American Horror Story debuted strongly on the Fox-owned FX channel on Wednesday, attracting 3.2 million viewers to its first showing at 10 00 p.m. and another 2 million viewers to its second at midnight. In a statement, John Landgraf, president and general manager of the channel, said that Twitter and Facebook users had helped make the premiere a success. "We're equally thrilled by the response to last night's episode on social media, which was unanimously positive and demonstrated that the audience loved the show as much as we do," he said. The show received mixed reviews from TV critics.

07/10/2011