Michael McIntyre's talk show launched on Monday evening (March 10, 2014), with guests Alan Sugar, Terry Wogan and Lily Allen. Though it suffered an underwhelming response from critics, the comedian's show actually performed pretty well and pulled in 2.4 million (21.9%) for the 10.35pm-11.20pm timeslot.

Michael McIntyre ShowTerry Wogan [L], Lily Allen, Michael McIntyre and Lord Alan Sugar [R]

The figures tied McIntyre with Graham Norton's Monday night chat show The Bigger Picture, which aired in August 2005 and also pulled in 2.4 million, according to Broadcast Now. Norton's Friday night chat show is one of the most popular shows on British television and the Irish broadcaster regularly welcomes a line-up of A-list guests.

The critical reception wasn't as positive and the Daily Telegraph said: "The show's styling and presentation couldn't have been much blander... McIntyre wasn't an incisive, intrusive interviewer, preferring a matey approach with much joshing and chortling. All jovial enough, but ultimately, this was a chat show with too little chat."

Michael McIntyre ShowMichael McIntyre Scored Decent Figures For His First Show

The Spectator wrote, "There are two ways to run a chat show. The first one is to get your guests to talk at length, and hope that while doing so they might run beyond their carefully prepared set of approved anecdotes and let slip something they'd have preferred not to. This method has largely gone out of fashion, so McIntyre inevitably ended up with method two: keep raving hysterically about yourself while intermittently reminding your guests how magnificent and legendary they are."

The Guardian gave McIntyre the benefit of the doubt, writing, "Michael McIntyre made his hosting debut with The Michael McIntyre Chat Show on BBC One last night, and he didn't suck. I'm not a fan of his stand-up, and I expected his excitable squeaking and faux-confusion about daily life to be at odds with the cool, calm control needed to front one of these shows. But somehow, appearing like a kid let loose in his dad's workplace, he made it work."

The Michael McIntyre Show is next aired on Monday 17 March, 2014 with guests Abbey Clancy, Jeremy Clarkson and David Jason.

Michael McIntyre chat showMichael McIntyre Working The Audience