Fox wins night with premieres

Fox got its new Sunday lineup off to a decent start last week, even if the debut of “The War at Home” failed to dazzle.

“The War at Home,” a family comedy with Michael Rapaport and Anita Barone as harried parents, averaged 8.7 million viewers, settling for a distant second behind a repeat of CBS’ “Cold Case” (10.1 million), according to preliminary figures from Nielsen Media Research.

“War” had trouble hanging on to the big audience for its lead-in, the 17th season premiere of “The Simpsons” (10.8 million). But the new sitcom did win its time slot among adults ages 18 to 49, a key demographic for advertisers.

Rounding out the night for Fox were season premieres of “Family Guy” (9.2 million) and “American Dad” (7.8 million). Given that rivals aired repeats, Fox easily won the night in total viewers and key demographics.