Fox Hands Full-Season Order to ‘Gotham’

Fox has handed out a full season order to freshman drama Gotham.

The network, which had initially ordered the series for 16 episodes, picked up an additional six to bring the full count to 22 episodes, standard for a full season for a broadcast series.

The Batman prequel series debuted to a 3.2 rating among adults 18-49 and over 8 million total viewers on its Sept. 22 premiere. The drama has held up well in its subsequent two episodes, averaging a 2.7 rating in the demo. Gotham is also a big gainer in delayed viewing, as the premiere episode rose to a 5.1 after three days and a 6.0 after seven days.

The renewal for Gotham comes as Fox has been struggling mightily so far this fall, as none of its other new shows Utopia – which was already pulled from Tuesdays – Red Band Society or Mulaney have gained much traction with viewers.

It’s also been a banner fall for Warner Bros.’ DC Entertainment business. Besides Gotham, DC’s two other series this fall in The Flash and Arrow have performed well for The CW. The Flash became the network’s second-biggest premiere among total viewers and adults 18-49, while Arrow returned up vs. last year’s premiere for its third season.

Two other DC Entertainment series will debut this year, as NBC debuts Constantine on Oct. 24 and The CW will premiere iZombie at midseason.