DreamWorks animated adult comedy, Father of the Pride, drew in an average of 11 million viewers with Tuesday night’s premiere, winning the 9 p.m.—9:30 p.m. time slot and earning a 13 share among the coveted adults 18-49 demographic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Father of the Pride provided NBC with a significant increase in viewership following the 8 p.m. re-broadcast of the talent competition, Last Comic Standing, which only grabbed an average of 6.7 million viewers.
The Jeffrey Katzenberg-created Pride is part of NBC’s efforts to win back males in the 18-49 age group, who have been turning away from network television in favor of video games and edgy adult animation like Comedy Central’s South Park and Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block. Those shows have earned fans by pushing the envelope, a strategy that could prove problematic for NBC, whose viewers are not accustomed to animation targeted to adults.
The network has ordered 13 episodes of Father of the Pride, which delves into the secret lives of animals working in Siegfried and Roy’s Las Vegas act. The show boasts such celebrity voice cast members as John Goodman, Cheryl Hines, Carl Reiner and Orlando Bloom. Friends’ Lisa Kudrow and Quintuplets star Andy Richter did guest spots in the premiere episode and other stars, including Danny DeVito, are lined up for future installments.
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