"The X-Files" fans waited 14 years for the TV show to return, but it was those last 20 minutes that were the hardest. Sunday night turned into jocks vs. nerds online, as frustrated East Coast alien-lovers had to wait through football's overrun to watch the premiere of the six-episode revival. Some fans weren't able to see the show live and wanted to tape it for later, but only taped half of what they wanted. Bah!


However fans felt about the first episode, once it aired, Fox has to be happy with the turnout. The numbers are still coming in, but here's Entertainment Weekly's early assessment:

"Nielsen's early returns for Sunday's heavily marketed debut are still sketchy — they need to be "time zone-adjusted" since the sci-fi drama got off to a late start on the East Coast (beginning at 10:24 p.m.). But even if you ignore the inflated first half hour and just look at 10:30 to 11 p.m. on the preliminary national chart, X-Files reportedly had 13.5 million viewers and a big 5.1 rating among adults 18–49."

That's pretty darn good -- even if it ends up adjusted down a bit. A quick look at past "X-Files" premieres shows Season 1 debuted to 12 million viewers, followed by 16 million in Season 2, just under 20 million for Season 3, 21 million in Season 4, a whopping 27 million for Season 5, 20 million for Season 6, just under 18 million for Season 7, just under 16 million for Season 8, and just over 10 million for Season 9. That final season premiere was in November 2001, so it's impressive that 13 million of us STILL want to believe.

The new "X-Files" moves into its new timeslot tonight, Monday, January 25, with Episode 2, "Founder's Mutation," airing at 8 p.m. on Fox. Will you be there to see what happens next?

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