The new Fox series "Alcatraz" seems to have won some points with viewers, earning a solid debut in its two-hour premiere that topped "Terra Nova's" attempt in the fall.

The series from "Star Trek" and "Star Trek 2" director J.J. Abrams averaged a 6.0 rating/9 share Monday, according to Fast National overnight ratings from The Nielsen Co. Those are the best numbers that timeslot has seen on Fox since "Terra Nova" grabbed a 6.3/9 on Oct. 10 -- a series high.

Its premiere was 7 percent better than "Terra Nova's" 5.6/8 in September, and a 46 percent jump from what "Terra Nova" got in its first season finale Dec. 19.

The strength of the premiere could possibly spell the end of "Terra Nova." Fox said it was waiting to see how its mid-season shows did before making a decision on Steven Spielberg's expensive dino-drama, but because of the time needed to produce episodes, indicated it would have to make that decision sooner rather than later.

One week, however, is not a good judge of a show. But airing two episodes back-to-back can give an indication of how much audiences may have liked what they saw. The second hour of "Alcatraz" lost just 2 percent of its first hour. It also beat "The Bachelor" on ABC and competed strongly with "How I Met Your Mother" and "2 Broke Girls" on CBS. All shows were up against a high-rated NBC special celebrating the 90th birthday of actress Betty White.

If the ratings held and were compared to where all shows stood at the end of December, "Alcatraz" would be Fox's top-rated scripted show ahead of "Bones" (5.6/8), and would be right behind "The X Factor," which managed a 6.3/10 in its first season.

"Alcatraz" will air Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox, switching places with "House," which was the lead-out show for "Terra Nova" in the fall.