By Wonderwall.com Editors
4:53pm PST, Jan 22, 2022
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On Jan. 2, 2022, Paramount's "Yellowstone" broke records. The Kevin Costner-led Western series saw 11 million viewers tune in for the season 4 finale — making it the most watched cable telecast in America since the season 8 premiere of "The Walking Dead" in 2017, which pulled in 11.4 million viewers. In honor of this recent TV record and the series' wild popularity, Wonderwall.com is taking a look back at more of the most watched TV moments over the years…
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On Jan. 16, 2022, buzzy freshman drama series "Yellowjackets" — which stars Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, Melanie Lynskey and Tawny Cypress as all-grown-up members of a girls soccer team whose plane crashed in the Canadian wilderness in the '90s — delivered some record-breaking numbers with its first season. The finale episode became the second most streamed series on Showtime ever — behind "Dexter: New Blood" — bringing in more than 1.3 million viewers across platforms on that Sunday alone.
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In 1953, more than 70% of all households with TV sets tuned in to CBS to watch as Lucille Ball's alter ego, Lucy Ricardo, gave birth to Little Ricky on "Lucy Goes to the Hospital," a season 2 episode of "I Love Lucy."
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ABC's "Roseanne" revival officially crushed ratings expectations: More than 18 million people tuned in for the two-episode debut of season 10 on March 27, 2018 — with another 6.6 million watching the premiere in the three days that followed — making it the biggest series debut of the 2017-2018 TV season with 25 million total viewers. According to The Wrap, the "Roseanne" premiere was the highest rated entertainment telecast (not counting sports or news) on a Tuesday in six years.
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In 1956, more than 80 percent of all households with TV sets (about 60 million people) tuned in as Elvis Presley made his debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on CBS.
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Back in 1983, a whopping 125 million viewers tuned in to CBS for at least a few minutes of the series finale of "M*A*S*H," which star Alan Alda had the honor of directing.
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In 1977, more than half of all American households with TV sets tuned in for the conclusion of the eight-part ABC miniseries "Roots," on which John Amos portrayed the older version of Kunta Kinte.
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In 1964, 65% of households with television sets tuned in to CBS as Granny (Irene Ryan) confused a kangaroo with a jackrabbit on "The Giant Jackrabbit," a season 2 episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies." The broadcast — which followed President Lyndon B. Johnson's first State of the Union address following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — is the most-watched episode of a half-hour sitcom in TV history.
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In 1983, more than 110 million people tuned in to watch part of Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward's love story on the four-part, 10-hour ABC miniseries "The Thorn Birds."
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In 1993, 93.5 million viewers tuned in for at least part of last call when "Cheers," on which Ted Danson starred as bar owner Sam Malone, came to an end after 11 seasons on NBC.
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In 1980, around 90 million viewers tuned in to CBS to find out who shot "Dallas" patriarch J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) on the season 4 episode "Who Done It?"
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In 1963, 78 million people watched as Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) finally got his revenge and cleared his name on the finale of "The Fugitive" after just four seasons on ABC.
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In 1998, 76.3 million viewers watched as the "Seinfeld" gang (Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards) landed behind bars after nine seasons of stirring up trouble on NBC.
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In 2004, 52.5 million people tuned in to say goodbye to "Friends" stars Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc after 10 seasons on NBC.
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In 1988, 50.7 million viewers said goodbye to Tom Selleck and his "Magnum, P.I." mustache after eight seasons on CBS.
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In 1992, more than 50 million people tuned in to NBC as Johnny Carson hosted "The Tonight Show" for the very last time.
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In 1964, 41.6% of all TV-owning households tuned in to NBC for a random episode smack in the middle of the fifth season of "Bonanza." On the episode, Hoss (Dan Blocker) is wrongly accused of robbing a bank.
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In 1987, around 65 million viewers tuned in for a season 3 episode of NBC's "The Cosby Show" featuring special guest appearances by Gilbert Gottfried and Sinbad. The episode centered around Cliff Huxtable's attempt to buy a car. Random, right?
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In 1983, 41% of all households with TV sets tuned in to watch the conclusion of the seven-part WWII-set ABC miniseries "The Winds of War," on which Robert Mitchum starred as Naval Officer Victor "Pug" Henry.
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In 1961, 40% of all households with TV sets tuned in to watch "About Chester," a random season 6 episode of the CBS Western "Gunsmoke." The episode centered around Doc's search for the missing Chester (Dennis Weaver).
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In 1972, 40% of all households with TV sets watched as Archie (Carroll O'Connor) struggled to understand Edith's (Jean Stapleton) experience with menopause on a random mid-season 2 episode of the CBS sitcom "All in the Family."
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In 1989, 36.3 million viewers tuned in to say goodbye to the Keatons (Tina Yothers, Brian Bonsall, Michael Gross, Meredith Baxter-Birney, Michael J. Fox and Justine Bateman) as "Family Ties" came to an end after seven seasons on NBC.
