George Takei gave nothing more than a mean, stern look at the end of the episode, but it was enough to keep viewers locked into the NBC hit series "Heroes," forcing it once again in an almost virtual tie with its Fox network competitor, "24."
"Heroes" pulled in an 8.3 rating/12 share, according to Fast Nationals compiled by Nielsen Media Research, forcing it to finish just behind "24," which earned an 8.5/12. However, when it came to adults between the ages of 18 to 49, "Heroes" was the winner, claiming a key advertising demographic.

"Heroes" is on a fractional audience slide, losing about two-tenths of a ratings point, but "24" had a similar audience erosion, down one-tenth from its previous week.

NBC's 'Heroes' triumphs over FOx's '24'


NEW YORK -- Monday's ratings battle between Jack Bauer's "24" and NBC's "Heroes" ended much as the first, with another win for the Peacock.

"Heroes" beat "24" head-to-head but "24," along with a stronger performance from "Prison Break," helped Fox to eek out a win for the night in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary data released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. Meanwhile "Deal or No Deal" prevailed at 8 p.m. and a repeat "CSI: Miami" outweighed new episodes of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "What About Brian."

It was another win for NBC's "Heroes" (13.6 million, 6.1 rating/14 share in adults 18-49), although it was down 8%in the demo compared to last week's return to the air. "Heroes" was still the dominant player with a 13% margin in the demo over "24" (15.3 million, 5.4/12) and was 33% over "24" in adults 18-34.

Yet "24" was still up slightly compared to last week in viewership and steady in the demo.