“House of Payne,” the brainchild of Madea stage and family director Tyler Perry pulled the biggest audience ever for a cable-TV sitcom during it’s debut last week.

The TBS series, originally slated to appear on The CW, attracted 5.2 million viewers.

Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin told Reuters, “We weren’t expecting the best of all time. … We had high hopes, but even our highest hopes were exceeded.”

It’s been a big week for Tyler. The director has reached a deal to bring his hit stageplay “Meet The Browns” to the big screen.

Any thoughts on the first two episodes of “House of Payne?”