Fox is taking advantage of premiering its new shows a week before anyone else. On Tuesday, its comedy block got off to a strong start thanks to decent debuts for the critically maligned comedy Dads and the critically praised Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Dads may have been slammed for jokes some considered racist, but that didn’t stop 5.6 million viewers from tuning in to the Seth MacFarlane-produced comedy. According to Entertainment Weekly, the show earned a 2.1 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, which was up 24 percent over Raising Hope’s season premiere last year in the same time period.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine built on that audience, with more tuning in to check out Saturday Night Live’s Andy Samberg in his first regular series role. HitFix reports that the show drew 6 million viewers and a 2.5 18-49 rating. That was much better than Ben & Kate, which premiered last season and was cancelled.
You can check out our recap of Booklyn Nine-Nine here.
Fox also started New Girl and The Mindy Project last night. New Girl with Zooey Deschanel kicked off its third season with a 2.9 18-49 rating and 5.5 million viewers, while Mindy’s second season premiere fell to 3.9 million and a 1.9 rating. Perhaps running the episode online a week early was not a good idea.
These numbers will likely take a huge fall next week, when ABC premieres Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The network aired Iron Man 2 last night to get viewers ready.
image: Fox