‘Last Resort’ viewership trails CBS comedies

In a time slot filled with comedy, the one-hour ABC drama "Last Resort" overwhelmed NBC’s two half-hour shows but couldn’t match the comic offerings on CBS Thursday, according to Nielsen ratings information released by ABC.

The second episode of the Hawaii-filmed "Last Resort" drew 8 million viewers, which was roughly a million fewer than the series premiere last week, the network said. That was well ahead of both NBC shows — the season premiere of "30 Rock" (3.4 million viewers) and "Up All Night" (3.08 million viewers). But it was far behind the CBS comedies, "The Big Bang Theory" (15.38 million viewers) and "Two And a Half Men" (12.67 million viewers).

Among adults 18-49, a key target audience for advertisers, "Last Resort" drew 1.9 percent of the total viewing audience and 6 percent of those watching TV at the time.

A political thriller, "Last Resort" is the story of a U.S. ballistic missile submarine that has come under attack by its own government. The crew takes over a small island and declares itself the world’s newest nuclear power.

It stars Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman.