Chris Haston/NBC, Noel Vasquez/Getty Images Did America "Redneck-ognize" Honey Boo Boo Child and her family?
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, which centers on former Toddlers & Tiaras star Alana Thompson, debuted on TLC last night, and while it definitely got people talking (Guilty pleasure or sign that the end is near? Discuss!), was it able to hold its own ratings-wise against the Olympics and the debut of Friends star Matthew Perry's new comedy Go On on NBC?
Like it or not, Honey Boo Boo and her family are here to stay as the premiere of their show attracted 2.2 million viewers last night and was No. 1 in among all ad-supported cable in its time period among women 25-52/18-39/18-34. Who needs an actual crown when you can wear the ratings winner tiara?!
While NBC's primetime Olympics numbers were down a bit from Tuesday, Wednesday night's coverage, which featured Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings winning the gold medal in women's beach volleyball, still averaged 28.75 million viewers.
In a smart move, NBC previewed Perry's new show, Go On, which follows sportscaster (Perry) who is forced to seek counseling after the death of his wife, directly after its coverage of the Olympic Games and boy, did it pay off: the half-hour averaged 18.5 million viewers. The question now is whether or not viewers will come back when Go On makes its time period debut Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 9 p.m.
The network will also preview another new comedy, Animal Practice, Sunday after the closing ceremony, which we exclusively reported will feature performances from One Direction and The Spice Girls.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)