The Big Bang Theory | featured news

Ending its three-night live round, American Idol (3.5/10) pared it down to the final 10 contestants of Season 12 on Thursday. Spilling two minutes over, the scheduled 90-minute live show had a lot of Ryan Seacrest shuttling back and forth to the holding room to bring the lucky ones back on stage. It also had a mixed bag of ratings results.

"The Big Bang Theory" led yet another easy Thursday win for CBS both overall and among young viewers, but as has been the case for several weeks, the night's most intriguing story is ABC's "Scandal" hitting yet another series high.

Excellent news for fans of Sheldon, Leonard, Penny, Howard and Raj: CBS has renewed its top-rated The Big Bang Theory for an additional three years, extending its run through the 2013-14 season.

There is a new ratings king on Thursday. For the first time, the new kid on the Thursday block, CBS' transplant The Big Bang Theory (4.0/13, 12.9 million), ranked as the highest-rated program on the night in 18-49, supplanting perennial winner Grey's Anatomy. The comedy accomplished the feat on its fifth airing on the night, a nice validation of CBS' risky scheduling move.

TV News: 'Big Bang' tops night while 'Stars' leads in viewers -- ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" was Monday's most-watched program overall, but it was CBS (led by the night's top show, "The Big Bang Theory") and Fox (with the season finale of "House") that tied for demo supremacy.

Repeats of CBS' flagship comedies "The Big Bang Theory" (3.0 rating/8 share in adults 18-49) and "Two and a Half Men" (2.7/7) were the highest-rated programs of the night by a mile, with a rerun of another CBS series, drama "CSI: Miami" (2.2/6) coming in third.

TV News: 'Teen Choice Awards' airs quietly on Fox -- An all-repeat lineup, led by a strong outing by "The Big Bang Theory" in its new timeslot, carried CBS to an easy victory in key demos on Monday, a night that saw nothing-special numbers for the "Teen Choice Awards" on Fox.

If the world of entertainment is any indication, the geeks shall inherit the Earth. Whether it's "The Big Bang Theory" or "Star Trek," geek love is what pop culture is giving off.

CBS is close to giving multiple-season renewals to the highest-rated comedy on TV, "Two and a Half Men," and ratings surprise "The Big Bang Theory."