Feeling HOT IN CLEVELAND?

Are you feeling HOT IN CLEVELAND?

Apparently so, as Wednesday (June 16) night’s premiere was the number one show on cable, attracting nearly 5 million viewers to its first telecast.

Now, whether that audience will return next week is unknown at this point, but even if the sitcom loses half of those eyeballs, it could still be considered a success for TV LAND.

My prediction?

Yeah, some of those viewers will bounce, but it’ll be okay.

I wasn’t so sure, however, when watching the pilot’s cold open, which took place on a plane. It was way over-the-top, pretty cheesy and a little predictable too. I probably would’ve switched the channel if the promise of Betty White in later scenes wasn’t looming.

But then, there was the bar.

Having unexpectedly landed in Cleveland, Ohio, the three L.A. girlfriends on the aforementioned plane — played by Wendy Malick (JUST SHOOT ME), Jane Leeves (FRASIER) and Valerie Bertinelli (you know, the Weight Watchers lady) — show up at a local watering hole to get hammered and what they find there is nothing short of astounding.

The men in Cleveland think they’re hot.

Now, I don’t know, maybe it’s my own personal point of view that made this scenario funny to me, but as a girl who lives in Los Angeles and travels to the midwest a few times every year, the comedy of the scene was way relatable. I mean, I’m not knocking the midwest — I grew up in Michigan and love it dearly — but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t had the experience of walking off the plane at Detroit Metro Airport and all of a sudden feeling 10 notches more attractive than I was at an L.A. bar just 12 hours prior.

And each one of the ladies in the HOT IN CLEVELAND cast delivers a solid line, illustrating this phenomenon:

“They’re looking at us. In L.A., they look past us!” -Bertinelli’s character, realizing that the guys in the room were noticing her…

“Look how adorably heterosexual they are. In L.A., it’s always a question.” -Malick’s character, assessing the three men who had just extended an invite to their table (and may I just add an emphatic ‘Mhmmmm’ in response to this statement)…

“We appear to have landed in a dimension where men hit on women their own age. We owe it to science to investigate.” -Leeves’ character, self-explanatory…

Of course, then we meet Betty White’s character — who is the ‘caretaker’ of the home where the ladies decide to stay — and she just knocks it out of the park with her effortless wit, all rude and to-the-point.

The best of her many one-liners came towards the end of the episode when Bertinelli says that she wants to try and revamp her life and reinvent herself and White walks into the tender scene saying, “You’re not going to become one of those women who like themselves, are you? Because everybody hates those women.”

So, yeah, I might have to watch another episode.

You?

Follow GMMR and KorbiGirl on Twitter, and Facebook too, for all your up-to-the-minute TV news and commentary.