Pauley Perette’s return was welcome news for CBS, as the debut of her new sitcom “Broke” was this season’s biggest comedy debut. It probably helped that everyone was stuck at home self-quarantining.
Even so, “Broke” premiered to a 0.9 rating in the advertiser coveted adults 18-49 demographic and 7.05 million viewers, topping another CBS sitcom (“Bob Hearts Abishola”) for the most-watched new comedy this year. In the demo, “Broke” tied “Bob” and “Mixed-ish” for the top comedy debut.
CBS took first among total viewers while ABC won out in the demo on Thursday.
“Man With a Plan” matched “Broke” with a 0.9 demo rating in its fourth-season premiere, while also drawing 7.14 million viewers, its highest total in more than three years. “Tommy” (0.6 rating/5.51 million viewers), “Young Sheldon” (1.3/9.99 million) and “Mom” (1.0/7.62 million) all hit season-highs in both the demo and total viewers.
For ABC, “Grey’s Anatomy” also hit a season-high among total viewers with 7.14 million and a 1.4 in the demo, tying its second-best rating of the season. At 10 p.m., “How to Get Away With Murder” returns for its final run of episodes with a 0.6 rating and just over 3 million total viewers, both up from its fall average. “Station 19” posted a 1.1 in the demo and 7.29 million total viewers.
On NBC, “Superstore” drew a 0.7 rating and 3.29 million viewers, with “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” following at 8:30 p.m. with a 0.5 rating and 2.2 million viewers. Following a repeat “Will & Grace,” “Indebted” drew a 0.3 rating and 1.36 million viewers. At 10 p.m., “Law & Order: SVU” posted a 0.6 rating and 3.51 million viewers.
For Fox, “Last Man Standing” drew a 0.7 rating and 4.11 million total viewers.
Univision took third with a 0.6 rating, while Fox and NBC tied with a 0.5 each. Fox edged out NBC among total viewers, 2.67 million to 2.56 million. Telemundo (0.4) beat out The CW (0.1), which aired all repeats.