Neither new comedy “The Comedians” nor veteran lead-out “Louie” fared impressively in the Thursday ratings race.
Airing at 10PM, the new Billy Crystal-Josh Gad vehicle opened with a soft 0.4 adults 18-49 rating and 843,000 total viewers.
As a point of comparison, fellow FX comedy “Married” premiered with a 0.6 and 1.12 million viewers in the same timeslot last summer. While it did ultimately receive a season two renewal, it was never considered a strong ratings performer.
“Louie,” which launched its fifth season in the 10:30PM slot, delivered a disappointing 0.3 adults 18-49 rating with 630,000 viewers. It was by far the series’ worst season premiere performance yet.
Last year’s bow, which included back-to-back episodes, averaged a 0.5 with 926,000.
Positive spin will emerge from the fact that this Thursday’s “Louie” drew a greater viewership total than the season four finale. Airing at 10:30PM on June 16, 2014, that episode drew the same 0.3 but only 556,000 viewers. A lead-in episode at 10PM scored a 0.4 with 596,000 viewers.
