The sixth season premiere of The Big Bang Theory was Thursday night's top-rated and most-watched program. Compared to last year's hour-long season opener, The Big Bang Theory held steady in the adults 18-49 demographic and added by 1.24 million viewers in the overnight ratings.

"The Date Night Variable" was watched by 15.30 million people, up by 1.25m on the fifth season opener, The Skank Reflex Analysis. This was the show's largest audience since 5.18 The Werewolf Transformation. In the adults 18-49 demographic, the season six opener scored a 4.8/15 rating, matching the rating of last year's season premiere. The Big Bang Theory was the top-rated and most-watched broadcast of the night.

The newly relocated Two and a Half Men, which now follows The Big Bang Theory, continued CBS's domination at 8:30. Men's tenth season opener received an audience of 12.37 million people and scored a 3.5/10 rating among adults 18-49. The show retained about 80% of The Big Bang Theory's audience, which is considerably better than the occupant of this slot last season, the short-lived How To Be a Gentleman. Two and a Half Men's ratings were understandably down following the move from Mondays at 9, a time period it dominated for many years, to Thursdays at 8:30.