This Thursday, the ABC drama series “How to Get Away with Murder” is ending after 6 seasons. While the Shonda Rhimes show only aired 15 episodes a season (kinda low for a network TV drama), 6 years is still a long time. And while the ratings haven’t been spectacular lately, the show has built-up a core following, and star Viola Davis even won an Emmy for her performance as Annalise Keating.
I have been a lifelong firm believer that Series Finales are event television. They are the closest forms of scripted content to qualify as “Event TV”. Awards shows, sporting events (live) and game shows (live to tape) are also in that category.
For Series Finales, it gives viewers who may not have watched a show in years a chance to say (and watch the) goodbye. It also allows those who have recently binged a show to watch the finale live… together with others… so they can talk about it at work the next day, or post about it on social media and not be spoiled in advance.
If you don’t believe me: here’s a reminder that 76 million people watched the finale of “Seinfeld”. It wasn’t pulling-in those kind of numbers every week, but everyone HAD to see how one of the most successful shows of all-time was gonna end.
“Friends” brought-in 52 million for the final episode. “Frasier”’s finale was viewed by nearly 34 million people, a 136% increase over the previous week’s new episode. “Everybody Loves Raymond” is right behind on the chart with 33 million viewers for the finale. “Sex and the City”’s last episode was watched by nearly 11 million on HBO, and almost 10 million tuned-in for the finale of “Downton Abbey”, a season finale high for PBS.
Here are some other examples:
“NYPD Blue” (ABC)
Series Finale: March 1, 2005
Viewership: 16.1 million viewers
Highest-Rated Episode Since: January 9, 2001
“The Sopranos” (HBO)
June 10, 2007
11.9 million viewers
Highest-Rated Episode Since March 7, 2004
“ER” (NBC)
April 2, 2009
16.2 million
Highest-Rated Episode Since May 18, 2006
“Lost” (ABC)
May 23, 2010
13.6 million
Highest-Rated Episode Since February 14, 2008
“30 Rock” (NBC)
January 31, 2013
4.9 million
Highest-Rated Episode Since January 27, 2011
“Dexter” (SHOWTIME)
September 22, 2013
2.8 million
Highest-Rated Episode EVER
“Breaking Bad” (AMC)
September 29, 2013
10.3 million
Highest-Rated Episode EVER
“How I Met Your Mother” (CBS)
March 31, 2014
13.1 million
Highest-Rated Episode EVER
“Parks and Recreation” (NBC)
February 24, 2015
4.2 million
Highest-Rated Episode Since January 19, 2012
“Mad Men” (AMC)
May 17, 2015
3.3 million
Highest-Rated Episode Since April 7, 2013
“CSI” (CBS)
September 27, 2015
12.2 million
Highest-Rated Episode Since January 25, 2012
“The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
May 16, 2019
18.5 million
Highest-Rated Episode Since November 6, 2014
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
May 19, 2019
13.6 million
Highest-Rated Episode EVER
“Hawaii Five-0” (CBS)
April 3, 2020
9.6 million
Highest-Rated Episode Since February 17, 2017
“Modern Family” (ABC)
April 8, 2020
7.4 million
Highest-Rated Episode Since January 11, 2017
(Sources: TV Ratings sites including ShowBuzzDaily and TVLine)