Robin Williams Defeats Michael J. Fox On The Small Screen

Comedian Robin Williams’ brand new sitcom managed to defeat the latest offering from Michael J. Fox in the ratings earlier this week.

Both guys debuted their new comedies on Thursday (September 26). Although Fox’s offering received a lot of buzz ahead of its premiere, The Crazy Ones generated higher ratings than its competitor.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the Robin Williams sitcom lured 15.6 million viewers to the small screen on Thursday night. The show also enjoyed a 4.0 rating with folks between the ages of 18 and 49. The website points out that The Crazy Ones probably received some help from The Big Bang Theory.

Unfortunately, The Michael J. Fox Show didn’t come close to matching those numbers. The former Spin City star’s long-awaited return to the small screen enjoyed 7.2 million viewers. Although this figure is respectable, Robin Williams’ latest situation comedy proved much more popular.

The CBS show The Crazy Ones takes place at an ad agency run by Simon Roberts (Williams) and his daughter Sydney (Sarah Michelle Gellar). The comedy also stars James Wolk, Hamish Linklater, Amanda Setton, and Jen Lilley.

“I’m working with a great cast. I mean, I’m — they’re kind of focusing on me, but it’s a wonderful ensemble, which makes it a lot better for me,” the actor and comedian recently told the folks at CBS This Morning.

Robin Williams said he hung out with real-life adman John Montgomery to prepare for his role in the sitcom. He recounted some of the experiences he had while hanging out with Montgomery at the ad agency:

“He was once on the phonewith the sponsor, and he said ‘Well, we’re going to have a unicorn in this commercial.’ And the sponsor actually went, ‘A real unicorn?’ He went, ‘What do I say to them? No, it’s a pony with prosthesis. I don’t know. How do you talk them through it? He told us stories about he once did a promotion in Times Square that had a giant coffee pot pouring coffee into a cup over Times Square, but they didn’t factor in wind, so it started to spray Times Square with hot coffee, like a hot brown rain, which sounds like a Prince song. I imagine Times Square was like, ‘Hey, that’s great. Forget Starbucks.’ It’s pretty wild, but he’s been the adviser. My character isn’t him, but he advises [me] on him.”

Check out the trailer for The Crazy Ones below.

Are you a fan of Robin Williams? Are you surprised that the award-winning actor’s latest sitcom beat The Michael J. Fox Show in the ratings?

[Image via CBS Television]