Was it the fantastic acting? The compelling storyline? The darkly comic writing?

Nah. It was Laura Linney's boob!

As we mentioned earlier, Showtime's The Big C premiered Monday night, but now, the numbers are in. And it's a huge hit. Just about as huge as the hooter Laura bared in the pilot episode.

The first episode logged an astonishing 1.583 million viewers on Monday night, making The Big C the biggest Showtime premiere in eight years, while online views of the show are at 1.6 million and counting.

And that was just for one breast. Imagine what will happen when and if Laura dares to bare the full pair? Looks like Showtime has yet another huge tit--I mean, hit--on their hands.