In a sluggish night in the ratings, ABC’s Scandal crushed rivals to utterly dominate the field while NBC’s Parenthood is on the rise.

First, the over-the-top D.C. political soap (that would be Scandal) rose 7 percent this week to 8.8 million viewers and a 3.0 rating — the show’s best since its midseason return last month. That dwarfed the show’s lead-in Grey’s Anatomy as well as a half-hour pocket-sized version of Fox’s American Idol.

Speaking of Idol, the veteran music competition series was almost matched in the demo by Hell’s Kitchen — the latest ignominy for the once incredibly popular series. The premiere of Fox’s new comedy series Surviving Jack starring Christopher Meloni won’t survive long based on this debut — 5.1 million viewers and a 1.3 rating. Granted that’s where Brooklyn Nine-Nine ended up this season, but this is a premiere, which is often a show’s best-rated episode of its season.

Over on NBC, Parenthood rose for the second week in a row to hit its best rating in nearly six months, plus its viewership is the show’s best since its season premiere. Not bad for a drama with Hollywood Game Night for a lead-in. Parenthood isn’t officially renewed yet, but we keep hearing it’s coming.

Also Thursday: The CW’s Vampire Diaries abruptly dropped 36 percent to a series low — what’s that about? Spring break? Or are regular viewers of steamy vampire love triangles also huge NCAA fans? Full chart: