# Highest-rated TV episodes of all time **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2001, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561 "2001-10-10T13:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kid\_Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kid\_Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/1 "2001-10-10T13:13:35Z")
I hate it when that happens. I’ve done numerous searches, all to no avail. So, I’m bringing the problem to the smartest group of humans I know. The question was, “Of the 100 highest rated TV programs of all time, 18 were episodes of this program. What is the program?” ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/2 "2001-10-10T13:23:34Z")
My WAG was going to be the Super Bowl, and [this site](http://www.bibler.net/frank/tvstats/all_time.html) appears to confirm that I am correct. Although by use of the word “program” rather than “broadcast,” are they referring to a weekly series? If so, that would probably mean a different answer. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/3 "2001-10-10T13:28:03Z")
The first hit in a Google search for “highest rated TV programs” gave [this](http://www.bibler.net/frank/tvstats/all_time.html). Of the Top 50 shows, 19 were the Super Bowl. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kid\_Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/4 "2001-10-10T13:34:14Z")
Thanks for that. However, the question was “episodes” and it said “18.” I expect that’s not the answer. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/5 "2001-10-10T13:42:56Z")
In that case, there is no answer. No regular weekly series has 18 episodes among the Top 100. Special events like movies, Super Bowls, Oscar broadcasts and the like nearly always achieve higher ratings than regular programming. It would be impossible for a series to have ratings high enough often enough to place 18 episodes among the 100 highest-rated ever. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/6 "2001-10-10T13:45:50Z")
Oh, I thought this was going to be about May 33rd. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/7 "2001-10-10T13:55:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh, I thought this was going to be about May 33rd. That’s ridiculous. Everyone knew it was going to be about the third word ending in -gry. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/8 "2001-10-10T14:29:00Z")
I’m almost certain that the answer they WANTED was “The Beverly Hillbillies.” It depends on how the question was phrased. “The Beverly Hillbillies” was, by far, the highest rated series in the history of the Nielsens. And if you take away Super Bowl, specials, and “big event” episodes (“Who Shot J.R.?,” the final episode of “M_A_S\*H,” the conclusion of “The Fugitive,” et al.) of other series, then something like 18 of the top 20 rated TV shows of all time were episodes of “The Beverly Hillbillies.” However, if NO exceptions were made, then the Super Bowl has been TV’s biggest event (interestingly, the highest rated Super Bowl was between the 49ers and the Bengals in 1982). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/9 "2001-10-10T15:23:14Z")
I agree with **astorian** that if what they are looking for is the highest-rated episodes _of regular series_, the answer is almost certainly “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Perhaps you are misremembering exactly how the question was phrased. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/10 "2001-10-10T15:28:53Z")
The fact that episodes of “The Beverly Hillbillies” were the most watched at a single moment, of any program ever regularly broadcast, is a really terrifying thought. Still, I’d have boinked Ellie Mae down by the cement pond any day of the week…and thrown Ms. Hathaway into the mix just for kicks. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/11 "2001-10-10T15:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*The fact that episodes of “The Beverly Hillbillies” were the most watched at a single moment, of any program ever regularly broadcast, is a really terrifying thought. Still, I’d have boinked Ellie Mae down by the cement pond any day of the week…and thrown Ms. Hathaway into the mix just for kicks. \*\* Again with the Paul Henning-bashing. What gives around here? Am I the only one who appreciates the way Henning’s shows (and I’m thinking here of _Green Acres_ as much as or more than _Hillbillies_) play havoc with social, linguistic, and aesthetic conventions, subverting them to new and unexpected purposes? What? I am? Oh. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/12 "2001-10-10T16:03:36Z")
[This site](http://www.reporternews.com/2000/features/program1123.html) says that, according to the Nielsen ratings, 16 episodes of “The Bevererly Hillbillies,” and 29 Super Bowls, are among the top 100 most-watched shows since 1961, ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/13 "2001-10-10T16:47:35Z")
I have changed the title of this thread from **HELP!!! I heard a trivia question on the radio, now I can’t find the answer anywhere.** to \*\*Highest-rated TV episodes of all time \*\*. Please try to choose more descriptive titles in the future. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kid\_Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/14 "2001-10-10T19:13:36Z")
Thanks, all. I am satisfied that the answer they were looking for is “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Especially since I heard the question on a country station. Once again,the teeming millions have come through in a pinch. And, I’m sorry if it was upsetting, but I had hoped that a cryptic thread title would picque more interest. I will try to stick more closely to SDMB conventions when starting threads in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Zweistein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zweistein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweistein)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/15 "2001-10-10T21:55:02Z")
Interesting to see (except for the super Bowls) is that there is no new entry since 1993, almost 10 years. The media landscape is for sure declining 😃 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-rated-tv-episodes-of-all-time/86561/16 "2001-10-10T22:09:00Z")
Zwei- what happened to television around 1983. Think about it a second. Cable has given television viewers so many more choices, it’s almost impossible for any show to attract the kind of huge audiences that top shows drew in the 1960s and 1970s. Shows like “E.R.” and “Survivor” regularly top the Nielsen ratings, but they don’t draw nearly as many viewers as a re-run of “The Beverly Hillbillies” drew in 1966. Beyond that, in the 1960s, my family had exactly one television set. That meant that EVERYBODY in the family (from me and my brothers, to my parents, to my grandparents) watched Ed Sullivan on Sunday nights, and Ed Sullivan tried to select guests who would appeal to people of all ages, all over the country. Today, most houses have several televisions, and it’s a safe bet that the kids don’t want to watch the same shows as their grandparents! An Ed Sullivan-typoe show today would NEVER work! Even if the new Ed tried to book a wide range of acts, the show would flop. I mean, suppose he had on Reba McEntire (to appeal to the South), Luciano Pavarotti (to appeal to cultured folks), Kid Rock (to appeal to the teens), Raffi (for the little kids), and comedian Alan King (to appeal to old-timers). Do you think teens would sit through Pavarotti and Alan King? Think old-timers would sit through Kid Rock? Forget it! People would change channels in a hurry! No TV show is ever likely to get the kind of huge ratings many shows in the 60s and 70s got routinely.