Charlie Sheen's FX comedy "Anger Management" has stabilized in the ratings department after a roller-coaster ride that started with a record-setting premiere followed by two weeks of significant drop-offs.
Thursday night's 9:30 airing of "Anger Management" grew in both total viewers and in the 18-49 demographic most desirable to advertisers.
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In the key demo, "Anger Management" grew 13 percent among adults 18-49, attracting 1.42 million total viewers in that group as opposed to last week's 1.25 million. In total viewers, the episode — the series' fifth, since FX ran two episodes on its June 28 premiere night — inched up 9 percent, to 2.65 million from last week's 2.42 million.
Not staggering gains, but the numbers are encouraging for a series that slid considerably after a pretty lofty start.
"Anger Management" (an adaptation of the 2003 Jack Nicholson/Adam Sandler film) drew 2.65 million viewers in the demo and 5.47 million total viewers — a record in the demo for scripted-comedy premieres on cable, and also a record in total viewers, excluding children's programming.
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The following week wasn't quite as rosy, with the numbers dropping off 35 percent in the demo and 38 percent in total viewers. The show's third week saw further slips.