In its century-long existence, NBC has dished out some of the most iconic shows and series of all time on American broadcast television. Across dramas, sitcoms, procedurals, live events, and more, the first and oldest major broadcast network has proudly remained a home to titles that have not only shaped American pop culture but have also become global cultural landmarks. Especially during the late ’80s and through the ’90s, primetime shows, dubbed as Must-See TV, drew large audiences. Dramas like ER and sitcoms like Cheers and Seinfeld raked in massive viewership for the network, a trend which continued with Friends.
All of these NBC productions have since remained television legends with massive followings, amassing fans from around the world and breaking records for television networks. While many of these shows, or parts of them, might not seem as culturally relevant today, at their time, they were definitive of their genre. With viewership of millions in many episodes, these shows played an undeniable part in ushering in the Second Golden Age of American television. Now, without further ado, here’s a look at some of the most-watched episodes in NBC history.
7
“Stress Relief” (Season 5, Episodes 14 and 15)
‘The Office’ (2005–2013)
A cult hit turned pop culture sensation, Greg Daniels’ The Office boasts some of the greatest episodes seen in the history of American sitcoms that changed workplace comedy forever. While the workplace misadventures of the staff of The Dunder Mifflin Paper Company continued for nine years, the show’s most-watched episode came halfway through, in Season 5. The two-parter season finale features a fire drill in which Dwight (Rainn Wilson) fakes an office fire to test his coworkers’ preparedness, Stanley (Leslie David Baker) suffers a heart attack, and Michael (Steve Carell) plans ways to relieve stress in the office. The episode also stars Jack Black, Jessica Alba, and Cloris Leachman as guest stars.
“Stress Relief” arguably features the most chaotic cold open of The Office and perhaps of sitcom history, and is also the most high-energy episode of the show. Airing immediately following Super Bowl XLIII, the season finale garnered 22.5 million views and earned the highest rating of the show’s entire run. Packed with meme-worthy, self-contained gags that resonate even with first-time viewers, “Stress Relief” is often considered the peak of The Office.
6
“Goodnight, Seattle” (Season 11, Episodes 23 and 24)
‘Frasier’ (1993–2004)
Created as a spin-off of Cheers by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee, Frasier grew to become much more than just an offshoot of its legendary parent show. The endeavors of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) in helping troubled people in Seattle as the host of a call-in psychiatry radio show while he struggled with his personal life were both humorous and heartfelt at the same time. The critically hit sitcom ended with its two-part, 264th episode, “Goodnight, Seattle,” where the titular therapist signs off from the radio station, quoting Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Ulysses,” bidding farewell not only to the city he helped for over a decade but also to those who watched him from across the screen.
Frasier was an important hit for NBC, arguably just as much as Cheers, garnering widespread acclaim and often surpassing the accolades of its parent. Episodes 23 and 24 of Season 11 garnered over 25 million views and became one of the most-watched series finales in television history. A very emotional goodbye for fans, “Goodnight, Seattle” overturned the typical sitcom status quo and set a new benchmark for how to successfully conclude a long-running sitcom.
5
“Hell and High Water” (Season 2, Episode 7)
‘ER’ (1994–2009)
An iconic NBC drama and one of the network’s longest-running shows, Michael Crichton’s ER reached its peak in the earlier seasons, even though the show ran for 15 years. The second season’s seventh episode, “Hell and High Water,” became a phenomenal success and a cultural milestone for the overall series. Directed by Christopher Chulack, the episode follows the fan-favorite Dr. Doug Ross (George Clooney), who, following his final shift at the County General Hospital, performs a dangerous, televised rescue of a young boy trapped in a flooded storm drain.
“Hell and High Water” attracted a massive 48 million viewers and became critically acclaimed for transforming the popular medical drama into a high-stakes, cinematic thriller. The episode arrived at a time when the medical drama was dominating the television ratings and capitalized on that popularity. Considered a must-watch, the second-season episode of ER marked a new turning point for Dr. Ross, carving a new path for the character and thrusting Clooney to national stardom.
4
“The Last One” (Season 10, Episodes 17 and 18)
‘Friends’ (1994–2004)
After 10 years and 236 episodes, Marta Kauffman and David Crane’s decade-long television phenomenon ended with its two-part finale, “The Last One.” The final chapter of Friends closed all the long-running storylines, making it worth the wait for fans. Episodes 17 and 18 of Season 10 gave closure to Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel’s (Jennifer Aniston) love story as they confess their love for each other, while Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) move to the suburbs with their adopted twins. As all of them close the door to Monica’s beloved apartment one last time and head out towards their respective futures, it not only marked the end of an era but became the most emotional moment of the show.
A culture-defining sitcom that is still popular today (well, mostly), Friends forever changed how people viewed comedy, turning its characters into beloved and instantly recognizable icons. And that is why it was no surprise when the series finale drew a whopping 52.5 million viewers. Ranking fifth among the most-watched television finales in U.S. history, “The Last One” remains a major viewership milestone for NBC.
3
“The One After the Super Bowl” (Season 2, Episodes 12 and 13)
‘Friends’ (1994–2004)
Even though the series finale of Friends remains its most popular and memorable episode, the credit for the highest-viewed episode by numbers goes to another two-parter, “The One After the Super Bowl.” The episodes follow Ross, who finds out that his former pet monkey, Marcel, has been hired for a film being shot in New York City. As he sets out to see him, Chandler has a chance encounter with an old friend with whom he had a complicated history. The season finale also became noteworthy for featuring guest stars like Julia Roberts, Brooke Shields, and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
NBC’s attempt to schedule such a prominent episode of an existing, semi-new series in the high-profile post-Super Bowl timeslot turned out to be a phenomenal success. Friends’ Season 2 finale garnered a massive viewership of 52.9 million and remains the show’s most-watched episode. It also became the highest-rated scripted episode for a post-Super Bowl broadcast and brought massive exposure to the sitcom, eventually pushing it to the top of the network charts in the following seasons.
2
“The Finale” (Season 9, Episodes 22 and 23)
‘Seinfeld’ (1989–1998)
Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld’s highly influential sitcom classic Seinfeld broke all conventions of comedy television with no emotional sentimentality, no personal growth, and no moral takeaways. Neither did it end with a bang. Seinfeld’s nine-year run ended with the most absurd final episodes people had seen in sitcoms at the time. In “The Finale,” Jerry (Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Kramer (Michael Richards) are accused of violating a local Good Samaritan law after mocking a carjacking victim instead of helping him, and a massive trial ensues, where various characters from their past testify to their terrible characters.
“The Finale” was massively polarizing at the time of its release, largely due to its lack of moral theme and the intentionally unsatisfying conclusion. And yet, the two-part final chapter of the NBC comedy behemoth garnered a colossal viewership of 76.3 million. Season 9’s Episodes 22 and 23 ironically abandoned its principle of being “nothing,” becoming a plot-heavy moment about everything. And that is largely what drew such a massive audience for the episode, making the Seinfeld finale the second most-watched episode in NBC’s history.
1
“One for the Road” (Season 11, Episode 26)
‘Cheers’ (1982–1993)
For 11 years, Glen Charles, Les Charles, and James Burrows’s classic sitcom served in style and went out with even more style with its 275th and final episode, “One for the Road.” While Sam Malone (Ted Danson) did not close the doors of his beloved bar to his patrons, the last episode of Cheers marked the end of an era for TV’s favorite bartender and his patrons as they drank, socialized, and escaped their daily problems at the titular Boston bar. The episode remains memorable for the bittersweet reunion of Sam and his on-off love interest, Diane (Shelley Long), who come together only to realize how different their worlds are and part ways again.
“One for the Road” makes for a fitting finale that stays true to the show’s premise and honors its core message, both literally and figuratively, and brings back all the major characters one last time. While the sitcom itself was a pop culture sensation during its 11-season run, the finale became a massive national television event. Season 26, Episode 11 amassed 93.5 million viewers when it aired, making it the second-highest-rated series finale of all time in U.S. television history, surpassed only by the finale of CBS’s M*A*S*H.
- Release Date
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1982 – 1993-00-00
- Showrunner
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James Burrows, Glen Charles, Les Charles, Ken Estin, Sam Simon, David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee, Bill Steinkellner, Cheri Steinkellner, Phoef Sutton, Tom Anderson, Dan O’Shannon
- Directors
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John Ratzenberger, George Wendt, Michael Zinberg, Andy Ackerman, James Burrows, Tim Berry, Tom Moore
- Writers
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David Lloyd, Kathy Ann Stumpe, Jonathan Stark, Tracy Newman, Andy Cowan, Janet Leahy, Sue Herring, Tom Leopold, Chris Cluess, David Pollock, Elias Davis, Elliot Shoenman, Jeff Abugov, Daniel Palladino, Katherine Green, Jeffrey Duteil, Michael J. Weithorn, Joanne Pagliaro, Eugene B. Stein, Kimberly Hill
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Billie Bird
Lillian Miller
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Kirstie Alley
Rebecca Howe
