‘Falling Skies’ Debuts Big

As expected, TNT’s “Falling Skies” debuted to big numbers last night, pulling in more viewers than any other cable premiere this year.

Sunday’s two-hour premiere delivered 5.9 million viewers, with 2.6 million of those adults 18-49. That’s the biggest cable debut since TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles (7.6 million) last summer, plus it edges out AMC’s The Walking Dead (5.3 million). [EW]

Obviously, the biggest story here is wait WHAT? “Rizzoli & Isles” drew 7.6 MILLION viewers in the summer? America, you crazy. I’m not sure why TNT is dumping millions into a Spielberg sci-fi adventure when “Ladycops!” is probably four times cheaper to make and delivers better numbers.

Anyway, as I wrote this morning, “Falling Skies” is… fine. Noah Wyle’s good, and it’s a decent alien invasion/human resistance sci-fi romp if you can look past the heartwarming family crap at the end of each episode. Seriously, the pilot ended with a group of hardened survivors stopping their hike to the next mission in order to watch some kids ride a skateboard as the feel-good score reached a tinkly crescendo. It was enough to make me want to see a fresh-faced child throw a baseball into Steven Spielberg’s groin.

×