'Fringe' returns steady; 'Defenders' finale airs

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After staying off the air for a week, Fox’s cult favorite bubble show Fringe returned Friday night to match its previous original rating.

Fringe was seen by 3.8 million viewers and had a 1.5 preliminary adults 18-49 rating.

Over on CBS, Defenders (9 million, 1.5) finished out its run steady with last week, and gives CBS a tough call — a 1.5 might get a Friday drama renewed on Fox, which has long struggled to program the evening, but this is below the line for what CBS is normally willing to accept on a night it generally wins. (Then again, that line is always moving, isn’t it?) Blue Bloods (11.8 million, 1.9), however, should have no trouble coming back, along with lead-in CSI: NY (11 million, 2.0) — both won their hours. But Defenders was topped by Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares (4.1 million, 1.7) at 8 p.m. Repeats and news magazines dominated the other broadcast nets.