Source: http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters ... /index.jsp

1. "CSI: Miami" (CBS) 13.6/21
2. "Two and a Half Men" (CBS) 10.5/15
3. "Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball" (ABC) 9.9/15
4. "24" (FOX) 9.0/13
5. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (CBS) 8.7/12
6. "Deal or No Deal" (NBC) 8.5/13
7. "Medium" (NBC) 7.9/12
8. "The Apprentice 5" (NBC) 7.1/10
9. "The King of Queens" (CBS) 5.9/9
10. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (CBS) 5.7/8
11. "Alias Series Finale" (ABC) 5.1/8
12. "Everwood" (WB) 2.8/4
13. "Girlfriends" (R, UPN) 2.2/3
14. "Half & Half" (R, UPN) 1.9/3
15. "All of Us" (R, UPN) 1.6/2
16. "7th Heaven" (R,WB) 1.6/2
17. "One On One" (R, UPN) 1.5/2

Total Viewers

1. "CSI: Miami" (CBS) 19.41
2. "Two and a Half Men" (CBS) 15.70
3. "Deal or No Deal" (NBC) 13.99
4. "24" (FOX) 13.52
5. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (CBS) 13.28
6. "Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball" (ABC) 11.54
7. "The Apprentice 5" (NBC) 10.14
8. "Medium" (NBC) 9.87
9. "The King of Queens" (CBS) 8.40
10. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (CBS) 7.53
11. "Alias Series Finale" (ABC) 6.68
12. "Everwood" (WB) 3.10
13. "Girlfriends" (R, UPN) 2.39
14. "Half & Half" (R, UPN) 2.26
15. "All of Us" (R, UPN) 1.90
16. "7th Heaven" (R,WB) 1.83
17. "One On One" (R, UPN) 1.64

Wow. Thats a 2-1 victory for 24.

Michael's gonna lose it.

Pretty sad for Alias. I was hoping for somewhere near 9+ million viewers.

But I don't think 24 impressed either. I know it's gotten higher ratings for some episodes throughout the season right?

Overall, nothing was quite impressive for most of them beings finales.

It's a 2 hour finale average for 24. Also, since last year, the season premiere has always been higher than the finale.

Good for 24. Pathetic for Alias considering it was the series finale.

Decent for Two and a Half Men. The episode was one of the season's best.

But didn't 24 also score some 14m+ viewers on regular episodes throughout this season?

I'm so surprised on how 24 has really caught on. It's one of those rare shows that actually found somewhat of a mainstream audience as the years wore on. I heard this season was very good which is why I though the finale should have been a million or 2 viewers higher. Oh well... isn't this it's highest season average?

Yeah, it scored I think maybe 5 (including the 4-hour premieres), then settled to 13 million. Maybe when we get the actuals, they will say how much each hour did, I'm pretty sure hour 2 got 14 or so million while the first was around 12.

I'm just happy it's finale total is higher than last year's.

My favorite is how Marc Berman labels the 8:30 airing of Old Christine a "loser" (despite near full retention out of King of Queens), and then declares the 9:30 episode "compatible" with Two and a Half Men.

I'm surprised Alias didn't do better, I think the competition with 24 really, really hurt it.

Actually I don't think it's that.

I just think it lost too much of its fanbase or any mainstream following it earned along the way. I actually don't know why I was so naive to think the finale would do much better than episodes now. I mean, thinking back.. whoever saw the ads for the new episodes saw that they were bringing back all the old players and plotlines. If they didn't tune in then, why would they tune in to the finale? Even so, sub 7 million viewers is actually quite pathetic.

But see, That 70's Show was averaging only about 5 million, yet the finale got close to 10 million.

Maybe a retrospective would've helped?

Well at least we know there are 6 million loyal Alias fans. Arrested Development has 4 million. See what you missed America?

That 70's show was a comedy with little to no continuity. There was a much better chance that someone who stopped watching it would be inclined to watch the last episode ever, because they could find out how it ends without being confused due to complex plotlines.

Series finales of shows with continuity don't do that much better than the season average (as evident with Alias,West Wing, Arrested development etc.)

I'm not surprised Alias didn't do better. Who is the audience for this show? Fans of spy action get frustrated by the silly Rambaldi crap, and if they are going after teenage girls, they are not generally known to like Spy thriller stuff usually.

The series went out featuring the same faults that drove it into a ditch during its run. If it had dropped all the hocus pocus and given her an equal male counterpart (instead of Vaughn just bein a handbag-like accessory), it would still be on the air.

I say this as someone who loves spy type action and tried several times to get into the series over its run, I gave it every chance possible. I'm sure I'm not alone in that, probably many others as well.

I'm sure January's 24 season VI premiere will break records.

I mean, who doesn't want to know what happens to Jack. It's a monster cliffhanger.

What, like he might die?

Admit, you're already imagining up the ways he's going to take out all of the Chinese henchmen.

Hey guys, less spoilers here, please. :-)

Can someone remind me why NBC isn't bringing The Apprentice back until the January? I mean come on, it beat Medium's season finale, held up well against the Two & a Half Men, 24, Alias finales, and its viewership is increasing despite Deal or No Deal sliding. And this wasn't even the season finale or anything, just a regular episode. I don't get it.

and there wasn't much of a finale boost in ratings for any of the shows last night, I guess the viewers are too devoted for 24/Alias for either to draw a few extra million folks like Housewives, Idol, Lost, etc.

Ouchhhh for Alias.

And yeah, I think it just failed to find a sustainable audience, it turned people away. I also tried to get into it multiple times, but it never caught on for me.

Im really proud of the final season of Alias. As soon as they knew the show was ending and basically they said "fuck it" to attracting new viewers, and you know what? It was the most entertaining single run of episodes the show has ever had. The finale was everything i'd hoped it'd be and more and yes Alias always deserved more viewers than it had, but at the end of the day, the only reason viewers ever mattered to me was for the show to stay on air. I am surprised with all of its schedule shifting and its initial season 5 dump that it even performed at all, and whilst im pretty mad at ABC for effectively killing the show, I'm also quite happy with them for keeping it on until the very end, and clearly sparing no expense in sending off the show properly. I guess thats a benefit of being owned by Disney huh? Profit margins matter less in the big picture.

I must say though looking at this is slightly depressing as a general statement
"9. "The King of Queens" (CBS) 8.40
10. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (CBS) 7.53
11. "Alias Series Finale" (ABC) 6.68
"