Last night’s premiere of Past Life did what few post-Idol debuts have done before: Disappoint. Despite a huge lead-in, the series opener came in fourth in its hour in both the viewers and the demos.

8pm

• Approximately 27.9 million saw Ellen DeGeneres’ first day on American Idol (10.1/26 in 18-49).
• NCIS (19.8 million, 4.1/11) picked up 700,000.
• The Biggest Loser (3.5/9) averaged 8.9 million over two hours.
• Lost* (1.7/4) helped 4.9 million get caught up.
• 90210* (0.4/1) scraped up 910,000.

9pm

• NCIS: Los Angeles (17.9 million, 4.1/10 in 18-49) added on 1.5 million.
• Lost (11.1 million, 5.0/12) had the best demos for all scripted programs.
• Past Life (8.3 million, 2.8/7) kept less than a 1/3 of Idol‘s audience.
• Melrose Place* (0.3/1) turned in 730,000.

10pm

• The Good Wife (14.8 million, 3.1/9 in 18-49) irnproved by 2.1 million.
• The Forgotten (2.0/6) scored 5.9 million.
• The Jay Leno Show (1.8/5) officially ended with 5.6 million.

*denotes repeat

(You can review last Tuesday’s ratings here.)