Bummer premiere for ABC's 'Happy Town'
UPDATED: The debut of ABC's thriller "Happy Town" disappointed Wednesday night, pulling weak numbers at 10 p.m.
"Happy Town" drew only 5.3 million viewers and a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating, dropping 39% from its "Cougar Town" lead-in (6.5 million, 2.8). "Town" was also 19% below the debut of "The Unusuals" in the slot last year.
Fox won the night with "American Idol" (20.1 million, 6.7), up more than 10% from last week.
ABC placed second, its comedies rising from their last originals across the board, with "The Middle" (7.1 million, 2.4) up 4% and "Modern Family" (10.0 million, 4.2) up 13% leading into the two "Town"s.
NBC squeaked into third place with "Minute to Win It" (5.2 million, 1.6) followed by "Mercy" (4.9 million, 1.4), up 17% and airing at 9 p.m. this week, then "Law & Order: SVU" (9.5 million, 2.9).
CBS aired repeats. The CW ran "America's Next Top Model" (3.3 million, 1.5), "Fly Girls" (900,000, million, 0.4) and "High Society" (900,000, 0.3).