Reviews of last night's season premiere of Grey's Anatomy have been strong, but the show fell significantly in ratings compared to a year ago, when Season 3 premiered amid a Meredith-Derek-Finn love cliffhanger.

With 24.9 million viewers, CSI outperformed its own 2006 opener by some 13 percent, and in doing so, trumped ABC's Grey's Anatomy, which garnered 20.5 million (down from last fall's 25.15 million).

Although Grey's Anatomy fared better among advertisers' key demographics, this is Gil Grissom & Co.'s biggest margin of victory over the ABC titan. The Office (9.67 million) also bested its previous premiere by 670,000.

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.