REWRITE those early obituaries – “Weakest Link” lives.

One week after suffering a drastic ratings dropoff, “Weakest Link” righted itself Monday night, winning its timeslot (8-9 p.m.) with a 3 percent ratings increase over its April 30 telecast.

Monday’s “Link” episode averaged 8.9 million households, though its first half-hour (8-8:30 p.m.) was beaten by “King of Queens” on CBS – making the race for the full hour pretty close.

(CBS averaged 8.1 million households, according to metered-market “overnights” provided by Nielsen).

“Yes, Dear” gave “Link” a reprieve by falling off from its “King of Queens” lead-in, allowing “Link” to claim the second half hour and, hence, the entire hour.

Notwithstanding Monday’s episode, “Link” has fallen every Monday since its April 16 debut, when it averaged 10.8 million households.

But that dropoff isn’t unusual when a show launches and the curiosity factor kicks in. “If it came down again [Monday night] I would have been concerned, but it seems to be finding its niche,” says analyst Marc Berman of Mediaweek.com.

“Nine out of 10 shows premiere and then come down the second and third weeks,” Berman says. “The fourth week is the telltale – if a show levels off then or comes up a little, it’s a good sign.”