What was the viewership of the " The Big Bang Theory " third season premire ?
The episode 's total viewership of 11.73 million ranked the show second in its 9:00 EST time slot , trailing CBS 's " Person of Interest " ( 14.28 million ) , and fifth for the night , behind CBS 's " Two and a Half Men " ( 12.54 million ) , " Elementary " ( 13.41 million ) , and " The Big Bang Theory " ( 15.66 million ) .