Most Watched TV finales of all time

[Rod Stroker]

Interesting. I knew the number one show was popular but not that popular. 100 million viewers for an entire country population of ~250 million at the time. That's 1 in every 2.5 people who watched the finale, in an era where TVs were not as abundant as what they are today. Staggering!

Good show BTW. One that I used to hate watching as a kid because dad had it on over dinner, but one that I've grown to appreciate in my older years.

http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/entertainment/tv-and-radio/mostwatched-tv-finales-of-all-time/20100526-wchu.html

So of all the current shows on TV which would have the most amount of viewers for a finale? Would have to be The Simpsons wouldn't it?

[HigginsHawk]

I remember MASH well. A rare commodity in that the quality never really dropped over the whole series. Continued introduction of new characters and increasing time for existing ones kept if relatively fresh.

The movie was a terrific ending for the series. Finished the show while it was still in its prime.

Probably only the Hey Hey finale would have rivalled it Australia. Maybe if they axe The Footy Show it would draw in something similar.

Current shows rarely get the distinction of running past 4 or 5 seasons.

Dare I say it, I don't think that there is a show on tv at the moment that would even get close to that sort of a finale. The main reason why is that it so hard for a show to build that sort of audience any more. Doesn't mean there isn't quality out there but it's so hard for it to build up those sort of numbers.

I'm looking forward to seeing how they wrap up Breaking Bad and Entourage. I understand Entourage will finish with a movie.