Two weeks ago, ABC ran a promo for "Desperate Housewives" calling the freshman soap the No. 1 show on television. It was a lie then, but count on ABC's marketing department to dust off the ad, because for the week ending Friday, Nov. 28, at least, ABC's newest hit has, indeed, moved to the top of the Nielsen heap.

A record-breaking week for "Housewives" wasn't enough, though, for ABC to give CBS any sort of competition for the top spot overall. The Tiffany Network once again dominated the overall ratings and eked out a victory in the key demographic, capping a powerhouse November sweeps period.

CBS averaged an 8.8 rating/15 share for the week, pulling in 13.91 million viewers per night in primetime. ABC moved up to second with a 6.9/11 and 11.05 million viewers, edging out NBC, which did a 6.2/10 and attracted 10.02 million viewers. FOX was out of the loop in fourth with a 4.4/7 and 7.47 million viewers. On the netlet side, The WB reclaimed fifth with a 2.6/4 and 3.94 million viewers, better than the 2.2/4 and 3.4 million for UPN.

Among adults 18-49, CBS had a slim win with a 4.2 rating in the demographic that advertisers slobber over. ABC was a tight second with a 4.1 rating, followed by NBC's 3.6 rating and the 2.9 rating for FOX. The WB's 1.4 rating was good for a fifth place tie with UPN.

CBS glutted the Nielsen Top 20 for the week with 12 shows, far ahead of the competition. With Thanksgiving somewhat blunting the network's powerhouse Thursday offerings, Monday shows made strong showings, led by "CIS: Miami" at No. 2 with a 14.3/23 and followed closely by "Two and a Half Men" (12.3/18, 4th) and "Everybody Loves Raymond" (12.2/18, 5th). Even with viewers stuffing themselves with turkey, the Thursday line-up still managed to stay strong, with regularly weekly winner "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" at No. 3 with a 13.5/24 and respectable numbers for "Without a Trace" (11.9/22, 6th) and "Survivor: Vanuatu" (8.8/17, 14th).

The network also had a trio of listworthy programs on Sunday with "60 Minutes" (11.6/17, 7th), "Cold Case" (11.4/16, 8th) and the movie "When Angels Come to Town" (9.1/14, 13th). CBS's other Top 20 shows included Tuesday's "NCIS" (9.4/15, 12th), a special Friday encore of "CSI" (8.8/16, 14th) and Wednesday's "CSI: NY" (8.3/14, 18th).

"Desperate Housewives," goosed by rumors of the offing of a main character, scored with 27.24 million viewers, its largest audience yet, doing a 16.1/23 on Sunday. That night also saw "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (9.8/14, 11th) and "Boston Legal" (8.8/14, 14th) make the Top 20. The "Monday Night Football" showdown between the Chiefs and the Patriots was No. 9 with a 10.6/17 and the seven-minute pregame was No. 20 with an 8.1/12.

In a slow week for NBC, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" led the way with a 10.1/17 for No. 10 and the flagship "Law & Order" was No. 17 with an 8.5/14. The heavily hyped "Seinfeld Story" was No. 19 with an 8.2/15.

FOX's top program for the week was a screening of "Spider-Man," which was No. 43 with a 5.7/10.

On The WB, "7th Heaven" was the lead offering with a 5.0/7 for No. 55, while the network's movie "Samantha: An American Girl Holiday" was No. 67 with a 3.9/6. UPN's best was an "America's Next Top Model" clip show at No. 78 with a 2.9/5.