Even when one allows for the off-the-scale buzz that preceded the arrival of Little Mosque on the Prairie, the ratings still made for an eye-popper of a surprise.

Two million and change, peaking at 2.7 million. Wowza. The 8 x 30 sitcom with the button-pushing title not only won its Tuesday, January 9, 8:30 p.m. timeslot – beating both Degrassi: The Next Generation and the return of House – but also set a new record for a domestic series debut.

Indeed, the Ceeb hasn’t seen ratings like that on a scripted show since its pop history biopic Trudeau aired in 2002.

Mosque also gave a boost to the crime drama Intelligence, which followed at 9 p.m. to some 450,000, up from the mid-200,000s in the fall.

Reached at her office the next morning, programming boss Kirstine Layfield was predictably ‘ecstatic’ with the results, offering that the ratings win signals ‘the start of a turn’ at the third-placed network.

The question now is, where will Mosque go from here?

‘We don’t expect that we can maintain this number all the way through… but it’s a great number,’ says Layfield. ‘Given that so many people tuned in and stayed, we have good expectations that this is going to be one of our higher-end comedies.’

Mosque, produced by Regina’s WestWind Pictures with creator Zarqa Nawaz, reran its first episode the next night to 887,000 viewers, after which it moved to Mondays, taking over the 8:30 p.m. slot vacated by the flop sitcom Rumours and leading into the docudrama 72 Hours: True Crime. Its Jan. 15 episode aired opposite The Golden Globes, sure to take a bite, though BBM Nielsen overnights were not available at press time. It reruns Wednesdays at 8 p.m.

The critics were less wild about the hayseed-meets-halal comedy, however, and filed mixed reviews. John Doyle hailed it as a ‘triumph’ in The Globe and Mail, while others cringed at the hokey script and stock characters.

The Ceeb also scored with its Greatest Canadian Invention special on Jan. 3, watched by 915,000 (in case you missed it, the winner was insulin), but stumbled with the acclaimed gangland two-parter Dragon Boys, which came in just under 400,000.

Layfield says that proves her point that minis are a tough sell with viewers, though a sequel MOW is in the works with Omni Film Productions (see story, p. 14). CBC is also considering reworking Dragon Boys as a series.

Elsewhere on the dial, the second season of Falcon Beach made its arrival on Jan. 5, bringing 276,000 to Global and its Friday 8 p.m. slot – low but up 10% from last season’s average. The network also notes that the debut showed gains in key markets and demographics, playing 44% higher with women aged 18-49.

Global is also airing the latest go-round of 24, now back in its usual spot Mondays at 10 p.m. following its two-parter debut on Jan. 14 and 15. The reliable action series stands to fortify Global’s Monday lineup, which is already blessed with Prison Break and Heroes.

On CTV, eTalk and Jeopardy will return to their usual pre-prime slots at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, replacing The O.C., which has been cancelled by Fox. The teen drama ends its four-season run on Feb. 22.

CTV also debuted the delayed U.S. sitcom The Knights of Prosperity on Jan. 13, running in an unenviable Saturday afternoon slot following According to Jim.