Ratings: ‘Chicago Fire’ burns big, ‘Law & Order: SVU’ shines against repeats

We expected much of NBC’s lineup to perform well against mostly repeats, but who expected “Chicago Fire” to suddenly become one of the top-performing new dramas of the new season in one night? For at least one week, it seems to be true.

Overall, the firefighting drama scored a very impressive 2.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic that is its best performance of the season by far … and this includes an episode that had “The Voice” as a lead-in earlier this season. Will these numbers surely go down when “CSI” and “Nashville” return with new episodes? Definitely, but if the show managed to even gain just a few viewers in the process with this new episode, then starting off the new year so strong (and having to air an extra repeat down the road against possibly new competition) will definitely be worth it.

All of NBC benefited big from the lack of competition, as “Whitney” (1.8) actually posted a decent number and “Guys with Kids” (1.6) also did okay, even though the inability for either show to post a 2.0 just proves that no one is really that interested in either show, which for quality reasons is hardly a surprise, given that NBC has yet to really figure out how to make a modern multi-camera sitcom work. Meanwhile, “Law & Order: SVU” (2.1) had its best rating since November 2011, which may prove that there is some life left still in this struggling and long-running franchise.

The biggest story here at the end of the day, though, is how “Chicago Fire” may have burned its way to a season 2 renewal a little later in the year with these numbers.

For those curious, “Mobbed” proved that not even a lack of new TV can save it from miserable ratings. The show drew only a 1.0 and 1.1 with its one-hour episodes.

Photo: NBC