Viewers across the country tuned in to meet Walden Schmidt last night.

Two and a Half Men premiered to record ratings, as Ashton Kutcher's debut nabbed an incredible 28 million viewers for the CBS sitcom. That's more than twice the number that tuned in for last year's opener.

Following such a dismal episode, though, how many of these folks will stick around?

Elsewhere on the dial:

• The How I Met Your Mother premiere was up 34 percent from 2010.
• 2 Broke Girls took full advantage of its huge lead-in and debuted 19.2 million viewers.
• Dancing with the Stars drew 18.72 million viewers in its second hour.
• Castle and Hawaii Five-O kicked off new seasons with strong numbers: 14.35 million and 12.57 million, respectively.
• The Playboy Club opened its doors to a paltry 5.05 million people, two million fewer than watched Chase last year... which got canceled after a handful of episodes.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.