Outrating its flashier fellow Fox newbies, Rosewood has become the first freshman series at the network to get a Back 9 pickup, bringing its order to full-season 22 episodes. The crime procedural starring Morris Chestnut had flown largely under the radar, getting a fraction of the marketing budgets of high-profile new Fox entries like Scream Queens, Minority Report and starring comedy vehicles Grandfathered and The Grinder. Yet, with juggernaut Empire as a lead-out, Rosewood impressed with a strong launch, pulling in a 2.4 adults 18-49 for the premiere in Live+same day, rising to a 2.8 in Live+3 to rank as Fox’s highest-rated new series debut this fall in both L+SD and L3.

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Rosewood has continuously slipped since, most recently logging a 1.4 Live+Same Day rating in 18-49 this week, and is yet to bottom out. Still, boosted by a viewer tune-in for Empire (Rosewood’s ratings build some 27%-29% from the first to the second half-hour), Rosewood has been an overall positive story so far in what has shaped up to be a solid fall for new dramas, highlighted by strong performances from NBC’s Blindspot and ABC’s Quantico, already given back episodic orders, and CBS’ Limited. In Nielsen’s most current ratings, Rosewood is averaging a 2.2 among adults 18-49 and 7.3 million viewers .

Fox originally gave Rosewood an order for 3 additional scripts last week, indicating immediately that it was intent on following that up with an episodic pickup as studio 20th Century Fox TV started making pay or play offers to directors for those three episodes.

Created by Todd Harthan, Rosewood stars Chestnut as Dr. Beaumont Rosewood Jr., a private pathologist in Miami, Florida, who partners with Det. Annalise Villa (Jaina Lee Ortiz). Lorraine Toussaint, Anna Konkle and Domenick Lombardozzi co-star, with Taye Diggs recently added for a recurring role.

“Rosewood has proven to be a real self-starter for us, which is a tremendous feat on this highly competitive night. Todd Harthan, Morris, Jaina, Lorraine and the entire cast and crew have done a fantastic job creating a gorgeous, sexy world that is the perfect complement to Empire,” said Fox Entertainment president David Madden. “The upcoming episodes are so compelling as we build out the family dynamics, and with today’s order, we’re excited to explore the world of Rosewood even further this season.”

Rosewood is from Temple Hill in association with 20th Century Fox TV. Harthan executive produces with Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen.