QUICK TAKES - Sept. 26, 2009

There was more good news for ABC as the new season continued to unfold Thursday night: The serial drama “FlashForward” delivered 12.5 million viewers and won the hour among adults ages 18 to 49 in its 8 p.m. premiere, according to Nielsen. It was the first time a regular series beat “Survivor” in that prized demographic since 2004, when NBC’s “Friends” did it.

That and the two hours of “Grey’s Anatomy” that followed drove ABC to the top for the night in viewers, with 15.51 million.

It was a very rough night for Jay Leno. His NBC show faced its toughest competition to date, going against “Grey’s Anatomy” and CBS’ “The Mentalist,” and it wasn’t much of a fight as he posted a new low of about 5.1 million viewers. Leno didn’t get a lot of help from his lead-in, the new comedy “Community,” which drew just 5.4 million viewers.

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Joe Flint