'American Crime Story: The People Vs O.J. Simpson' Ratings Hit! FX's Best Since 'The Shield'

The premiere of American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson pulled chart topping ratings on Tuesday February 02. Over 5 million viewers tuned in to watch the murder mystery unfold, earning a 2.0 rating across adult demos. This makes the best performing premiere on FX since The Shield that reached 4.8 million viewers back in 2002! Read more below to see what all the hype is about for the network's most watched series launch.

It looks like the creative geniuses Ryan Murphy and (other dude name) who brought you American Horror Story and Glee have done it again bringing cable audiences yet another hit! American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson takes readers back in time, over 10 years ago to the court room where one of the nations biggest cases took place. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as O.J. Simpson, a famed football player who was on trial for a double murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

The series unfolds on the night of the murder, a neighbor discovers the bodies while O.J. Simpson is in route to Chicago. The investigation kicks off and there is non-stop shade from O.J. at every turn. Simpson, who was known for being an abusive husband, never asks how his wife died, can't pass a lie-detector test and fails miserably to keep a consistent alibi.

The spine-tingling intricacies of the legal proceedings is what kept viewers on the edge of their seats with unprecedented Live + Same Day ratings. The leading prosecutor on the case is Marcia Clark, played Sarah Paulson of American Horror Story. Paulson brings Clark to life on screen in a riveting way, despite simultaneously filming as Hypodermic Sally on American Horror Story: Hotel for 5 months.

A photo posted by Cuba Gooding Jr (@cubagoodingjr) on Feb 2, 2016 at 2:06pm PST

Joining Paulson on screen in the Simpson trial is the famed "Dream Team" comprised of Robert Kardashian (David Schwimmer), Robert Shapiro (John Travolta), Christopher Darden (Sterling K. Brown) and defense attorney, Johnnie Cochran (Courtney B. Vance). Viewers can even get a glimpse of the Kardashian sisters and Kris Kardashian in the series as well

To put the success of the series launch in context, let's take a look at some of FX's more notable show premieres that didn't scratch the surface of viewership and ratings quite like ACS. American Horror Story: Murder House premiere earned a 1.6 rating with 3.2 million viewers. Sons of Anarchy premiered with a 1.2 rating and 2.5 million viewers. The Bastard Executioner premiere earned a 0.8 ratings with 2.1 million viewers.

If you missed the ground-breaking premiere on Tuesday, see the full episode here. Don't miss the next episode of American Crime Story: The People vs O.J. Simpson Tuesday's at 10pm on FX!