Viewers were either very eager to see The CW's fresh take on Walker, Texas Ranger, or Supernatural fans were just excited to follow Jared Padalecki to his new series because their new reboot, Walker, saw The CW garnering its most-watched series premiere in five years.
Walker pulled in 2.43 million viewers and a 0.4 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic. In terms of total viewers, the premiere topped the 2016 debut of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, which previously held the viewership record. Walker also pulled in the largest audience of any premiere on the network since the season four premiere of The Flash back in 2017. It's very fitting that Padalecki returned to The CW on Thursday night at 8:00 PM because it was the last timeslot for his previous series on the network, Supernatural. The popular genre series recently ended its run of 327 episodes on November 19, 2020.
Walker is a reboot of the Chuck Norris-led Walker, Texas Ranger, which originally ran from 1993-2001 on CBS. The new series follows Padalecki's Cordell Walker as he grieves the recent loss of his wife and grapples with balancing his duties as a father and a Ranger. Cordell Walker returns to Austin after two years, attempting to reconnect with his children, navigate clashes with his family, and find common ground with his partner. There is also an underlying mystery surrounding his wife's death that he may also need to solve. The series also stars Kale Culley, Jeff Piere, Molly Hagan, Keegan Allen, Violet Brinson, Coby Bell, Mitch Pileggi, Lindsey Morgan, Odette Annable, and Genevieve Padalecki.
The premiere of Walker also helped boost the season three premiere of The CW's vampire series, Legacies. The premiere pulled in 717,000 viewers and a 0.2 demo rating, which showed viewer growth from last year's finale according to Nielsen's Live+Same Day fast affiliates. All told, between the performance of Walker and Legacies, The CW landed its most-watched Thursday in almost three years.
Did YOU watch the series premiere of Walker?