"Rubicon" premiere surprisingly strong

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - AMC's two-hour "Rubicon" opener had a strong start out of the gate, becoming the cable network's most-watched original drama series premiere ever, grabbing 2.5 million viewers.

Granted, it's only AMC's third series, following "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad. But still: This is in the ballpark of the recent "Mad Men" fourth-season opener, which drew 2.9 million viewers last month.

The number is unexpected since the buzz on "Rubicon" was relatively quiet and AMC had already aired the pilot once after the "Breaking Bad" season finale in June.

The Washington, D.C.-set political thriller stars James Badge Dale as a brilliant think-tank analyst.