Why This Is Us Could Be NBC's Next Huge Hit

The 2016 spring television season has only just come to an end, but it looks like plenty of people everywhere are already looking ahead to what’s coming for 2016 – 2017. NBC’s upcoming dramedy This Is Us recently released its first trailer, and the number of views on Facebook is so staggering that the network may just have the big hit of the fall season. The two-and-a-half minute trailer has been seen more than 51 million times via Facebook in its first week online.

In fact, the This Is Us trailer scored a whopping 15 million Facebook views in its first 48 hours, according to EW. That number smashed the record set by the first trailer for The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow, which was viewed 4.1 million times in the first 48 hours.

This past week has seen the Facebook numbers more than triple the views from the first 48 hours to reach the 51 million views. Throw in the more than six million from YouTube, and the trailer has been played nearly 60 million times over the last several days. Either a lot of people really want to tune in to This Is Us in Fall 2016, or a lot of people really need to see Milo Ventimiglia mostly naked.

This Is Us is set to follow Milo Ventimiglia’s character, Jack, along with his group of friends, all of whom share the same birthday. When they turn 36, their lives look to be changing forever. There should be major ups and downs in the series, and the trailer itself is worthy of both a few laughs and a few tears. Check it out!

From that first two-and-a-half minutes, it’s pretty safe to say that This Is Us has really nailed the "drama" half of “dramedy.” Milo Ventimiglia’s Jack and Mandy Moore’s Rebecca go from birthday bedroom friskiness, to birth complications, to the loss of an infant in pretty quick succession, and there’s really nothing funny about their scenes following the first twenty seconds or so. Luckily, some of their other friends bring some laughs later in the trailer.

If the numbers for the trailer are any indication, This Is Us could be a major hit for NBC. The competition is always stiff for new shows trying to make an impression on audiences in the beginning of a new season; luckily for Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, and the others of This Is Us, the early buzz could produce massive audiences. The show will air on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Unluckily for the rest of us, we still have a while to wait before we get to see This Is Us for ourselves. Check out our summer TV premiere schedule to see what you can watch in the meantime. 

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).