Personally, I thought that “How to Get Away with Murder” was just meh — but apparently America doesn’t share that assessment.
The ABC series, which premiered to 14.3 million viewers last Thursday night with star Viola Davis, added another 6 million pairs of eyeballs in Live+3 data — a new record for this new-ish way of measuring ratings (factoring in DVR and other playback viewership for three days after an episode’s original airdate).
The previous record holder? NBC’s “The Blacklist,” which added 5.7 million L+3 viewers last January.
Meanwhile, now that the new syndicated season has a few weeks under its belt, the daytime pecking order vis a vis newcomers is starting to emerge — with “Hot Bench,” created by “Judge Judy” star Judy Sheindlin, ahead of the pack early on.
The court show, which airs here on Ch. 55 (weekdays at noon with judges Tanya Acker, Patricia DiMango and Larry Bakman), finished first among all newbies for the week ending Sept. 21, with a 1.3 household rating and 1.8 million viewers.
It’s also the best opening for a court show, nationally, since “Swift Justice with Nancy Grace” back in 2010. “Meredith Vieira” finished second (1.5 million viewers).
Of note: last Friday’s episode of “Queen Latifah” (9 a.m./Ch. 2) spiked 33 percent in viewership with guest Denzel Washington.
‘Devious’ saucy Susan
It doesn’t appear that we’ll be seeing another (online) version of “All My Children” anytime soon — if ever — but fret not for Susan Lucci, who’s enjoying a resurgence with Lifetime’s “Devious Maids.”
Lucci, who famously played Erica Kane on “AMC” for over 40 years, has segued into her “Devious Maids” role as wealthy (and emotionally unstable) Genevieve Delatour in the dramedy series, created by Marc Cherry and co-executive-produced by Eva Longoria. “Maids” was recently renewed for a third season of 13 episodes set to premiere next year.
“Marc Cherry makes trouble so much fun and I am so thrilled to be going back for more with another season of ‘Devious Maids,’ ” Lucci told me via e-mail. “I love this cast and crew and can’t wait to get back to work to find out what’s in store for Genevieve.”
Last, but not least …
Congrats to ex-Fox PR vet and good guy Josh Governale, who’s hung out his own shingle with The Governale Group, serving the entertainment, sports, hospitality real estate and sports industries … Wednesday: Sirius/XM’s “The MOMS” (Melissa Musen Gerstein, Denise Albert) host a Lands’ End “Mamarazzi” event with Jennifer Garner at Dolby 88 (West 55th) for Garner’s new movie, “Alexander and The Horrible No Good Very Bad Day” … Corey Stoll (“The Strain”) picked up lunch last week at Just Salad in Park Slope.