The critically acclaimed Julia Louis-Dreyfus series “Veep” premiered Sunday night on HBO, improving the viewer numbers for its 10 p.m. slot — but only a little, Deadline.com reports.

“Veep” drew 1.4 million viewers for the premiere telecast, up 8% from the season premiere of “Eastbound & Down” in the time slot and up 28% from “Eastbound’s” series finale a week ago. HBO may be a little disappointed considering that “Veep” had the hit “Game of Thrones” as a lead-in, while the “Eastbound” premiere led out from the low-rated “Luck.”

Adding in the turnout for “Veep’s” midnight rebroadcast, the total for the “Seinfeld” alumna’s new comedy climbed to 1.7 million viewers.

HBO’s other new sitcom, “Girls,” saw its numbers slip 2% for its second episode, to 858,000 viewers — despite a stronger lead-in. Adding up all airings for the night, “Girls” reached 1.1 million. HBO has reported that the gross total for all broadcasts of the premiere episode has reached 3.2 million.

“Game of Thrones” continues to perform well for HBO in its 9 p.m. slot, with its latest installment delivering 3.7 million viewers — down just a tick from its 3.8 million a week earlier.

The nightly average for “Thrones,” adding in rebroadcasts, was 4.6 million.