The Amish, as a rule, reject television. However, television -- or at least UPN -- is loving the Amish right now.

Wednesday's (July 28) premiere of the reality series "Amish in the City" scored some of UPN's best ratings for a Wednesday night in recent history. About 5.4 million people bore witness to the two-hour debut, the network's best Wednesday performance since November 2001.

The show also did well among UPN's target demographic of adults 18-34, trailing only FOX for the night and posting the net's best rating (2.3) for a Wednesday night in close to three years. It also finished second among adults 18-49 with a 2.5 rating, beating the big three networks as well as rival The WB.

"Amish in the City" follows five young Amish men and women who are on rumspringa, a time when they leave the church and their families to experience the trappings of 21st-century life. The show puts them up in a house with six "city kids" who are as unfamiliar with the Amish way of life as the Amish are with theirs.

The show sparked protests when UPN announced it early this year, but reviews of the finished product have been largely favorable and fears that the Amish would be made to look foolish quelled. If anything, a number of reviewers have noted, the non-Amish participants end up looking narrow-minded.

The audience of 5.4 million for the premiere is more than double what UPN has averaged on Wednesday nights this summer.