The Carsey-Werner sitcom got off to a rocky start with critics, who slammed the premiere episode for showing the bell-bottomed, polyester-wearing teens getting stoned (no inhaling is actually seen). But audiences, anxious to escape from those endless summer reruns, tuned in, and That '70s Show earned a 7.5 rating and 13 share in its 8:30 p.m. time slot, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers (each rating point represents 980,000 homes; the share is the percentage of sets in use). That was a 7 percent improvement on the Simpsons lead-in.

In the adults 18 to 49 demographic, the sitcom earned a 7.0 rating and 19 share, a full point higher than The Simpsons, which scored a 6.0 rating and 19 share. Those numbers also beat out the previous best premiere after an original episode of The Simpsons, which was the January 1997 debut of King of Hill. The animated hit retained but did not build on the Simpsons' audience.

Fox, which took a chance by moving King of the Hill to Tuesday nights this fall, is hoping That '70s Show will be able to pick up the slack on Sunday nights. Both The Simpsons and The X-Files have taken ratings hits when Fox has substituted King.

In other premiere news, Fox's Holding the Baby made an unimpressive bow on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. The sitcom earned a 3.7 rating and 7 share, numbers that don't bode well for its future.