'Once Upon,' 'Quantico,' 'Last Man' return rather low

Simpsons premiere beats nearly everything in Sunday ratings

The Simpsons type TV Show network Fox genre Animated Where to watch Close Streaming Options

Here’s why The Simpsons isn’t going away anytime soon: For its 28th season premiere — 28th! — the Fox icon just likely beat every other entertainment program premiere in the adult demo Sunday night.

The Simpsons returned to 3.7 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49. The episode featured a guest appearance by Amy Schumer, which might have helped a bit. The rating actually improved slightly on last year’s premiere (improved, not a decline — unlike just about every other returning show this fall). The only other broadcast entertainment series Sunday night that might tie The Simpsons in the adult demo is CBS’ NCIS: Los Angeles (10.5 million, 1.6), whose numbers are temporary due to some football overrun (Simpsons have a tad bit of NFL impact too on a handful of Fox stations, but not as much).

But look how The Simpsons easily beat the return of ABC’s pretty-people block of Once Upon a Time (3.9 million, 1.2), Secrets and Lies (4.1 million, 1.0) and Quantico (3.6 million, 1.0), as well as outperformed the rest of Fox’s comedy lineup — including the time-period premiere of Son of Zorn (2.8 million, 1.2), along with Family Guy (2.9 million, 1.4), and third season premiere of The Last Man on Earth (2.2 million, 0.9).

Of course, NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage ruled over all, with numbers that scripted shows can only dream of (nearly a 7.0 rating in the demo in the early numbers).

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