Here’s some news that will be especially surprising to the people who only know FXX’s Dave as the show about the penis man that Hulu was pushing pretty hard a month ago: Deadline says Dave is the “FX Networks’ most-watched comedy series ever,” averaging 5.32 million viewers across regular TV, VOD, and streaming. That’s a hair better than the previous record-holder, Atlanta, which averaged 5.2 million in its first season (Deadline uses the word “eclipsed” regarding this comparison, which seems… dramatic). Part of this can be attributed to the fact that Dave is part of the big FX On Hulu initiative, so it got a big streaming bump that Atlanta didn’t get, but Deadline also points out that Atlanta airs on real FX and Dave is on the lower-profile FXX offshoot network. So maybe it really is just that people want to see a show about a man who is some kind of penis with arms.
Of course, it’s not really about that. Dave is based on the life of co-creator Dave Burd, who is also a rapper/comedian with the stage name “Lil Dicky.” The show is about Burd trying to achieve his dream of being the greatest rapper of all time, while meeting up with wacky friends and guest stars along the way. The show’s second season is expected to air at some point in 2021 (once, you know, people can actually make TV again).