‘Opportunity’ is knocked off

Tuesday, the second night of the fall TV season, saw strong performances from some old reliables, including a healthy sixth-season premiere for CBS’ “NCIS,” plus a decent opening for CBS’ new cop drama “The Mentalist.” But NBC ran into serious trouble with its “Biggest Loser”-led lineup, and ABC flopped with Ashton Kutcher’s latest unscripted project, “Opportunity Knocks.”

With 17.7 million viewers, “NCIS” enabled CBS to eke out a narrow win for the night, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research. “The Mentalist” (15.5 million), about a former psychic who turns to police work, retained 85% of the “NCIS” lead-in.

Fox won the night among adults ages 18 to 49, thanks largely to “House” (12.1 million viewers). ABC had the night’s most-watched show with “Dancing With the Stars” (18.2 million). But the network’s nightly performance was marred by “Opportunity Knocks,” a family-oriented reality show that descended to a miserable 6.6 million viewers.

NBC devoted two hours to “The Biggest Loser 6: Families,” which placed fourth in the time slot in both total viewers (7.2 million) and those 18 to 49.

-- Scott Collins