NBC returned Will & Grace to Thursday night and the reboot grabbed a 3.0 among primetime’s key demographic of adults 18-49, and more than 10 million viewers, according to Nielsen’s live plus same day overnight ratings.
That was the best performance of a scripted series in the very young season other than CBS’ The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon and NBC’s This Is Us.
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After an 11-year lay off, Will & Grace sprung back to life after a short starring the foursome that was meant to get out the vote went viral over the summer. The show was only a few weeks into shooting the new season when NBC gave it an order for season two as well.
Will & Grace led into the Tina Fey executive-produced Great News, lifting it to a series high 1.3 among adults 18-49 and 5.1 million viewers.
Superstore, starring America Ferrera, opened NBC’s evening at a 1.2 among adults 18-49 and 4.6 million viewers. That was followed by the season-two premiere of The Good Place, starring Ted Danson and Kristin Bell, at a 1.3 and 4.6 million viewers. NBC closed the night with Chicago Fire, which scored a 1.5 in the demo and 7.2 million viewers.
Even a strong scripted game struggles against football. CBS launched Thursday Night Football in week four of the NFL season and averaged a 3.2 among adults 18-49 and 10.7 million viewers as the Green Bay Packers defeated the Chicago Bears at home 35 to 14. The game also streamed live on Amazon and aired on the NFL Network and in total, averaged 14.6 million viewers, up 3 percent from the comparable game last year. Some 48,000 viewers streamed the game across Amazon, NFL Mobile from Verizon, Watch NFL Network, the NFL app on Microsoft, NFL Game Pass and on CBS digital platforms.
ABC returned two Shonda Rhimes series. Grey’s Anatomy came back for season 14 with a two-hour premiere and a 2.3 among adults 18-49 and 8 million viewers. That was followed by the fourth-season premiere of How to Get Away with Murder, starring Viola Davis, which averaged a 1.1 in the demo and 4 million viewers.
On Fox, Gotham at 8 p.m. averaged a 0.8 among adults 18-49 and 2.8 million viewers, while Seth MacFarlane’s live-action The Orville averaged a 1.1 in the demo and 3.7 million viewers.
READ MORE: The Hollywood Reporter, TVbytheNumbers, Variety
[Images courtesy of NBC]
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