Ratings for the debut of Bette Midler's CBS sitcom Wednesday night were nothing short of divine.

The show earned the highest numbers CBS has tallied in the 8:00 p.m. half-hour on Wednesdays since 1995, and it beat Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in the adults 18-49 demo.

That success was particularly ironic given the fact that much of the show dealt with Midler's character doing battle with middle age and trying to relate to the hip-hop tastes of her teenaged daughter. Nevertheless, despite numerous recent reports of ratings erosion, Millionaire remained champ for the night, earning an average overall rating of 12.8 and a 19 share (Bette's overall was an 11.9/18).

The two shows crushed NBC's Titans, which dropped to a 6.6/10 from a 9.3/14 a week ago. Titans had been expected to capture the young, female vote (star Yasmine Bleeth is 32; Midler is 54) but ran behind Bette in all demos.

Meanwhile, Fox struck out with coverage of the National League Championship playoffs between the Mets and Cardinals, scoring only a 7.4/11.

Source: Studio Briefing