Many fans wondered how Fox's Gotham would fare in the ratings, since it features numerous characters from the Batman DC Comics, but not Batman himself. The numbers are in for the Fox show's pilot episode, which attracted a healthy 8 million viewers during the one-hour episode last night.

Gotham averaged a solid 3.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic, in a Monday 8 PM hour that also featured ratings juggernauts such as NBC's The Voice (12.6 million viewers, 3.7 rating), CBS' The Big Bang Theory (13.1 million viewers, 3.5 rating) and ABC's Dancing with the Stars (11.9 million viewers, 2.0 rating).

Gotham also received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with a whopping 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 88% Fresh viewer consensus.

It remains to be seen whether Gotham can build on this premiere with positive word of mouth, or if the show will start to slip in the weekly ratings as Season 1 continues. The series returns Monday, September 29 at 8 PM ET with "Selina Kyle", and you can CLICK HERE to check out the trailer for next week's episode that debuted earlier today.