Rob Thomas’ adaptation of the Vertigo comic iZombie posted a solid debut last night as it managed to keep 75% of its lead-in audience from the Flash.  Putting the two DC Comics-based shows together worked like a charm as the normally ratings-challenged CW network came in second for the night, besting CBS, ABC, Fox, and Univision, while trailing only NBC, which had its ratings buoyed by its number one show The Voice and the second season debut of Undateable and the premiere of One Big Happy.

According to Variety, iZombie managed a 0.9/3 in the key 18-49 demographic, and attracted 2.3 million overall viewers.  iZombie outperformed the last 4 original episodes of Supernatural, the show that Thomas’s zombie black comedy/police procedural replaced, in both the 18-49 demographic and in the number of overall viewers. 

Flash remains the CW’s number one show, though it did slip a bit, hitting a ratings low with its first original episode to air during Daylight Savings Time.  But the crucial episode in which all kinds of major narrative twists occurred, still managed a 1.2/4 in the 18-49 demo, and 3.6 million viewers overall.

Ratings for the premiere of a TV series don’t always mean a lot, but iZombie’s ability to hold on to 75% of the Flash’s audience bodes well for the new series in which Thomas, the creator of the cult hit Veronica Mars, managed to add “Chew-like” police procedural elements (see “IZombie TV Series to Differ From Comic”) that have made the iZombie one of the cleverest new series on television, since Veronica Mars and her crew debuted back in 2004.  Based on the first episode iZombie, like Veronica Mars, has the potential to become a real “cult” TV series.  Check out the promo for episode 2 below.