'Two And a Half Men' Premiere Draws Nearly 28 Million Viewers

[dalapathi]

After months of publicity spurred by Charlie Sheen's public and bitter exit from the long-running sitcom "Two And a Half Men," viewers finally got to learn what happened to Sheen's character Charlie Harper.

Spoiler alert: he was hit by a speeding subway train.

But the curiosity factor surrounding Sheen's exit and Ashton Kutcher's debut as a dispirited internet billionaire who moves into Harper's house translated into boffo ratings for CBS last night.

STORY: Charlie Sheen-Less 'Two and a Half Men': What the Critics Are Saying

Nearly 28 million viewers (27.7 million to be exact) watched the 9 p.m. premiere of Men on CBS. The show also pulled in a 10.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic and a 12.2 rating among viewers 25-54.

That's a huge jump -- nearly 90 percent among total viewers -- compared to last season's bow, which averaged 14.6 million and 4.9 in the 18-49 demo and 6.1 in the 25-54 demo.

In comparison, "American Idol" averaged 25 million viewers last season, nearly 20 million people tuned in to watch each episode of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" Season 12, while the second season of Fox's "Glee" hovered around 11 million watchers each week, and CBS's stalwart "CSI" (in it's 11th season) averaged 12.7 million.