Viewers were even more enthusiastic about Larry David's HBO comedy Sunday night than during the premiere of its eighth season.
The July 17 episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm drew 1.9 million during its 10 p.m. premiere, according to Nielsen data. That delivery was up 12% from the 1.7 million who tuned in the show's eighth-season opener,The Divorce, the week before, and the episode, entitled The Safe House, now stands as the show's most-watched since March 2004, according to HBO officials.
An additional 556,000 watchers saw the encore at midnight, lifting the episode's total to 2.5 million, up 17% from the prior week.
No doubt, some of Curb's success stems from its lead-in. The fourth episode of the fourth season of vampire series True Blood averaged 5.1 million for its 9 p.m. debut and another 1.1 million at 11 p.m.
This Sunday, Curb will serve as a lead-in for Entourage, as the Hollywood buddy series kicks off its eight-episode final season at 10:30 p.m.
