NBC Orders Full Season of 'This Is Us'

Going into premiere week, it was pretty clear that NBC's This Is Us had a good shot at being the biggest new series of the fall season. Ratings for the series' debut episode bore out that expectation, and it is, indeed, the highest-rated new series of the season so far. This week, the network rewarded the series' performance by ordering a full season of 18 episodes, virtually guaranteeing that This Is Us will be around at least until the spring, no matter what happens.

The first episode of the family-and-friends comedy/drama scored big when it aired last Tuesday, and after factoring in delayed viewing, the episode nailed down a 4.5 rating in the 18-49 age demographic. Its ratings were good enough to make it not only the top new series of the week, but also the third-highest-rated scripted series for the week on network TV overall.

Such early success doesn't necessarily mean that a series is out of the woods, however. Last season, ABC's The Muppets actually debuted slightly better than This Is Us, for example, and ABC gave the series an early full-season pickup. The Muppets, however, went into ratings freefall later in the season, and it wasn't renewed for a second season. A failure of that sort is unlikely with This Is Us, but it's a cautionary tale to keep in mind.