‘DESPERATE Housewives” opened its season in a big way Sunday night.

The highly anticipated second-season premiere of “Housewives” snared 28.2 million viewers (9-10 p.m.), which will place it second behind “CSI” as the season’s highest-rated premiere.

It also helped propel ABC to a prime-time victory and drove its lead-out, “Grey’s Anatomy,” to a stellar 19.5 million viewers.