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'Dancing with the Stars' has a record-setting premiere; 'Castle' high too

pam-anderson-dwts-320.jpgIt's all about the casting: The most talked-about assemblage of "Dancing with the Stars" contestants in a while drove the series to the biggest premiere audience in its history.

The 10th cycle of "Dancing" premiered to an audience of 24.2 million people Monday night (March 22). That's 1.4 million more viewers than the show got for its spring debut last year (22.8 million) and a whopping 6.4 million more than the show's relatively lackluster fall premiere in September (17.8 million).

The show, whose cast this time around includes the likes of Pamela Anderson, Kate Gosselin, Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek and NFL star Chad Ochocinco, also matched its best-ever premiere numbers in adults 18-49 with a 6.4 rating.

The big lead-in pushed "Castle" to the best ratings it's recorded in its two seasons on the air. The crime show, which ended Monday's episode on a big cliffhanger, drew 12.2 million viewers and a 3.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic. It also beat an original "CSI: Miami" (10.8 million, 3.2) for the first time ever.

("Castle's" numbers are down a bit from the 12.9 million and 3.6 demo rating reported in the fast nationals because "Dancing with the Stars" ended at 10:02 p.m. and distorted the hourly ratings.)

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Related:

'Dancing with the Stars': Nicole Scherzinger leads in season 10 premiere
'Castle': What just happened with Castle and Beckett?
More 'Dancing with the Stars' on Zap2it

Photo credit: ABC
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Zap2it Elite Sheet Must Reads from the Web's In-Crowd
 

It sad how people only watched this show for Pam's sex appeal.

You betcha.

I thought the judges were a little "harsh" for the first dance. And the sooner Kate and Pam are gone....the better.

Is FOX on the air? Uh, have you heard of a #1 (the last several years) show American Idol??

Haha... Ian and Lynn... you took the words right out of my mouth and I completely agree with you! I also agree with Donna, ABC is finally coming back in the ratings!

It's been weird though, ABC does have the best TV shows with the best actors, but they just don't pull in the ratings, I don't get it.

LOST, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Supernanny, EMHE, DWTS, Castle, Cougartown, Ugly Betty, The Middle, V, FlashForward, and Modern Family are brilliant shows.

For NBC, I only like Heroes, Marriage Ref, Minute to Win It, and Celebrity Apprentice.
For FOX, I only like American Idol, 24, and Hell's Kitchen.
For CBS, I only like CSI, CSI Miami, and The Amazing Race.
For CW, I only like ANTM.

I don't watch all these shows all the time, these are just the best shows on each network, in my opinion.

This post: "Rena Moretti | March 23, 2010 5:54 PM" was a fake post. :(

In any case, the message to CBS is clear: Shows shot on video (like sadly CSI Miami is nowadays) lose audience unless the writing is stellar.

As much as I respect CBS, I'm not holding my breath for them to see the writing on the wall. :(

@ Donna - WHAT did you just say? Will you Please learn to spell. That was just painful.

Dancing with the stars is what I tape for the first few minutes while waiting for Castle. Yes, my friends, excellent acting and plot did not dissappear with the writers strike.

I have to hand it to ABC, not sure why they did so well with DWTS? The only ones I knew were Kate and Pam - but kudos! Kat or Donna or whomever, you're still an a$$, but I give it to you. Odd thing, you would never admit the opposite.

Very, very pleased with Castle's ratings for Monday night. Disappointed to see 24's ratings go down after I think going up last week. And Law & Order's ratings go down again.

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