The Last of Us has stellar ratings in debut on HBO ... adaptation of video game stars Pedro Pascal

dailymail.co.uk:

HBO enjoyed stellar numbers for the debut of its new series The Last of Us on the night of its premiere last month.According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter Thursday, the show - which stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as survivors following a catastrophic viral outbreak in 2003 - piled up 223 million viewing minutes hours after its debut episode January 15.The viewing totals, which end at the conclusion of the evening Sundays (when new episodes of the show first air), worked out to about 2.79 million HBO Max accounts tuning into the show's 80-minute premiere.

According to HBO, more than 4.7 million viewers watched the show on its first night, meaning that a minimum of 59 percent came from HBO Max streams.Another highly-anticipated HBO series - the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon - debuted last August to around 327 million minutes of streaming, according to the outlet.The top five streaming shows for the period of January 9-15 were all via Netflix, as Ginny & Georgia led the way with 2.73 billion minutes viewed, The Walking Dead had 1.43 billion and Vikings: Valhalla had 1.03 billion.

Cocomelon was in fourth with 918 million while Wednesday had 810 million.The Last of Us was also in the headlines for different reasons Thursday, days after the debut of a new character named Kathleen in the show's fourth episode that aired Sunday night, played by Melanie Lynskey - as the character had one famous detractor: model Adrianne Curry.Lynskey, 45, plays the leader of a group of revolutionaries in Kansas City in the fourth episode, entitled Please Hold to My Hand, where Joel (Pascal) and Ellie ( Ramsey) come across this vindictive leader.