Showtime needed a little help with its ratings records books, and “Ray Donovan” was happy to oblige.

The crime drama starring Liev Schreiber as a “fixer” to the rich and famous opened Sunday with the premium cable network’s best-ever ratings for an original series premiere.

In its first showing at 10 p.m., “Ray Donovan” drew 1.4 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. That was better than the 1.1 million in 2011 for the premiere of “Homeland” - which at the time was considered a breakthrough for Showtime.

VIDEO: Summer 2013 TV preview


The Schreiber show was repeated on Sunday and Showtime also allowed subscribers to watch it on on-demand platforms in the two weeks leading up to the premiere. Once all those viewers were added up, “Ray Donovan” passed the 3 million threshold.

Also, the eighth (and last) season of the serial-killer drama “Dexter” opened with 2.5 million total viewers at 9 p.m. That was a record season premiere tally for Showtime.

What did you think of “Ray Donovan”?

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Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT