Jan Shipps, who was a consultant on the project but did not appear in it, was impressed overall with the documentary, though she agreed with many that it spent too much time on polygamy and the Mountain Meadows massacre.

Shipps, professor emeritus of history and religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, said it's the first portrayal of the LDS Church since author Jon Krakauer's 2003 book, "Under the Banner of Heaven," that will reach a wide audience in a way that helps define Mormonism for Americans.

Though active Latter-day Saints may scoff at Krakauer's portrayal, which focused on the religious fanaticism behind Utah's infamous Lafferty murders more than two decades ago, Shipps said there are "enormous numbers of people who get their notion about what Mormonism is" from the best-selling book.

"The church should be pleased with this documentary because it's a lot better than Krakauer's. In many ways, it's better than a lot of things written before the Olympics" in 2002, when Utah hosted journalists from around the world. Shipps lauded the filmmaker's thorough investigation and research, and predicted the piece will, in some ways, define the church for "outsiders" for years to come.

Monday night's two-hour segment generated much the same mix of praise and angst from viewers as did Tuesday's installment, with a negative reaction from about two-thirds of the 65 to 70 viewers who e-mailed or called in responses to KUED by 2 p.m. Tuesday. Twenty of 30 Deseret Morning News readers who responded to an informal question about their reaction on the newspaper's Web site also had a negative opinion of the first segment.

KUED general manager Larry Smith said the number of responses to KUED was "less than we thought. We're wondering if it's because people are waiting to see the second part."

He added that he wasn't surprised at the tone of the response. "I think people are more motivated when they see something they don't like. But we had a wide range of views — some saying it was 'absolutely terrible' and 'how dare you' and others saying it was 'too nice to the church' and 'how dare you."'

Jim Bell, manager of marketing and communications for BYU Broadcasting, said his station had only received six or seven calls by mid-afternoon Tuesday. "Only one was a complaint. The caller didn't feel we should have aired it." Others simply want information on when they could watch it again, he said.

"The Mormons" on KUED drew nearly 115,000 Utah households as viewers on Monday night, and another several thousand viewers on KBYU, making it the highest-rated program in its time period, even as it competed with the Utah Jazz playoff game. Smith said the totals represent the biggest national ratings success in more than 20 years for KUED.