The series premiere of the new Charlie Sheen comedy “Anger Management” set a slew of FX and cable records on Thursday (June 28) night and helped boost all of FX’s comedy launches to strong numbers.
The 9 p.m. premiere of “Anger Management” drew 5.47 million viewers, including 2.65 million viewers among adults 18-49. Those figures give Sheen and company the most-watched scripted comedy primetime series premiere in cable history both overall and in the all-important demographic. It was also the most-watched series premiere in FX history in total viewers.
And apparently “Anger Management” fans mostly liked what they saw, because a second episode airing at 9:30 improved to 5.74 million viewers, including 2.89 million in the 18-49 demo.
It’s unclear what numbers were necessary to trigger the unconventional “back-90” order for “Anger Management,” but these seem pretty solid.
While FX didn’t give specific numbers for the premieres of “Wilfred” and “Louie” — an official release is expected this afternoon — the network said that “Wilfred” was up 71 percent over its first season averages, while “Louie” improved on its second season average by 55 percent.