In its original American broadcast on February 5, 2009, the first part of "Lecture Circuit" was seen by 8.4 million viewers, according to [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen Media Research]].<ref name="LC1Rate">{{Cite news |last=Gorman |first=Bill |title=Thursday Ratings: With CBS Away, ''Grey's'' and ''Practice'' Come Out To Play |work=TV by the Numbers |date=February 6, 2009 |url=http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/02/06/thursday-ratings-with-cbs-away-greys-anatomy-and-private-practice-come-out-to-play/12299 |access-date=February 23, 2010 |archive-date=September 413, 2012 |archive-url=https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/6AQ90EPna?url=web/20120913115900/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/02/06/thursday-ratings-with-cbs-away-greys-anatomy-and-private-practice-come-out-to-play/12299/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The original broadcast for the second part on February 12 was seen by 8.89 million viewers. The second episode received a 4.3 rating/11 share among viewers aged between 18 and 34, and a 3.8 rating/9 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49, numbers which were close to the season's average rating.<ref name="LC2Rate">{{Cite news |last=Gorman |first=Bill |title=Thursday Ratings: ''Survivor'' Returns Well, ''Grey's'' Boosts ''Practice'' To Demo Beatdown |work=TV by the Numbers |date=February 13, 2009 |url=http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/02/13/thursday-ratings-survivor-returns-well-greys-and-practice-deliver-demo-beatdown/12787 |access-date=February 23, 2010 |archive-date=September 413, 2012 |archive-url=https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/6AQ90xauE?url=web/20120913115938/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/02/13/thursday-ratings-survivor-returns-well-greys-and-practice-deliver-demo-beatdown/12787/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The first episode received a 5.0 rating/14 share among viewers aged between 18 and 34, and a 4.3 rating/11 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49. Both ratings were three-tenths of a drop from the previous episode, "[[Stress Relief (The Office)|Stress Relief]]", which was heavily viewed because it immediately followed the broadcast of [[Super Bowl XLIII]] on NBC. The drop in ratings led some media outlets to speculate that the post-Super Bowl ratings boost was only temporary and would not help ''The Office'' in the long run.<ref name="LC1Rate" />
{{Quote box |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=center |width=215px |align=right | quote = Both parts of ''Lecture Circuit'' were nearly perfect, and if we were to take them together ... they'd easily constitute the finest hour-long episode in this show's history. [Writer Mindy Kaling] nailed the characterizations, the interactions, the tossed-off one-liners, the weird-yet-realistic scenarios. I wonder how much it helps that she's out on the acting floor every day, getting attuned to her costars' rhythms? | source = '''Henning Fog<br> ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'''''<ref name="EWeekly2" />}}
