TV ratings: ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ debuts solid; ‘Mindy Project’ falls

Fox’s new cop comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” had no problem arresting viewers in its debut.

Starring Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” brought in 6 million viewers in its 8:30 p.m. premiere, which in today’s fragmented media landscape is considered not too shabby. It is an increase of 43% from last year’s premiere of “Ben & Kate,” which was canceled in its first season. “Brooklyn” generated a 2.5 rating among advertiser-desired 18- to 49-year-olds.

More importantly, “Brooklyn” built on a less-than-stellar 8 p.m. lead-in from the controversial new sitcom “Dads” from “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane. Critics have shredded “Dads” for its politically incorrect humor.

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Starring Giovanni Ribisi and Seth Green as two buddies whose fathers move in with them, “Dads” drew a less-promising 5.57 million viewers and a rating of 2.1 in the key 18-49 demographic. On the plus side, the “Dads” audience was up 44% from last year’s debut of “Raising Hope” in the same 8 p.m. time slot demo, and the demo rating rose 24%.

Keep in mind that neither “Dads” nor “Brooklyn” had significant competition from the other major networks.

Among the returning shows, “New Girl’s” third season debut averaged a 2.9 in the 18-49 category, making it the highest-rated show in that demographic of the night across the broadcast networks. The quirky comedy starring Zooey Deschanel was up 4% over last year in the demo. It drew 5.6 million viewers.

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Mindy Kaling returned with a new hairdo and a new guest star (James Franco), but neither seemed to do much from her show’s numbers. The premiere of “The Mindy Project’s” second season fell 21% from its series opener a year ago to a 1.9, while taking in 3.95 million viewers.

Overall, Fox had the highest 18-49 rating of the night with a 2.3, but that will probably even out as the other networks begin to introduce their new series.

ABC showed the movie “Iron Man 2” in prime time for a 1.2.

NBC’s “Million Second Quiz” continued to slide, this time 27% from last week in the demo. Part 1 of the “America’s Got Talent” finale fell 17% to a 2.4, compared with last year’s comparable episode. It drew 10.9 million viewers, the most of any broadcast show Tuesday night.

CBS was in all repeats.

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ryan.faughnder@latimes.com