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"This Is Us" is fall TV's biggest freshman hit -- and it's really not all that close. The one-hour show premiered as NBC's most-watched scripted series in the time period in 7 years. It hasn't slowed down since then -- click through the slideshow to find out why.
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Scheduling, Scheduling, Scheduling: Hey, anything after "The Voice" has a puncher's chance. But "This Is Us" is the first-ever scripted show to build on the singing competition lead-in, and it's now done that twice.
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The "Parenthood" Effect: While "Parenthood" outstayed its welcome in terms of Nielsen numbers, the show had been a solid performer and a fan favorite. So why not create something like that, focusing on one big, (usually) happy family? Done and done.
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Fresh Start: "This Is Us" had a killer pilot. I mean, it was REALLY good, with a legitimately incredible payoff. What you guys don't know is that us TV critics saw a slightly different version, but the one that made it to air was excellent too.
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How About That Trailer?: Before the pilot, came the trailer that wowed the world. Immediately after May's TV upfronts, the "This Is Us" official teaser started breaking viewership records. To date, it's notched 127 million clicks.
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The Power of Positivity: Look, 2016 has been pretty terrible, and the election had or currently has almost everyone in America bummed out, depending on which candidate you support(ed). Sometimes you just want to watch something nice and sweet. This fits the bill.
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Diverse and Relatable Casting: "This Is Us" looks more like America than many shows. The progressive drama centers on a mixed-race family, which also features an obese character. And guess what? She's not marginalized. Kate gets to date and be normal. What a concept!
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The "Seinfeld" Concept: Let's keep it within the NBC family, shall we? "Seinfeld" is credited -- particularly among sitcoms -- as one of the first shows to cleverly weave storylines neatly together by the tail-end of each episode. "This Is Us" does that very well, without as many laughs, clearly.
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The most-recent episode of "This Is Us" has set a new series record with 14.43 million total viewers, a sum inclusive of five-day delayed viewing, TheWrap has learned exclusively. In other words, this train isn't slowing down -- might as well hop aboard.
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