Are these the Most Watched Episodes in TV History?

[TVFactFan]

Mash Finale

Conclusion of Who Shot J.R?

Rhoda's Wedding

Cheers Finale

[USTVFanFromUK]

http://www.chez.com/fbibler/tvstats/..._us_index.html

This site tells all.

Program Episode/Game Net Date Rating Share Households
1 M*A*S*H (series) Final episode CBS 2/28/83 60.2 77 50,150,000
2 Dallas (series) “Who Shot J.R.?” CBS 11/21/80 53.3 76 41,470,000
3 Roots (mini-series) Part 8 ABC 1/30/77 51.1 71 36,380,000
4 Super Bowl XVI 49ers 26, Bengals 21 CBS 1/24/82 49.1 73 40,020,000
5 Super Bowl XVII Redskins 27, Dolphins 17 NBC 1/30/83 48.6 69 40,480,000
6 XVII Winter Olympics Women's Figure Skating CBS 2/23/94 48.5 64 45,690,000
7 Super Bowl XX Bears 46, Patriots 10 NBC 1/26/86 48.3 70 41,490,000
8 Gone With the Wind (movie) Part 1 NBC 11/7/76 47.7 65 33,960,000
9 Gone with the Wind (movie) Part 2 NBC 11/8/76 47.4 64 33,750,000
10 Super Bowl XII Cowboys 27, Broncos 10 CBS 1/15/78 47.2 67 34,410,000
11 Super Bowl XIII Steelers 35, Cowboys 31 NBC 1/21/79 47.1 74 35,090,000
12 Bob Hope Special Christmas Show NBC 1/15/70 46.6 64 27,260,000
13 Super Bowl XVIII Raiders 38, Redskins 9 CBS 1/22/84 46.4 71 38,800,000
Super Bowl XIX 49ers 38, Dolphins 16 ABC 1/20/85 46.4 63 39,390,000
15 Super Bowl XIV Steelers 31, Rams 19 CBS 1/20/80 46.3 67 35,330,000
16 Super Bowl XXX Cowboys 27, Steelers 17 NBC 1/28/96 46.0 68 44,114,400
ABC Theater (special) “The Day After” ABC 11/20/83 46.0 62 38,550,000
18 Roots (mini-series) Part 6 ABC 1/28/77 45.9 66 32,680,000
The Fugitive (series) Final episode ABC 8/29/67 45.9 72 25,700,000
20 Super Bowl XXI Giants 39, Broncos 20 CBS 1/25/87 45.8 66 40,030,000
21 Roots (mini-series) Part 5 ABC 1/27/77 45.7 71 32,540,000
22 Super Bowl XXVIII Cowboys 30, Bills 13 NBC 1/29/94 45.5 66 42,860,000
Cheers Final episode NBC 5/20/93 45.5 64 42,360,500
24 The Ed Sullivan Show Beatles' 1st appearance CBS 2/9/64 45.3 60 23,240,000
25 Super Bowl XXVII Cowboys 52, Bills 17 NBC 1/31/93 45.1 66 41,988,100
26 Bob Hope Special Christmas Show NBC 1/14/71 45.0 61 27,050,000
27 Roots (mini-series) Part 3 ABC 1/25/77 44.8 68 31,900,000
28 Super Bowl XXXII Denver 31, Green Bay 24 NBC 1/25/98 44.5 67 43,630,000
29 Super Bowl XI Raiders 32, Vikings 14 NBC 1/9/77 44.4 73 31,610,000
Super Bowl XV Raiders 27, Eagles 10 NBC 1/25/81 44.4 63 34,540,000
31 Super Bowl VI Cowboys 24, Dolphins 3 CBS 1/16/72 44.2 74 27,450,000
32 XVII Winter Olympics Women's Figure Skating CBS 2/25/94 44.1 64 41,540,000
Roots (mini-series) Part 2 ABC 1/24/77 44.1 62 31,400,000
34 The Beverly Hillbillies Regular episode CBS 1/8/64 44.0 65 22,570,000
35 Roots (mini-series) Part 4 ABC 1/26/77 43.8 66 31,190,000
The Ed Sullivan Show Beatles' 2nd appearance CBS 2/16/64 43.8 60 22,445,000
37 Super Bowl XXIII 49ers 20, Bengals 16 NBC 1/22/89 43.5 68 39,320,000
38 The Academy Awards John Wayne wins Oscar ABC 4/7/70 43.4 78 25,390,000
39 Super Bowl XXXI Packers 35, Patriots 21 FOX 1/26/97 43.3 65 42,000,000
40 The Thorn Birds (mini-series) Part 3 ABC 3/29/83 43.2 62 35,990,000
41 The Thorn Birds (mini-series) Part 4 ABC 3/30/83 43.1 62 35,900,000
42 NFC Championship Game 49ers 28, Cowboys 27 CBS 1/10/82 42.9 62 34,940,000
43 The Beverly Hillbillies Regular episode CBS 1/15/64 42.8 62 21,960,000
44 Super Bowl VII Dolphins 14, Redskins 7 NBC 1/14/73 42.7 72 27,670,000
45 The Thorn Birds (mini-series) Part 2 ABC 3/28/83 42.5 59 35,400,000
46 Super Bowl IX Steelers 16, Vikings 6 NBC 1/12/75 42.4 72 29,040,000
The Beverly Hillbillies Regular episode CBS 2/26/64 42.4 60 21,750,000
48 Super Bowl X Steelers 21, Cowboys 17 CBS 1/18/76 42.3 78 29,440,000
ABC Sunday Night Movie “Airport” ABC 11/11/73 42.3 63 28,000,000
ABC Sunday Night Movie “Love Story” ABC 10/1/72 42.3 62 27,410,000
Cinderella Musical special CBS 2/22/65 42.3 59 22,250,000
Roots (mini-series) Part 7 ABC 1/29/77 42.3 65 30,120,000

Note: The final Seinfeld episode on May 14, 1998 became the 64th highest-watched program of all time (41.3/58).

[USTVFanFromUK]

Originally posted by Jen1989
I thought the Friends Finale was supposed to be in there. Didn't the finale bring in over 51.1 Million Viewers?

It hasn't been added to the database yet.

[Pavan]

Originally posted by Jen1989
I thought the Friends Finale was supposed to be in there. Didn't the finale bring in over 51.1 Million Viewers?

No, Seinfeld was much higher than the Friends series finale. And Seinfeld is 64th all-time. Friends is probably well over 100.

[Pavan]

Originally posted by barwars
The Cheers finale is supposedly the 4th most watched of all time.... but I only see 2 shows ahead of it. (M*A*S*H and The Fugutive)
Or do they count Roots as well??

MASH, Dallas, Fugitive and Cheers. So Cheers is 4th among television series.

[barwars]

Originally posted by pavanbadal
MASH, Dallas, Fugitive and Cheers. So Cheers is 4th among television series.

Ohh. I understand, its just plain episodes, not necessarily the finales.
Makes sense now, thanks for clearing it up.

[TVFactFan]

I thought for sure Rhoda's Wedding would be on that list.

[db108108]

Friends ended up ranking 31st or something like that if you measure by total viewers. This is a very different measure from HH, as these shows are ranked. As a percentage, HH's will always be static at 100, but the number of actual households continue to grow. For instance, "The Ed Sullivan Show Beatles' 2nd appearance" airing on 2/16/64 22,445,000 had a 43.8/60 rating, while the finale of Friends had a 29.1 rating with 31,700,000 households, roughly. That would beat out at least 20 shows on this list.

[spunkygirl]

Wow I wonder if any show will ever knock M*A*S*H from the top

[Mr. Television]

Originally posted by Angela Micelli
Wow I wonder if any show will ever knock M*A*S*H from the top

I doubt it. Their are just so many channels now that its hard to get that large of an audience for any episode of a tv show.

[spunkygirl]

Originally posted by mr roper
I doubt it. Their are just so many channels now that its hard to get that large of an audience for any episode of a tv show.

So true, and ratings for shows back then were considered better, cause they were only competing with the big "3" networks

does that make sense?

[jayman75]

I wouldn't mind seeing some old Bob Hope Christmas shows...

Or even any old Christmas specials...

[TVFactFan]

Originally posted by Angela Micelli
So true, and ratings for shows back then were considered better, cause they were only competing with the big "3" networks

does that make sense?

Yeah that makes sense since Cable was not in many households in 1983