Kurt Sutter's 'Mayans MC' Revs Up as Cable's Top Series Premiere in 2018

FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” spinoff “Mayans M.C.” premiered last week as the most-watched cable premiere of the year so far among adults under 50, according to Nielsen.

Factoring in three days of delayed viewing, last week’s debut was watched by 2.5 million viewers in the key 18-49 demographic. It also ranked as the year’s best cable debut among adults 25-54 and 18-34.

Overall, the premiere pulled in 6.8 million total viewers, the best showing on FX since “American Crime Story” premiered in 2016.

Also Read: 'Mayans MC' Star JD Pardo Dishes on Which Scene Made Him Consider Going Vegan (Video)

Set in a post-Jax Teller world, “Mayans M.C.” stars JD Pardo as Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, a new recruit to the “Mayans” club who must carve out his new identity in a town where he was once the golden boy after being released from prison.

Clayton Cardenas also stars, alongside Edward James Olmos, Sarah Bolger, Michael Irby, Carla Baratta, Antonio Jaramillo, Raoul Max Trujillo, Richard Cabral, and Danny Pino.

Showrunner Kurt Sutter co-created the series with co-executive producer Elgin James.

10 New Summer 2018 TV Shows Ranked by Premiere Viewers (Photos)

Summer may not exactly be the Mecca of TV seasons, but people need to beat the heat somehow. Sometimes, that involves vegging out on the couch in front of the air-conditioner... and the boob tube.

We know that NBC's "America's Got Talent" and CBS' "Big Brother" are staples of July and August, but what new potential hits were introduced in Summer 2018?

Scroll through our gallery to see how the new summer TV series rank by their premiere audiences.

Also Read: HGTV’s ‘Love It or List It’ Just Scored Show’s Best Rating in Almost 5 Years
10. "Pink Collar Crimes" (CBS): 2.027 million

Not even blue-collar Nielsen numbers.

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CBS
9. "The Last Defense" (ABC): 2.665 million

Not good ratings, but this show may have actually done some good for former footballer Julius Jones.

Also Read: ‘Last Defense’ Subject Julius Jones Could Get New Hearing Following ABC Documentary
Lincoln Square Productions
8. "Reverie" (NBC): 2.883 million

Nice try, NBC.

Also Read: ‘Manifest': Watch First 9 Minutes of NBC’s Upcoming Supernatural Drama (Video)
NBC
7. "Whistleblower" (CBS): 3.036 million

At least this show, about regular people exposing corporate crimes, did better than "Pink Collar Crimes."

Also Read: Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Just Had Her Highest-Rated Month Ever
CBS
6. "Castaways" (ABC): 3.127 million

Not totally casted-off by viewers.

Also Read: 12 Lowest-Rated TV Shows of 2017-18 Season (Photos)
ABC
5. "Take Two" (ABC): 3.358 million

ABC will take the middle of the pack.

Also Read: 11 Highest-Rated TV Shows of 2017-18 Season (Photos)
ABC
4. "Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell & Back" (Fox): 3.673 million

One hour of Heaven for Fox.

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Fox
3. "The Proposal" (ABC): 3.792 million

This proposal was accepted -- at first.

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ABC
2. "TKO: Total Knock Out" (CBS): 3.987 million

OK, so not a TOTAL knock out, but a pretty darn good start for a summer show.

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CBS
1. "Making It" (NBC): 5.191 million viewers

Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman have officially made it.

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NBC
For the purposes of this comparison, we omitted Fox's "One Strange Rock" because it previously aired on Nat Geo Channel.

We also didn't count Fox's "Phenoms," which was a series of documentaries on rising soccer stars the network ran on three consecutive Friday nights to promote the World Cup. That one just doesn't fit here, but they'd be 11 and 12, respectively.

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Fox

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CBS’ ”TKO“ wasn’t a TOTAL knock out — but it beat every other broadcast series debut save one

Summer may not exactly be the Mecca of TV seasons, but people need to beat the heat somehow. Sometimes, that involves vegging out on the couch in front of the air-conditioner... and the boob tube.

We know that NBC's "America's Got Talent" and CBS' "Big Brother" are staples of July and August, but what new potential hits were introduced in Summer 2018?

Scroll through our gallery to see how the new summer TV series rank by their premiere audiences.

Also Read: HGTV’s ‘Love It or List It’ Just Scored Show’s Best Rating in Almost 5 Years

View In Gallery

10 New Summer 2018 TV Shows Ranked by Premiere Viewers (Photos)

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