"Two and a Half Men" scores staggering audience numbers for CBS

From left, Angus T. Jones, Ashton Kutcher and Jon Cryer in "Two and a Half Men."

/ Matt Hoyle/CBS

LOS ANGELES (CBS) Ashton Kutcher's debut on "Two and a Half Men" Monday drew a stunning 27.7 million viewers for CBS. It is a record for the show.

Pictures: New season on CBS
Pictures: New season on NBC
Pictures: New season on ABC

According to Reuters, the show also had 10.3 million viewers in the prized-by-advertisers 18-49 demographic. That's what a typical new episode of the sitcom drew in total audience, across all demograhics, last year.

Those numbers came in spite of steep competition. ABC's two-hour season premiere of "Dancing with the Stars" averaged 18.6 million for the night, strong enough to put that network on top for the night's total viewership.

The "Men" audience gave a good lead-in to "2 Broke Girls," the new CBS sitcom that followed it. "Girls" drew an audience of 19.2 million.

NBC's drama, "The Playboy Club," drew barely 5 million viewers. It followed a two-hour "The Sing-Off," which had a 5.2 million average.

By comparison, this year's Oscars broadcast, down in the ratings from the previous year, drew 37.6 million viewers and the Super Bowl, which set a viewership record this year, had 111 million viewers.

[RCMom]

I was anxiously awaiting the season premiere and excited about Ashton Kutcher joining the show. I couldn't wait to see how they would write him into the show. However, I was very disappointed with the story line. They could have done so much better. I would have liked to see Ashton come in as Charlie's ilegitimate son during the reading of the will or funeral. He should be confident and witty, not insecure and naive. They could have done a lot more with the funeral to put more closure on Charlie's departure. Instead, they brought in some cameo appearances from "Will & Grace" and "John Stamos" - what a waste of time - that added nothing to the premiere and took away valuable minutes for funnier things. I'll give it another couple of episodes before I decide whether or not I want to keep watching. But I don't like what I've seen so far.

[readg821]

I turned the show off half way through because of inane attempts at humor using sexual references & innuendo. It's funnier when they don't try so hard.

[carolrmc]

i watch the first night, and I thought, "not so good". I tried watching the 2nd night and it was worse. A great show was ruined. Walden is not very good at all. Him and Alan are just stupid. Oh, remember the good days with Charlie and how good the show was. It really sucks now!

[scottalias]

I was one of the 27.7 million who watched it with an open mind and was thoroughly disappointed. The plot was stupid and unbelievable, and Ashton has zero chemistry with Cryer. It was a good show but it should have been cancelled.

[wlhoppers]

Kelso moved to Malibu. Big frigging deal.

The show was TERRIBLE, Kutcher's apparently incapable of playing anything but the Kelso character and the novelty of his being added to the show will wear thin - soon.

Then the show can go where it belongs - in the archives.

[cbs3lover]

I am not surprised to see the first episode do so well but not for the reason you may think.
This show was the most watched sitcom for the past few years. I am sure people wanted to tune in to see how different it was going to be since Charlie Sheen is no longer in it; not to mention so many people loved the show. But now that he is no longer on it I will really be surprised if the show is renewed next year.
Charlie Sheen made the show a success and he got a lot of laughs as the star which made me a great fan of the show. If he was still on I know the show would continue for at least a few more years (heck, they would need to rename it "THREE MEN, PERIOD" since Angus T. Jones is growing up). But Sheen's departure will make the show go downhill. I was not impressed with the first episode myself and, although I will watch Part II Monday to see what happens, I doubt I will continue watching. It just is not the same without Charlie Sheen and I know the ratings will show that as they go on.
I feel bad for CBS. It was a great show, they made a lot of money from it and it revolved around Sheen (whom I am no longer a fan of because of everything he has done). Well...at least we have the reruns in syndication.

[Imthaid2]

It will only go downhill from here.

[sharong59]

I want to see more! I liked the 1st edpisode!

[opinionseveryonehasone]

ME TOO!!! LOVED IT!!!

[Antayap]

Give it time! Everyone is waiting for the ball to drop. When your expecting something big and better you will always be disappointed. The cast and crew deserve better, give it to them.