Season 9 premiere of the hit CBS sitcom, Two and a Half Men, now starring Ashton Kutcher and his debut as Walden Schmidt, brought in a record number of viewers!

A staggering 27.7 million viewers turned in to see how Charlie Harper, Charlie Sheen‘s character would die off and how Walden would appear.

And guess what? The ratings numbers almost doubled those of last year’s premiere, and were the highest in the show’s history.

The previous show record was for the May 2005 season finale which was 3.6 million less viewers.

Even Charlie was watching! And he threw a party while doing so. This is what he giddily Tweeted:

“Watching my funeral as my party gets rolling! Thank you @bucadibeppo for the great food!! Loving this night! …”