Freeform's Newest Teen Comedy Marks Highest Premiere Ratings for Series in Nearly 5 Years
Freeform has a new hit on its hands! Just four episodes into its debut season, the network's newest comedy series Single Drunk Female has cemented its place as a ratings powerhouse. According to new viewership data released by Nielsen and Freeform, the show's Jan. 20th Season 1 premiere drew in more than 2 million sets of eyes, marking the network's biggest comedy premiere in more than four years.
Simply titled "Pilot," and with a synopsis reading, "A public flameout forces 20-something alcoholic Sam to move back home with her overbearing mother, Carol; surrounded by all the triggers that made her drink, Sam tries to move past her worst self and figure out her best self," Single Drunk Female's opening episode drew in more than 2.4 million multiplatform viewers in Live+7. That number not only marked Freeform's largest comedy premiere since the Jan. 3, 2018 debut of grown-ish (Deadline, however, noted that Freeform has only launched one comedy series since grown-ish), but was the most-watched Freeform comedy series premiere on Hulu. The pilot episode was also the second-best performance overall for a Freeform series premiere on the platform, falling just behind Cruel Summer, which averaged 3.81 million multi-platform viewers in its first week.
The show's ratings success doesn't necessarily come as much of a surprise. Single Drunk Female has achieved the rare feat of securing a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics. The show's critic's consensus reads, "Single Drunk Female's clear-eyed chronicle of the challenges of sobriety is a joy, thanks in part to some spiky satire and Sofia Black-D'elia's spirited star turn." The series has also earned an 86% approval rating from the audience.
Created by Simone Finch, Single Drunk Female centers on Samantha Fink, a 20-something alcoholic who moves back home with her overbearing mother following a public flameout at a New York media company. Back home, Samantha sets out on a path to figure out her best self while confronted with remnants of her old life. The show stars Sofia Black-D'Elia, Ally Sheedy), Rebecca Henderson, Sasha Compère, Lily Mae Harrington, and Garrick Bernard. Jon Glaser, Madison Shepard, Jojo Brown, Ian Gomez, Charlie Hall, and Madeline Wise appear in recurring roles.
New episodes of Single Drunk Female air Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on Freeform. Fans can also catch new episodes the next day on Hulu, which you can subscribe to by clicking here.