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The NBC hit drama 鈥淭his Is Us鈥� returned for its first new 2017 episode on Jan. 10 after a very popular fall run.

The show debuted in September 2016 and centers on one family, telling stories from the 1970s and centering on parents (Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore) raising three children and in the present day, with each sibling (Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz, and Sterling K. Brown) navigating their own challenges.聽

At the end of the program鈥檚 last episode before the December holidays, Kate鈥檚 boyfriend Toby (Chris Sullivan) was taken to the hospital. Spoiler alert:聽In Tuesday's episode, viewers saw that聽he recovered and Toby and Kate become engaged. Meanwhile, in a narrative that took place in the past, parents Jack and Rebecca found out that they are having triplets and struggled with the news.聽

鈥淭his is Us鈥� returns after having strong ratings success in 2016. For what is often referred to as the fall finale 颅鈥� the last episode before an end-of-the-year break 鈥� 鈥淯s鈥� topped its previous total viewer high, drawing 10.9 total million viewers. The record had just been set the week before with the Nov. 29 episode.聽

Paul Levinson, professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University and author of 鈥淭he Plot to Save Socrates,鈥� noted last year following initial ratings success that this sustained drawing of viewers is the best scenario for a TV show.聽

When ratings keep growing after the series premier, Professor Levinson said, 鈥渢his is what people who run television want to see.鈥�

More often, ratings fall off after the debut.聽鈥淎nd if it keeps declining after three, four, five episodes, you know that you don't really have a winner on your hands,鈥� he said. By contrast, 鈥淯s鈥� demonstrated early that it 鈥渉as legs,鈥� he said.聽

By drawing more total viewers in the middle of its first season than it did on its series premiere night, 鈥淯s鈥� is showing that new fans were still seeking the show out for the first time.