Harry Connick Jr.’s first-run strip Harry opened with a 1.4 household rating in the metered markets and a 0.7 rating in the women 25-54 demographic on Monday. The talk show improved its year-ago time periods by 27% in households and 40% in the demo.

For comparison, the most recent syndicated talk show hosted by a TV personality, The Meredith Vieira Show, launched to a 1.7 HH rating (+41%) and 0.6 (even) in September 2014. It lasted two seasons. The genre — and first-run syndication in general — have been very challenging for newcomers in the past decade, with fewer and fewer entries every year. (Harry is the only new first-run strip launching nationally this fall.)

Harry‘s debut was 56% above that of the last syndicated talker to stick, panel show The Real, but celebrity-driven shows are expected to open bigger as their star is at the center of the marketing. The Real was a growth story, building after an inauspicious start, and has a fourth-season renewal.

In top market New York, Harry, from NBCUniversal, grew 60% from it year-ago time period average to a 1.6 in households on WNYW at 4PM. The show’s best first-day performance came in Fort Myers, where it scored a 5.1 at 3 PM on WINK and grew 219% over the station’s year-ago average.