Overnights (Metered Markets):
As expected, the return of ABC's 8 Simple Rules took top rated honors of the evening with the hour-long episode dealing with the death of John Ritter's Paul Hennessy at a 14.9/22 from 8-9 p.m. Comparably, 8 Simple Rules outdelivered CBS's second place Navy NCIS (8.8/13) by a considerable 69 percent.
Top 8 Overnights:
1. "Eight Simple Rules..." (ABC, one hour) - 14.9/22
2. "Judging Amy" (CBS) - 11.1/17
3. "According to Jim" (ABC) - 10.5/15
4. "Law & Order: S.V.U." (NBC) - 9.6/15
5. "The Guardian" (CBS) - 9.1/13
6. "Navy N.C.I.S." (CBS) - 8.8/13
7. "N.Y.P.D. Blue" (ABC) - 8.4/14
7. "Less Than Perfect" (ABC) - 8.4/12


Fast Nationals (Nielsen's):
Top 8:
1. "Eight Simple Rules..." (ABC, one hour) - 12.8/20
2. "Judging Amy" (CBS) - 9.8/16
3. "According to Jim" (ABC) - 9.5/14
4. "Law & Order: S.V.U." (NBC) - 8.9/15
5. "The Guardian" (CBS) - 8.4/13
6. "Navy N.C.I.S." (CBS) - 8.0/12
7. "N.Y.P.D. Blue" (ABC) - 7.4/12
7. "Less Than Perfect" (ABC) - 7.4/11
8 Simple Rules grew from a 12.6/20 to 12.9/19 from it's first half hour to second half hour.
The final numbers are not in, but it drew well over 20 million viewers. John Ritter's last episode drew just under 18 million viewers. This episode, should easily be in the top 5. ABC easily won the night overall.

Fast Nationals, Viewers 18-49:
Top 8:
1. "Eight Simple Rules..." (ABC, one hour) - 8.2
2. "According to Jim" (ABC) - 6.1
3. "Law & Order: S.V.U." (NBC) - 5.6
4. "Fear Factor" (S, NBC, 90 minutes) - 4.9
5. "Less Than Perfect" (ABC) - 4.8
6. "Frasier" (S, NBC) - 4.5
7. "N.Y.P.D. Blue" (ABC) - 3.9
8. "24" (FOX, 9:00) - 3.7
Again, 8 Simple Rules grew from it's first half to second half hour, from a 7.8 to an 8.5. ABC easily won the night overall.

Thats great news. :dance:

Originally posted by mr roper
Thats great news. :dance:

:nod: I agree! That's wonderful news! :)

This is wonderful news! I'm glad people decided to stick with the show.

This is great news. Let's hope the ratings stay high. Last night's episode was great. It was both sad and funny. It was good how they started the show with the stuff about "The Hot List". That, of course, was supposed to be the 4th episode and the one they were working on when John passed away.

Glad to here that!

Thats good news!!

IMO, "8 Simple Rules" had the saddest TV episode ever on last night.

While "Frasier" had the funniest episode of ANYTHING Ive ever seen.


Overall, it was a great night for TV fans.
(not to mention ABC)

(I just hope they dont USE John's death as a way to pull in viewers)

Originally posted by barwars88

(I just hope they dont USE John's death as a way to pull in viewers)
They won't. Don't worry.:)

the only thing i thought was wrong was that they showed ads from threes company dvd its like they were taking advantage of johns death;

I missed the ads.
Thats what I get for going to the bathroom....

Originally posted by fear the mullet
the only thing i thought was wrong was that they showed ads from threes company dvd its like they were taking advantage of johns death;

They didn't air the TC ads where I live. :confused:

Originally posted by PZelda: VICKI!!
They didn't air the TC ads where I live. :confused: me neither :(

Originally posted by pavanbadal
Overnights (Metered Markets):
As expected, the return of ABC's 8 Simple Rules took top rated honors of the evening with the hour-long episode dealing with the death of John Ritter's Paul Hennessy at a 14.9/22 from 8-9 p.m. Comparably, 8 Simple Rules outdelivered CBS's second place Navy NCIS (8.8/13) by a considerable 69 percent.
Top 8 Overnights:
1. "Eight Simple Rules..." (ABC, one hour) - 14.9/22
2. "Judging Amy" (CBS) - 11.1/17
3. "According to Jim" (ABC) - 10.5/15
4. "Law & Order: S.V.U." (NBC) - 9.6/15
5. "The Guardian" (CBS) - 9.1/13
6. "Navy N.C.I.S." (CBS) - 8.8/13
7. "N.Y.P.D. Blue" (ABC) - 8.4/14
7. "Less Than Perfect" (ABC) - 8.4/12


Fast Nationals (Nielsen's):
Top 8:
1. "Eight Simple Rules..." (ABC, one hour) - 12.8/20
2. "Judging Amy" (CBS) - 9.8/16
3. "According to Jim" (ABC) - 9.5/14
4. "Law & Order: S.V.U." (NBC) - 8.9/15
5. "The Guardian" (CBS) - 8.4/13
6. "Navy N.C.I.S." (CBS) - 8.0/12
7. "N.Y.P.D. Blue" (ABC) - 7.4/12
7. "Less Than Perfect" (ABC) - 7.4/11
8 Simple Rules grew from a 12.6/20 to 12.9/19 from it's first half hour to second half hour.
The final numbers are not in, but it drew well over 20 million viewers. John Ritter's last episode drew just under 18 million viewers. This episode, should easily be in the top 5. ABC easily won the night overall.

Fast Nationals, Viewers 18-49:
Top 8:
1. "Eight Simple Rules..." (ABC, one hour) - 8.2
2. "According to Jim" (ABC) - 6.1
3. "Law & Order: S.V.U." (NBC) - 5.6
4. "Fear Factor" (S, NBC, 90 minutes) - 4.9
5. "Less Than Perfect" (ABC) - 4.8
6. "Frasier" (S, NBC) - 4.5
7. "N.Y.P.D. Blue" (ABC) - 3.9
8. "24" (FOX, 9:00) - 3.7
Again, 8 Simple Rules grew from it's first half to second half hour, from a 7.8 to an 8.5. ABC easily won the night overall.

Yay 8SR! I expected it to do really well, but thats REALLY WELL! :D It was a very sad episode, and im glad many watched. John and his character will be missed :(

they showed those ads here a bunch of times.....i also felt they were just trying to milk his death .....sad

That's great news..... and it really helped "According to Jim" and "Less than Perfect".. I hope audiences keep tuning in after the early post-John episodes have ended

Thats great.


Originally posted by PZelda: VICKI!!
They didn't air the TC ads where I live. :confused:

they didnt here either.

I could have been crying through it, but I didn't see any where I live either.

I'm glad the ratings were the best but I wish he didn't have to die to get them there. The show should have had good ratings to begin with.

I hope that the ratings stay up, but I have to admit I know a lot of people who have tuned in this season for the first time ever due to the fact that are interested in seeing J. Ritters last work and the curiosity of how the show was going to kill him off.

I hope that the tragic loss of life of a great comedian is not the only reason that the ratings are high, but you have to remember that sometimes death brings you more success than life. And hey, if it makes fans of the show cause of this isn't that okay also?

There are probably more Ritter fans then there were 8SR fans to start with before his death, and many of his fans (like the 3's Comp fans) tuned in to view his last work, or like my son who never watched 3's but watched 8SR till after his death. Some people may have done the opposite.

Originally posted by eza
they showed those ads here a bunch of times.....i also felt they were just trying to milk his death .....sad

Yeah, they showed the ads here quite a bit as well. During one commercial break they showed the add twice in a row. I thought that was pretty odd to say the least. But anyway it's good to hear how well the show did. It was a historic episode, and I'm glad so many people tuned in to see it.