, a look at the top performers since 2001-02 using numbers that are adjusted for historical decline. The table simply looks at the top
is the number of years since 2001-02... so with each yearly update, each list will get one entry longer. There are some pithy notes about many of the seasons below the table. The chart you can activate at the bottom chronicles the top single performer within each year.
1. ABC's revival of the '90s sitcom smash produced one of the most memorable moments in TV ratings history: a 5.2 demo (471 Plus) for its double-length premiere. Something of that magnitude as part of a nine-episode order surely boosted the average, but
Roseanne stayed well within megahit territory to the end and was supposed to be an ABC staple going forward. But a Roseanne Barr implosion on Twitter during the off-season got the show cancelled. (It was more of an elaborate firing, as the rest of the cast returned in
The Conners.)
2. Season eight of
Friends is one of just two seasons in the
A18-49+ era that never dropped into single-digits, joining its Thursday teammate
ER in the same year.
3. It was not as consistently impressive as season eight, but the final season of
Friends eked out a 300 thanks to the double-length 24.9 finale. That episode's 613 Plus remained the highest in the A18-49+ era till
The Walking Dead's season seven opener (682).
4. The peak of the
TBBT phenomenon so far came in 2013-14, the last season to air fully on Thursday before CBS acquired
Thursday Night Football.
5. Sandwiching two 300+ seasons, there were some signs of erosion in
Friends' penultimate campaign. The 16.6 season premiere was actually up year-to-year, but the lowest point (an 8.4 in April) was barely half of that premiere rating.
6. The first
TBBT season to split time between two nights, season eight was very impressive on Monday in the early fall(its premiere had the series high in Plus until season 11) but suffered a bit in the mid-fall move to Thursday.
12. It paled a bit in comparison to
Friends and
ER, but the NBC 9:00 anchor was still a megahit in its own right at the beginning of the aughts.
W&G had a wide variety of lead-ins this season, from short-lived newbies
Inside Schwartz and
Leap of Faith to a mix of
Friends and
W&G repeats.
13. After a highly successful rookie season, ABC's comedy hit posted incredible growth in each of the next two seasons, ending up in megahit territory for the first time in season three.
15.
Big Bang had a bit of a hiccup when it made the move to Thursday in season four, but bounced all the way back and then some in season five, likely getting a boost from syndication exposure.
16. CBS' 12-year staple had only one megahit season. It got there thanks to one of the most shocking results of the entire era, a 10.7 rating for Ashton Kutcher's first episode. That remains the #2 single episode of comedy in the era. (Everything else in the top 11 is
Friends.)
17. The spin-off of
The Big Bang Theory had easily the most impressive premiere for a new comedy in A18-49+ history (349), six weeks before the premiere in its regular Thursday timeslot. It hovered close enough to the 200 mark on Thursday and comfortably became the biggest new comedy season of the era.
18. The growth ended for
Modern Family in season four, but it still eked out a second straight megahit label, and also had the series' highest single episode to date (a 261 for the season premiere).
