Night Court series premiere delivers big ratings for NBC
The first part of last night’s one-hour premiere ended up drawing a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic and more than 7.3 million viewers. Meanwhile, the second part drew a 0.9 and just over 6.7 million. These are some of the best numbers we’ve seen for a comedy series on this network in a really long time, especially when you consider that there was no big NFL lead-in or anything else to get this show off to such a strong start.
We will say that there were three things that helped this show deliver the goods almost right away. First, you have a beloved show coming back after so many years with some familiar faces. Also, there was a great promotional campaign that ran throughout a lot of the NFL Playoff broadcasts over the weekend. We also can’t ignore the presence of star Melissa Rauch, who is well-known for audiences already thanks to The Big Bang Theory. This was a perfect combination of things and it already makes it feel possible that we could see a season 2 down the road.
Of course, a lot of this will depend on how many viewers end up checking out the rest of the season. One thing we’ve noticed with revivals / reboots over the years is that once you get past the first week or two, audiences tend to fade alongside some of the nostalgia. There is going to be a lot of curiosity around the brand, but that doesn’t mean that viewers will stay long-term. This version of the show will need to establish itself as its own thing beyond just a callback to the original Night Court from so many years ago.
After the premiere, we will at least say this: We’re more excited than ever to see what’s coming down the road.
Did you watch the Night Court series premiere on NBC last night?
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Photo: NBC