'Two And a Half Men' Premiere Draws Nearly 28 Million Viewers

8:25 AM PDT 9/20/2011 by Marisa Guthrie

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The veteran CBS comedy has a massive season premiere as Charlie Sheen's character is killed off and Ashton Kutcher makes his entrance.

Danny Feld/CBS/Warner Bros.

After months of publicity spurred by Charlie Sheen's public and bitter exit from the long-running sitcom Two And a Half Men, viewers finally got to learn what happened to Sheen's character Charlie Harper.

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Spoiler alert: he was hit by a speeding subway train.

But the curiosity factor surrounding Sheen's exit and Ashton Kutcher's debut as a dispirited internet billionaire who moves into Harper's house translated into boffo ratings for CBS last night.

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Nearly 28 million viewers (27.7 million to be exact) watched the 9 p.m. premiere of Men on CBS. The show also pulled in a 10.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic and a 12.2 rating among viewers 25-54.

That's a huge jump -- nearly 90 percent among total viewers -- compared to last season's bow, which averaged 14.6 million and 4.9 in the 18-49 demo and 6.1 in the 25-54 demo.