Color us surprised!
Midway through November, we finally have a fall TV freshman winner, as a new drama has just landed the highest ratings for a new show. Drumroll please...and the biggest debut of the fall is: AMC's Into the Badlands!
The network's new martial arts drama premiere on Nov. 15 attracted 6.4 million viewers and 3.2 demo rating on Sunday night, making it the biggest series premiere—broadcast or cable—this season.
Of course, having TV's highest-rated show The Walking Dead as your lead-in (with AMC smartly including a teaser of the zombie hit's next episode during the first half-hour of Into the Badlands) definitely helped, but it's still impressive.
Created by Smallville's Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, Into the Badlands stars Daniel Wu, Orla Brady, Sarah Bolger and Aramis Knight, and centers on a warrior and young boy searching for enlightenment in a dystopian future, showing off some serious martial arts skills in exquisitely choreographed fight scenes along the way.
Of course, Into the Badlands has fared much better than many other fall newcomers: The Player, Blood & Oil and Minority Report all had their episode orders trimmed, while ABC's Wicked City was the first new series to be officially canceled. Still, Blindspot has been a hit for NBC, already being renewed for a second season. Blindspot and Supergirl, CBS' superhero series, both debuted to a 3.1 demo rating, falling just shy of Into the Badland's 3.2 rating.
To find out which new series have already been renewed or canceled, click through our gallery below!