Cast member Ken Jeong laughs at the premiere of ''The Hangover Part II'' at Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California May 19, 2011. (Photo : Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)
ABC's new sitcom "Dr. Ken," which stars Korean-American actor Ken Jeong, was the top scripted series of the night on Oct. 2, Friday.
According to Nielsen's preliminary national estimates, "Dr. Ken" led its timeslot in 18-49, 25-54 (2.0/7) and total viewers as it premiered with a 1.4 rating/6 share and 6.7 million viewers overall.
Up 8 percent from the 2014 comedy debut of the cancelled "Cristela" of the 8:30-9:00 p.m. slot, "Dr. Ken" season 1 episode 1 ranked as the highest-rated comedy premiere in the said half-hour slot since Nov. 12, 2012, TV By The Numbers has learned.
Co-executive produced and written by Jeong, "Dr. Ken" built on its lead-in from "Last Man Standing," which attracted 6.5 million viewers overall.
In an interview with HuffPost, Jeong talked about ABC being the first network in history to simultaneously air three shows with Asian actors taking on the lead character. For the Korean-American actor, the network has done an amazing job in championing diversity in programing with "Quantico," "Fresh Off the Boat" and "Dr. Ken."
"You have not one, but two primetime sitcoms featuring Asian-American families," Jeong said adding that what ABC has done is groundbreaking.
Jeong also pointed out that none of the other networks have one Asian-American family sitcom while ABC has two. He said, "They're putting their money where their mouth is when they say they want to reflect diversity in America."
Joining Jeong in the "Dr. Ken" cast are Suzy Nakamura, Dave Foley, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Albert Tsai, Krista Marie Yu, Jonathan Slavin, Kate Simses, Alonzo Bodden, Stephen Tobolowsky, Barak Hardley, David Theune, Laren Lakis, Rene Moran and Shelby Rabara, among others.
