Continuum blasts off to 900,000 on Showcase

Set phasers for stunning! The new sci-fi drama Continuum premiered to an overnight, estimated 900,000 Sunday night on Showcase. The specialty series, about a cop from the future on the hunt for a gang of terrorists, was the most watched TV show in Canada Sunday at 9, beating a movie on CTV, and topping both CBC (a rerun of Republic of Doyle) and Global (a repeat of The Good Wife) combined. More than twice as many Canadians watched Continuum on Showcase Sunday night as America’s Got Talent on City (387,000).
Another 265,000 watched Continuum the same night at 11 p.m. The Vancouver-based series, which stars Rachel Nichols (right), got maximum exposure in the narrow window between season-enders and summer start ups. There was no Stanley Cup playoff game on opposite, no Desperate Housewives finale, just the one, new, well-crafted Canadian series, and viewers gobbled it up. More proof that, if you schedule it, meaning a Canadian, scripted drama, they will come.
The 900,000 start has to be a record for Showcase, where even a major hit like Lost Girl tops out around the 300,000 mark.