Not even bad reviews can overcome the hype of a show, and "Moonlight" has proven that for CBS.

The vampire show, which has an eerie resemblance to the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spinoff "Angel," held its entire lead-in audience from "Ghost Whisperer" in the 8 p.m. hour to tie the first part of the season premiere of "Las Vegas" on NBC with a 5.8 rating/11 share, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That's far better than what many observers expected "Moonlight" to do after being panned by critics and suffering through accusations of being nothing more than a retooled "Angel."

"Moonlight" beat out "20/20" on ABC and "Friday Night Smackdown" on The CW. It matched the 5.8/11 rating earned by "Ghost Whisperer" in the 8 p.m. hour, according to Zap2it, which won its timeslot ahead of "Deal or No Deal" on NBC, "Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" on Fox, and "Just for Laughs" on The CW.

Things did pick up for CBS a little more in the 10 p.m. timeslot as "Numb3rs" improved three-tenths of a ratings point to tie "Las Vegas."

For the night, CBS was the most-watched network with a 5.8/11 followed by NBC's 5.6/10. ABC was third with a 3.8/7 and The CW beat out Fox with a 2.9/5.

Here is how genre shows fared during the first week of the season:

1. Bionic Woman (NBC), 8.4/13
2. Heroes (NBC), 8.1/12
3. Chuck (NBC), 6.0/9
4. Journeyman (NBC), 5.9/10
5. Moonlight (CBS), 5.8/11
6. Smallville (The CW), 3.1/5

Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that includes both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.