NBC’s long-running sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, posted its best rating for adults aged 18-49 last weekend. Its prime time Christmas special last Thursday also provided the struggling network with solid numbers as well.

Saturday Night Live Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas posted a solid 3.1 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, NBC’s highest rating in the 8 to 10 p.m. time slot since Oct. 8.

The show averaged 7.8 million total viewers, a new season high in the slot, and it won the two-hour period among adults 18-34, though it finished second among 18-49s.

The special was a compilation of skits from past Christmas episodes and was hosted by Gilly (Kristen Wiig), a mischievous (and deadly!) re-occurring SNL character.

CBS led the night among 18-49s with a 3.6 average overnight rating and a 10 share. Boosted by SNL, NBC was second at 2.6/8, Fox third at 1.5/4, Univision fourth at 1.3/4, ABC fifth at 1.0/3 and CW sixth at 0.8/2.

All ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Thirty-three percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. CBS was first with a 3.9 for Survivor, the night’s top-rated show, followed by NBC with a 3.0 for the first hour of Saturday Night Live Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas. Fox was third with a 1.8 for a repeat of Bones, Univision fourth with a 1.3 for El Nombre del Amor. ABC was fifth with a 0.9 for a Grey’s Anatomy rerun and the CW sixth with a 0.8 for a repeat of The Vampire Diaries.

CBS was first again at 9 p.m. with a 3.5 for CSI, while NBC remained second with a 3.2 for more SNL. Univision was third with a 1.7 for Sortilegio, ABC and Fox tied for fourth at 1.2, ABC for more Grey’s Anatomy and Fox for a repeat of their sci-fi hit Fringe, and the CW was sixth with a 0.8 for another Vampire Diaries rerun.

At 10 p.m. CBS led with a 3.5 for The Mentalist, with NBC second with a 1.7 for The Jay Leno Show. ABC was third with a 1.0 for a repeat of Private Practice and Univision fourth with a 0.9 for Nuestra Navidad.

Among households, CBS was first for the night with an 8.9 average overnight rating and a 15 share. NBC was second at 4.3/7, Fox third at 3.5/6, ABC fourth at 2.7/4, Univision fifth at 1.8/3 and CW sixth at 1.2/2.