The highly anticipated premiere of ABC’s Hawaii-based political thriller, "Last Resort," drew a respectable share of the TV viewing audience Thursday night, according to Nielsen ratings information provided by the network.

"Last Resort" was seen by about 9 million viewers, despite being already available free on Yahoo for more than a week, ABC said.

The one-hour drama airs at 7 p.m. locally, which puts it against the powerhouse CBS comedies "The Big Bang Theory" (15.3 million viewers), followed by "Two and a Half Men" (12.3 million viewers).

But ABC was particularly pleased that "Last Resort" added 712,000 viewers in its second half-hour.

It was the network’s highest-rated series premiere among adults 18-49 since the 2009 premiere of "Flash Forward." The key target audience accounted for 2.2 percent of the total viewing audience and 7 percent of those watching TV at the time.

It was also the highest rating for ABC in that demo­graphic in eight months.

"Last Resort," which stars Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman, is shot in Hawaii but takes place on an island in the Indian Ocean and Washington, D.C.

It’s the third series ABC has shot in Hawaii since the final season of "Lost" in 2010.

Braugher and Speedman are officers on a U.S. ballistic missile submarine that has come under attack by its own government. They take over a small island and declare themselves the world’s newest nuclear power.

There will be an encore of the pilot today at 8 p.m.