., CBS rookie ''Unforgettable'' (2.5/6 in 18-49, 11.9 million viewers overall) showed its first week-to-week gains in 18-49 and got closer to the delivery of ''The Good Wife'' in the timeslot last year. It won the hour over NBC's ''Parenthood'' (2.0/5 in 18-49, 5.0 million viewers overall), which matched last week's score, and ''Body of Proof'' (1.9/5 in 18-49, 9.5 million viewers overall), which was also in line with its most recent episode. Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 3.8/10; CBS, 3.2/8; ABC, 2.4/6; NBC, 1.9/5; Univision, 1.5/4; CW, 0.8/2. In total viewers: CBS, 15.4 million; ABC, 10.7 million; Fox, 10.1 million; NBC, 5.1 million; Univision, 3.3 million; CW, 1.6 million. Contact Rick Kissell at rick.kissell@variety.com