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Television
Top 10 most-watched shows of the decade
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-03 09:13
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This undated publicity picture shows (L-R) David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc.[Agencies] |
LOS ANGELES - A list of the most-watched TV episodes of the decade reads like an exercise in nostalgia. Only one telecast aired after 2006. With the increasingly fractured TV universe, we probably won't see a list quite like this again. Excluding duplicate titles, here are the Top 10 TV series episodes since 2000:
1. FRIENDS
* Airdate: May 6, 2004
* Viewers: 52.5 million
Titled "The Last One," the "Friends" series finale closed a modern-day Golden Age of comedy TV -- and marked the end of NBC's "Must-See TV" era. At the time, the final "Friends" was the most-watched entertainment telecast in six years, and it has never been surpassed. A finale that stayed true to the series, the "Friends" closer was well liked by fans and concluded with slow pan across Monica and Chandler's empty apartment.
2. SURVIVOR: PALAU
* Airdate: August 23, 2000
* Viewers: 51.7 million
"Survivor" was a new series that premiered in the dead of summer, yet that didn't stop its August finale from nearly toppling "Friends" as the most-watched telecast of the decade. During its riveting two-hour closer, audiences expected tough whitewater rafting guide Kelly Wiglesworth to triumph over scheming corporate trainer Richard Hatch for the show's $1 million prize -- and then were stunned to discover that in this new TV genre called "reality," sometimes the villain wins.
3. JOE MILLIONAIRE
* Airdate: February 17, 2003
* Viewers: 40 million
Fox put a deceptive twist on the reality TV genre with "Joe Millionaire." Why tell contestants the truth when fooling them is so much more fun? With women vying for the attention of fake millionaire Evan Marriott, millions watched the season finale to see which bachelorette he would choose and, more important, how she would react when she learned the truth about his identity. Marriott's relationship with winner Zora Andrich didn't last and, once the show's twist played out, neither did "Joe Millionaire."
4. ER
* Airdate: February 17, 2000
* Viewers: 39.4 million
A car crash the previous week left Lucy Knight and John Carter gravely injured after they were attacked by a schizophrenic patient. A massive audience tuned in for this episode, "All in the Family," to see who would survive. Considered one of the most tragic episodes of the series.
5. AMERICAN IDOL
* Airdate: January 16, 2007
* Viewers: 38.1 million
The "American Idol" sixth-season premiere marked the pinnacle of the show's popularity, back when each season brought in a higher number than the one before. The Minneapolis episode opened a season that Jordin Sparks would go on to win, and introduced millions to the name Sanjaya.
