THIS IS US JUST HIT A RATINGS MILESTONE

To date, filmmaker Dan Fogelman has created six TV shows to complement his successful big screen career, and he landed the biggest hit of the bunch with NBC'sThis Is Us, a consistent winner with both audiences and critics. In fact, the hit freshman drama returned from its winter hiatus this week and topped its own already impressive stats. The episode set a new ratings record for This Is Us in the key 18-49 demographic with a 3.0, and it also received the show's third biggest Same Day+7 audience yet, with around 10.5 million viewers.

Now that This Is Us is back in our lives on a weekly basis, NBC is touting just how excellent the timeline-jumping drama has been for the network. The latest episode saw a 7% jump from the show's previous demo rating record, which was the December 6 episode's stellar 2.8 mark, and it's the ninth telecast in a row that put This Is Us on top of the 18-49 demo ratings for all the Big 4's entertainment shows on Tuesday nights.

As far as This is Us being compared to other NBC shows, it is currently the most-watched original scripted series in more than seven years to air in that timeslot; you'd have to go back to a June 2009 episode of Law & Order: SVU to find something bigger. This Is Us has also earned the highest ratings in the 18-49 demo for the timeslot since Parenthood got a 3.1 rating back in March 2010. Plus, the show is growing immensely in delayed Live+7 viewing, earning an average demo rating of 4.5 and adding around 5 million viewers per episode. Lots to be happy about at NBC.

I'm sure it doesn't surprise regular viewers to know that Tuesday night's "The Right Thing to Do" ended up pulling out a ratings benchmark forThis Is Us. It was the episode that resolved the big cliffhanger that had fans going into Super Fret Mode over what happened to Toby. (More on that here.) The fact that the episode got shifted around to make room for President Obama's farewell speech makes the big audience turnout even more impressive. To be clear, also, these stats included unduplicated viewers from the Pacific time zone who got the episode in back-to-back airings.

For anyone confused, the demo rating is sometimes more important than total viewers as far as advertisers are concerned, so getting bigger numbers with adults 18-49 basically guarantees This Is Us will be an NBC staple for years to come. Assuming everyone continues watching, of course.

With more family-fueled drama to come in its standout first season,This Is Us airs Tuesday nights on NBC. To see what else NBC and more will bring to your TVs soon, head to our midseason premiere schedule.