[NEWS] Miley Cyrus Drives 'Two And A Half Men' To Season High!

In the spring of 2008, then-perennial bubble CBS comedy, How I Met Your Mother, got Britney Spears as a guest star. The episode shot up to series highs and fostered a turnaround for the series, which turned from an underperforming darling to a hit almost overnight. Four and a half years later, CBS this fall made a scheduling move tha

t raised a lot of eyebrows — relocating long-time Monday anchor Two And A Half Men to Thursday. The veteran has struggled in its new environment, even falling below the delivery of utility player Rules Of Engagement in the slot at one point. Until last night, when the show featured another big teen draw — Miley Cyrus. With her, Two And A Half Men jumped 14% from last week to a 4.0/11 among adults 18-49, hitting season highs in adults 18-49, total viewers (13.6 million) and adults 25-54. Two And A Half Men already got a second lease on life with the introduction of new leading man Ashton Kutcher last season. Could Miley Cyrus’ appearance be a “Britney” moment for the veteran comedy that would help it age more gracefully in its new Thursday slot? The good news for Men is that Cyrus has already been booked for another episode, and given the ratings, she may be asked to do more. Unlike Spears, Cyrus is a sitcom pro having started off on the Disney Channel hit Hannah Montana.

Even with the .5 rating bump, Men couldn’t come close to its lead-in, The Big Bang Theory (4.7/5), which was up a tenth from last week and topped Thursday night in 18-49 and total viewers (15.4 million). Big Bang and Men‘s ratings gains did not carry over to 9 PM where Person Of Interest (2.8/7), was down 7% from its last original two weeks ago. (The 9-11 programming on the Big 4 was pre-empted for the Vice President debate last Thursday.) Elementary (2.3/6) was down too, by 8%.