ER Finale Scores Big Ratings

ER’s 13 year run came to an end last night in a two-hour finale that, according to NBC, rocked in the ratings. If you put NBC on last night hoping to catch The Office, Earl, or 30 Rock you found ER instead. NBC kicked off the finale event with a one-hour ER special in which some of the cast from the series talked about their memories of working on the show. At nine, the finale began and ran for two hours, closing out the series forever.

NBC reported today that among adults 18-49, the ER finale scored the top rating for any drama series finale since The X-Files in 2002. The finale drew in an average of 16.4 million viewers. It was also the biggest overall adueince for any drama series finale in 13 years, according to updated “live plus same day” viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research. Not too shabby!

I’m thinking a fair chunk of those people were folks like me who tuned in more out of nostalgia than because they’d been watching the series all season. I haven't watched ER regularly since the '90s but knowing last night was the last episode ever I had to check it out. Not a bad send-off for a pretty great show.