Showtime scores high ratings with ‘United States of Tara’

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

‘United States of Tara,’ Showtime’s heavily marketed new comedy about a housewife (Toni Collette) with multiple personalities, delivered some of the pay network’s best-ever premiere numbers.

Sunday’s premiere was seen by 881,000 total viewers, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. The network said that factoring in later repeat telecasts, the premiere was seen by 1.5 million viewers.

While those figures might seem modest, they rank highly when compared with some other high-profile Showtime series, including the 2006 premiere of ‘Dexter’ (603,000) and the 2007 launch for ‘Californication’ (550,000).

— Scott Collins