FX's premiere of American Horror Story: Hotel debuted lower than Freak Show but still gave the network an impressive viewership total.

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American Horror Story: Hotel premiered to 5.81 million viewers on Wednesday, with a 3.0 in the adults 18-49 demographic. It is the second highest viewership total in AHS history. Freak Show debuted to 6.13 million viewers and a 3.1 in the demo last year.

Hotel featured the debut of Lady Gaga as a TV actress in a main role. While the star had a few memorable sequences throughout the premiere, many of her co-stars had stronger material to work with overall, particularly Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates and Wes Bentley.

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According to critics, Hotel is the weakest start to a season of American Horror Story. It has a rating of 60 out of 100 on Metacritic, while Murder House had a 62, Asylum had a 65, Coven had a 71 and Freak Show had a 69.

American Horror Story: Hotel centers on the dark and mysterious Hotel Cortez in present day Los Angeles. Gaga plays Elizabeth (a.k.a. The Countess), the owner of the hotel while Bates plays hotel manager Iris, Paulson plays drug addict Hypodermic Sally and Bentley plays LAPD detective John Lowe. Other stars include Matt Bomer as Iris' son Donovan, Denis O'Hare as Iris' sidekick Liz Taylor, Evan Peters as hotel creator Mr. March and Angela Bassett as actress Ramona Royale.

American Horror Story: Hotel airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX.

Tags: American Horror Story television fx