Donovan
USA's second detective series made off with 3.4 million viewers in its series premiere Friday.
"Touching Evil," starring Jeffrey Donovan, bowed to solid reviews and Nielsens, though ratings were far below those of the cabler's other series launches.
Last year's frontier-set drama "Peacemakers" wrangled 5.2 million in its debut. And the 2002 summer premieres of "Monk" (4.8 million) and "The Dead Zone" (6.4 million) remain among basic cable's top bows.
"Evil" posted a 1.5 rating/4 share in adults 25-54 and a 1.1/3 in adults 18-49 at 9 p.m. Ratings rep a more-than-100% increase over the previous year's time period average.
Premiere easily won the night among ad-supported cable. Among all cablers, only an airing of "Toy Story 2" on the Disney Channel did better with 4.1 million overall viewers.
In addition, "Evil" was on par with its lead-in, an episode of "Law & Order: SVU" (1.1/3 in 25-54; 0.9/3 in 18-49, 3.1 million overall).
Exec produced by Allen and Albert Hughes and Cheyenne Enterprise principals Arnold Rifkin and Bruce Willis, show concerns a detective who survives a gunshot to the head and returns to work fearless and relentless.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com