FUN WORLD

Bill Records/NBC

"Friday Night Lights"

It was a mixed bag on Friday night. With several cult shows returning, some were up while others weren’t so lucky.

After four weeks off the air, the CW was back in originals with the last episodes of Smallville (2.3 million, 1.0). The Tom Welling-starrer was up 5 percent in total viewers and 11 percent in the 18-49 demo from its last new episode. Smallville also tied for No. 1 in the 8 p.m. hour in the men 18-34 demo. A new Supernatural (2.2 million, 0.9) followed at 9 p.m., growing 5 percent in total viewers but down in demo.

Fox’s Fringe — partially animated this week with an “appearance” by Leonard Nimoy — also returned after a brief hiatus, but the hype didn’t match up in the ratings. The sci-fi drama (3.6 million, 1.3) tied a series low in the demo and in total viewers. Kitchen Nightmares (3.8 million, 1.5) led off. Even with a dip in the ratings, Fox still placed second on the night in the 18-49 demo.

Over at NBC, Friday Night Lights (3.5 million, 0.9) debuted its final season on the broadcast network (though it recently finished its run on DirecTV), down double digits from last season’s NBC launch in early May. Dateline (5.7 million, 1.3) followed.

CBS’ rookie series Chaos (5.5 million, 0.9) tied last week’s low, not making a strong case for a renewal. CSI: NY and Blue Bloods were repeats.

ABC took the demo win for Friday, with Shark Tank (5.4 million, 1.5), Who Do You Think You Are? (4.3 million, 1.4) and 20/20 (5.1 million, 1.5) ranking No. 1 in their respective time slots. Shark Tank posted the net’s best numbers in viewers in more than one year.

(The South has been experiencing massive storms for the past few days, which could be having an effect on the ratings.)