`Over There' pulls in young viewers

The premiere of Over There, cable channel FX's drama about the war in Iraq, was seen by 4.1 million viewers Wednesday night, making it one of the 10 highest-rated debuts in the history of basic cable and the highest rated series of the night on cable TV.

The series from Steven Bochco and Chris Gerolmo, the first prime-time drama to depict an ongoing war, scored with young viewers drawing an audience of 2.4 million viewers 18 to 49 years of age.

"This is a fantastic series premiere number and we're grateful to Steven Bochco and Chris Gerolmo for delivering an extraordinary show," said John Landgraf, president of FX.

The cable channel now has three of the top 10 most-watched series premieres in basic cable history with Rescue Me and The Shield, which drew audiences of 4.1 and 4.8 million, respectively, for their debuts.

- David Zurawik