It’s only been two weeks since the premiere of Better Things and Atlanta, but already FX has renewed both half-hour comedies.
As Vulture’s Josef Adalian reports, Better Things‘ tale of a single working mother raising three unruly daughters has resonated with female viewers, a demographic that the dude-skewing FX has struggled to retain. And Atlanta‘s premiere drew more viewers than any basic-cable comedy since Inside Amy Schumer premiered in 2013.
And anyway, mega-ratings matter less to a network like FX than shows that build loyal audiences through word-of-mouth. As I wrote in my review of the series, both Atlanta and Better Things are first-person comedies that invite viewers into worlds we don’t often see on TV. Like Louie, they’re the kind of shows that could easily build cult followings, which in the age of ever-more options for your TV diet is a boon for any network.