'Men' still strong for CBS

'Two . 5 Males,' with Ashton Kutcher and Jon Cryer, has leaped early. 72 hours into its publish-Charlie Sheen existence, "two and a half Males" remains primetime's most broadly used comedy.Ashton Kutcher's debut since the new lead in the CBS sitcom Sept. 19 came an impressive 28.7 million audiences together with a ten.7 rating among grownups 18-49 -- amounts not seen regularly by any comedy since NBC's "Pals."The show predictably fell off over the following days (to twenty.5 million Sept. 26 and 17.7 million March. 3), nevertheless it used to be big enough to rule as TV's No. 1 entertainment series in demos for just about any third straight week -- and was nearly 40% above last year's third "Males" seg with Sheen.While it's unlikely the show will stay as of this higher level, it's clearly re-vitalized the entire Monday comedy block for CBS. In the fall when auds were clearly ready to laugh, the interest will be a large beneficiary right from the start.Close to the outlet evening of the year, CBS smartly used the anticipated huge tune-looking for "Males" at 9 p.m. to steer into new comedy "2 Broke Women," which came 19.4 million (together with a 7.1 demo rating) before settling into its regular 8:30 p.m. slot with two strong perfs that acquired it a quick full-season pickup. Vet "Generate An Earnings Met Your Mother" is on the really strong start at 8 (up about 30% versus. a year ago), and "Mike & Molly" is sturdy within the second season inside the publish-"Males" slot at 9:30 (up about 15%).Be much more handy not so great round the comedy front this be lured by CBS might be the performance of the new Thursday show "How to be a Gentleman," which has fumbled away nearly half of their substantial "The Big Bang Theory" lead-in.While Monday remains the signature CBS comedy evening since the occasions of "I Like Lucy," the web wish to expand its comedy presence from two to four comedies on Thursday, where NBC's considerably approved laffers are becoming a hard time creating a ratings dent beyond "Work.InchIn between your 4 Monday comedies, "Large Bang" and also on-the-bench vet "Rules of Engagement," the interest has six viable half-several hours to make use of. So when auds still stay updated for Kutcher on Monday anchor "Males," CBS might feel ready to dive headfirst into Thursday comedy next fall. Contact Ron Kissell at ron.kissell@variety.com