Superman & Lois Drives Highest Audience Ratings In Two Years In Time Slot For The CW

The CW's 90-minute premiere for Superman & Lois last night averaged 1.71 million total viewers, the highest in the Tuesday at 8 p.m. time slot in two years. The last episode of The Flash that scored that high wasn't even a crossover event, but the season five episode "Memorabilia," in which Nora fights for her life while Ralph and Cisco blow off steam. Paired with Walker, which scored the highest debut for the network in years, Superman & Lois shows signs of a promising freshman season for The CW, earning the best (non-Walker) ratings for any premiere (season or series) since Batwoman in 2019.

Superman & Lois may have bigger potential to retain its numbers than almost any other show on the network, too; it earned 85% positive reviews from critics, according to Rotten Tomatoes -- and its approval among audiences was exactly the same number. Compare that to Walker, which started with stellar ratings but only 29% from critics and 55% from audiences.

Next week could be an interesting one for Superman & Lois as well as the network's perennial leader, The Flash. The latter will have its season premiere next week in the 8 p.m. slot Superman & Lois did so well with, and then Superman & Lois will head to its regularly-scheduled 9 p.m. time.

In Superman & Lois, after years of facing megalomaniacal supervillains, monsters wreaking havoc on Metropolis, and alien invaders intent on wiping out the human race, the world's most famous superhero, The Man of Steel aka Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin, "Teen Wolf") and comic books' most famous journalist, Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch, "Grimm"), come face to face with one of their greatest challenges ever - dealing with all the stress, pressures, and complexities that come with being working parents in today's society.

Complicating the already daunting job of raising two boys, Clark and Lois must also concern themselves with whether or not their sons Jonathan (Jordan Elsass, "Little Fires Everywhere") and Jordan (Alexander Garfin, "The Peanuts Movie") could inherit their father's Kryptonian superpowers as they grow older. Returning to Smallville to handle some Kent family business, Clark and Lois are reacquainted with Lana Lang (Emmanuelle Chriqui, "Entourage"), a local loan officer who also happens to be Clark's first love, and her Fire Chief husband Kyle Cushing (Erik Valdez, "Graceland"). The adults aren't the only ones rediscovering old friendships in Smallville as the Kent sons are reacquainted with Lana and Kyle's rebellious daughter, Sarah (Inde Navarrette, "Wander Darkly"). Of course, there's never a dull moment in the life of a superhero, especially with Lois' father, General Samuel Lane (Dylan Walsh, "Nip/Tuck") looking for Superman to vanquish a villain or save the day at a moment's notice.

Meanwhile, Superman and Lois' return to idyllic Smallville is set to be upended when a mysterious stranger (Wolé Parks, "All American") enters their lives. Based on the characters from DC created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman & Lois is written and executive produced by Todd Helbing ("The Flash") and executive produced by Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Geoff Johns. The series is from Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.