The new fox dramedy naturally dips after two robust NFL samplings, though it builds on its 'Gotham' lead in.

After hitting high marks after two post-NFL samplings the past two Sundays, The Orville reentered the ratings atmosphere on Thursday with its official time slot debut.

Seth MacFarlane's space dramedy entered the 9 o'clock hour with a predictably smaller live draw — averaging a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49 and 4 million viewers. That's a significant drop from the previous two episodes, though both of those posted significant improvements with time-shifting. Multiplatform views with live-plus-seven day returns give the premiere episode a 3.7 rating among adults 18-49 and 12.2 million viewers to date. The second episode posted a 2.9 rating in the key demo with live-plus-three day lifts alone, which made it the first entertainment program to best the Emmys, head-to-head, in 20 years.

Also boding well for The Orville, it posted hour-to-hour growth from lead-in Gotham. The DC Comics drama, which moved from Mondays this season, averaged a 1.0 rating in the key demo and 3.1 million viewers.