Who would have thought that the idea of watching a husky big toothed everyman search for love would prove more appealing to viewers than watching a beautiful raven haired bikini model and Miss USA runner-up do the same?

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According to Monday's ratings, that's just what happened, as NBC's premiere of its Average Joe: Adam Returns series outperformed the January premiere of the program's previous installment, the just-concluded Average Joe: Hawaii series which starred Larissa Meek.

Starring Adam Mesh, the man who was rejected by Melana Scantlin during the December finale of the original Average Joe series, Average Joe: Adam Returns series debuted strongly on Monday, drawing 10.7 million overall viewers and a 5.4 rating, 14 share in the Adults 18-49 demographic according to updated in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research

The performance ranked Average Joe 3 as the top ranked program in its time period in the Adults 18-49 demographic and several other key demographics, beating out a repeat episode of CBS' CSI: Miami.

Compared to January's Average Joe: Hawaii premiere, Average Joe: Adam Returns drew over a million more overall viewers and was up 10% in the Adults 18-49 demographic. The broadcast also posted an 20% improvement in the time period versus the same night last year, but did fall short of the 11.2 million viewers and 5.8/15 Adults 18-49 rating/share drawn by December's premiere of the original Average Joe series.