The second season of NBC's Last Comic Standing 2 burst onto the airwaves with apparent new-found popularity this week, with its initial episodes reaching ratings highs not since during all of last summer's inaugural season.

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Airing from 8-10PM ET/PT against Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Tuesday night's two-hour Last Comic Standing premiere drew 9.1 million viewers and a 4.0 rating, 12 share in the advertiser-important Adults 18-49 demographic. The performance ranked Last Comic 2 as the dominant non-sports choice in every key ratings category and first in all the key Adult Women demographics (Women 18-49, Women 18-34, and Women 25-54.)

The showing also placed Last Comic 2's premiere as the program's second-highest rated episode ever (behind last season's premiere which drew 9.7 million viewers and a 4.5 Adults 18-49 rating) but it was a record that wasn't destined to last long, as airing without the obstacle of a NBA Finals game in its way, Wednesday evening's second two-hour broadcast performed even better.

Airing from 8-10PM ET/PT, Wednesday's second Last Comic Standing 2 broadcast set new series records in total viewers, the Adults 18-49 demographic, and numerous other key measures. Drawing 10.7 million overall viewers and a 4.8 rating, 14 share in Adults 18-49, Last Comic 2's second episode Adults 18-49 performance was 20% over the previous night's premiere episode and 41% above NBC's time period average during last summer.

The second episode of the reality comedy competition completely flummoxed all competition in Adults 18-49, total viewers and virtually all key measures. For its final 10-11PM hour, Last Comic 2 beat its combined ABC-CBS competition among Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and Adults 25-54.

Unlike the slow ratings fade turned in by last summer's original edition of the show (last season's premiere episode was the show's top-ranked episode of its season), Last Comic Standing 2 is showing signs that indicate it might have ratings staying power. Not only was Wednesday's episode up substantially from the night before, but it increased its Adults 18-49 rating from its first half-hour to its last half-hour by a dramatic 46 percent (to a 5.4 from a 3.7). Additionally, in overall total viewers, last night's increase was 2.4 million persons (to 11.4 million from 9.0 million).