Last night was the first major night of television premieres for the 2010-2011 television season, featuring several new and returning shows. NBC’s new conspiracy thriller “The Event,” the network’s attempt to create a serial like “Lost,” premiered strongly, and “Hawaii Five-0” started out strong for CBS as well.

The 11th season of “Dancing with the Stars” averaged 21 million viewers and a 4.4 rating in the 18-49 demo from 8-9 p.m. House returned for its seventh season with 10.5 million viewers and a 4.1 18-49 rating, down from its last season averages of 12.8 million viewers and a 4.9 rating. “How I Met Your Mother” returned to 8.8 million viewers with a 3.6 rating, even with its season average last year. On NBC, “Chuck” was trailed with 6 million viewers and a 2.1 rating, also in line with last season. “90210” was a distant fifth for the CW with 2 million viewers and a 1.0 rating.

“Rules of Engagement” had its first fall premiere in three years at 8:30 p.m., and averaged 8 million viewers and a 3.1 rating.

At 9 p.m. The eighth season of “Two and a Half Men” led all shows in the 18-49 demo with a 4.8 rating and 14.5 million viewers. The Event started off on a strong note with 11 million viewers and a 3.7 demo rating. That’s a solid start, but for a serialized drama with a lot of built up hype, it remains to be seen how it will hold up with viewers in coming weeks. “Flashforward” premiered to over 12 million viewers last year before falling to under 6 million by the end of the season.

Despite critical hype, Fox’s Lone Star was dead on arrival. It was watched by 4 million viewers and garnered just a 1.3 in the 18-49 demo. With those numbers, the show is likely to be yanked in coming weeks. “Gossip Girl” was last in the hour with a 1.0 rating and 1.8 million viewers.

CBS also found success with the premiere of “Mike and Molly,” which attracted 12 million viewers and a 3.9 rating at 9:30 p.m. The success continued with its update of “Hawaii Five-0” at 10 p.m., which led the hours in viewers and the demo with a 3.8 rating and 13.8 million viewers.

On ABC, the third season of “Castle” returned with 11 million viewers and a 2.8 in the demo, while NBC’s new procedural about a U.S. Marshall “Chase” also faltered out of the gate, with a 2.5 rating in the demo and just over 7.5 million viewers.

About The Author

Jason Woods is a Blast staff writer

One Response

  1. Mitch Leopard

    Needs to be on earlier. Your base audience (those who watched the original series) has many things to do. 10 o’clock is too late for them to. Try 8 or 9 at the latest.

    Reply

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