Showtime’s triple punch of three comedy premieres Sunday night included the return of Californication delivering its best season debut rating yet.
Even without its usual Dexter lead-in, David Duchovny & Co. pulled in 848,000 viewers at 9 p.m. for its fourth season opener (and 1. 1 million viewers total if you include its repeat).
New series Shameless, starring William H. Macy, and Episodes, with the TV comedy return of Matt LeBlanc, also performed well.
Shameless rose slightly from its lead-in with 982,00 viewers (1.3 million for the night). That’s a bit below what The Big C delivered out of the gate last summer, but Showtime says is the network’s highest-rated drama debut in seven years (Showtime is funny like that: Shameless, which everybody is calling a comedy, the network is calling a drama; cancer series The Big C, which everybody calls a drama, Showtime calls a comedy).
Episodes delivered a more modest 768,000 viewers (902,000 for the night). All told, this was a good start for Showtime’s comedy block.
Shameless was great… I was bored with Episodes within the first few minutes.
I agree. I really like Shameless alot, and I kept trying to like Episodes, but it never grabbed me. I’ll give it a couple more episodes before I make my decision to keep it or cut it.
I would definitely call Shameless a drama–I didn’t watch last night, but I’ve seen much of the British version, and if it is somehow a comedy, it’s a very dark, gritty one.
Episodes was alright, I hear it gets a lot better. It just felt like sooooo much set-up. Shameless was pretty great though.
shameless was amazing! really hope it gets even better cus i was really impressed with the premiere.
I wasn’t thrilled with “Shameless”. It did not raise my spirits. Acting was very real but felt depressed after watching Macy as the drunken dad. I liked “Brotherhood” when it was on and enjoy “Entourage” much better than “Californication”. Thought the “Sarah Bingham” character was very attractive. Duchovney is half Jewish (dad is Russian) but need some redemption in his storyline. I’ll try it again next week and will give “episodes” another shot.
What does Duchovny being half-Jewish and his father being Russian have to do with anything? I’m genuinely curious here.
And the character’s name was Sasha Bingham, not Sarah.
shameless was an line for line copy of ours every bit of dialogue was the same from our 1st episode & it dosnt feel right you yanks dont do that sort of thing get your own culture you dont burn out cars lol you cant fake the funk & dont even start me on top gear rip off
While I agree on principle with what you are saying, clearly just because the British do it first doesn’t automatically make it better. Example: your post… you seem to be having problems with English.
I HATED the pace and direction of the Californication episode. It was so ADD it was hard to watch. It’s almost as if Michael Bay directed it.
Couldn’t agree more with you. Something just felt off.
I agree that Californication was a bit scattered. A little off for sure. Episodes was funny though. Good premise, acting was very decent and the overall comedy was right on. I watched about 15 minutes of Shameless and turned it off. It was hard to take in my opinion. It’s been done before and the acting was a little subpar.
I understand it is a remake of the UK version, but it was more of a ripoff then an adaptation, I did not feel that it was realistic to the culture of the United States, and even the slang was not altered for American slang. If you can honestly say that you have ever heard an American teen use the phrase “knob job” when referring to oral sex then I will stand corrected.
I actually really liked Episodes – thought it was funny.
I like Shameless But it didnt pull me in as much as the British Version Did But i hope it makes 8 years of season on this version see how better it gets
shameless was amazing, i think cameron monaghan’s acting was a bit weak but the cast in general was unbelievably good. The story’s exciting as well.
Episodes was terrific. Very low key humor, wonderfully written, no laugh track. How did this show ever get past the pitch? Too good for most people. Much better than Shameless.
Californication is getting better and better. All the cast were magnific. I love hank Moody!
Loved Shameless!