Nielsens: Grammys are loud, 'Dead' thrives

The return of AMC's 'The Walking Dead,' starring Andrew Lincoln, Melissa Suzanne McBride and Chandler Riggs, pulled in a record 12.3 million fans, despite being on against the Grammys. (Credit: Gene Page, AMC)

Grammys rock. CBS' Grammy Awards sang to 28.4 million viewers Sunday, which, aside from last year's record-setting Whitney Houston memorial edition (39.9 million), marked the music awards' biggest turnout since 1993; it was up nearly 2 million from 2011. Against it, AMC's The Walking Dead set another cable-series record with 12.3 million for its winter return, while ABC's Once Upon a Time (7.1 million) and Revenge (5.2 million) sunk to series lows.

Open-and-shut cases. NBC's Smash returned with a series-low 4.5 million Tuesday, while Community (3.9 million Thursday) matched its September 2011 return. On Friday, CBS reality series The Job (4 million) and Fox's Touch (3.8 million for two episodes) were weak, while the time-slot premiere of Rock Center With Brian Williams (5.3 million) jumped from its prior Thursday average, where Do No Harm (2.2 million) sealed its fate and was canceled after two episodes. CBS' Rules of Engagement also returned Monday with 9.4 million but couldn't match recent repeats of The Big Bang Theory in that slot. Closing: CW's canceled Emily Owens, M.D., with 1.5 million Tuesday, the show's largest audience since its October premiere.

Cable corner. The season finale of Tru TV's Hardcore Pawn set a network record with 3.4 million viewers Tuesday, while Thursday's season finale of MTV's Buckwild (2.7 million) tied its series high. TNT's premiere of David E. Kelley medical drama Monday Mornings was a dud Monday night with 1.3 million; ditto VH1's late-Sunday opener of The Jenny McCarthy Show (306,000).