CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- Two new cable entries got off to good starts this week as FX's "Lucky" and Sci Fi's "Scare Tactics" bowed to solid numbers.
"Lucky," FX's new half-hour dark comedy starring John Corbett ("Sex and the City") premiered to a 2.2 rating (2.5 million viewers), more than double FX's usual prime-time average. While not a par with "The Shield's" debut numbers (4.1 rating for season one and 3.6 rating for season two), they were in the ballpark of two of cable's other success stories, Lifetime's "Strong Medicine" and "The Division."
Meanwhile Sci Fi, coming off a stellar start for "Tremors: The Series," saw its other new original series "Scare Tactics" take off in its debut airing. The April 4 one-hour premiere averaged 2.16 million viewers, more than 50% above the network's primetime average. "Tactics" also managed an astonishing 1.37 million viewers in the coveted 18-49 demographic, the most by an original series premiere in Sci Fi's history.
Nevertheless it wasn't all good news for the channel that night as the second week of "Tremors" saw a 35% drop from its premiere numbers (1.6 million vs. 2.43 million), a trend Sci Fi hopes is short lived.
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