HBO's 'Game of Thrones' Steady in Week 3; 'Girls' Bows Softly

"Girls"

HBO had mixed returns Sunday night.

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The third episode of fantasy drama Game of Thrones' sophomore season stood its ground, holding steady with 3.8 million total viewers at 9 p.m. and adding 776,000 additional viewers with an encore broadcast at 11.

Sunday's numbers were on par with last week's impressive 97 percent retention rate from the Season 2 bow of the series, which already has been renewed for a third season.

Elsewhere, critically praised new comedy Girls, from writer-actress Lena Dunham and producer Judd Apatow, was soft in its 10:30 p.m. debut, drawing 872,000 viewers. That's down from the series bow of recently axed horse racing drama Luck, which drew 1.1 million total viewers with its Jan. 31 bow, but above the season average for the beleaguered drama from David Milch and Michael Mann.

An encore airing of the premiere, which is now available to nonsubscribers on YouTube, added 246,000 viewers for a total of 1.1 million across two broadcasts.

Sandwiched between the two, Eastbound & Down ended its third season with 1.1 million viewers following Game of Thrones at 10 p.m., on par with its third-year premiere in February. The Danny McBride baseball comedy added 489,000 viewers with a midnight encore, bringing its total cume to 1.6 million viewers.

E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit