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ER goes out with 16 million viewers

Drink five of these and don't call me
in the morning.

One of television's most influential dramas signed off for good last night, and it went out with a bang. NBC aired the 331st and final episode of ER, and more than 16 million tuned in for the two-hour goodbye, according to overnight numbers from Nielsen.

It looks like all the heavy promotion for the series finale paid off for NBC. The 16.2 million viewer average was considerably higher than this season's average of 9.5 million viewers, and the 6.0 rating/16 share easily topped the season average of 3.7/9 in the 18-49 demo.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the ER finale was the most watched drama series finale since 1996's Murder She Wrote, and pulled in the highest adult ratings for a series finale since The X-Files' in 2002.

CBS countered the ER finale with a bit of a milestone of its own. The 200th episode of CSI did battle with the docs, but ultimately lost, posting a season low in the ratings department.

So what did the fans think of the ER finale? The episode currently has a 9.4 rating by TV.com users, ranking it as one of the best episodes of this season. But on the forums, several posters are calling it "disappointing," and "not what I expected for the final episode." Others thought it was a "fitting ending" and appreciated the fact that the hospital will continue on, even though we won't be there to witness it anymore.

What did you think?

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  It was an amazing ending. The bigger loose ends were tied up, but enough were left hanging that it didn't feel like County General was closing, which is what the producers said they wanted it to be. I didn't much care for the symmetry of Lydia waking Morris up like she did for Mark in the pilot, but other than that I loved the episode. Especially bring Rachel Greene back as a potential new doc. I love Hallee Hirsh. Alexis Bledel's character was alright, but, with only the one ep, there wasn't really enough for the character to mean much. And wow, did Laura Innes look amazing.

  TineRua Posted 04/20/2009 04:04:55
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  It was a fantastic and fitting ending, and completely went round-circle. Nurse Lydia even woke up a doctor in Exam 8!

  jareaufan Posted 04/17/2009 14:02:39
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  I really enjoyed it, even though I didnt like Kem very much. I really liked Alexis Bledel's character, I kinda wished we saw more of her.

  laffertyluver Posted 04/06/2009 02:59:22
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  Finally I thought ER was off the air around 2000. Well, no bother -- The Jay Leno Variety Hour will take it's place in the fall.

  bernsd3 Posted 04/05/2009 10:09:42
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  I thought it was a great ending to the best show out there. I'm going to miss it a lot, though.

  poirot89 Posted 04/05/2009 06:12:43
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  I'm happy we're one season behind, so I can still enjoy it. But, I'll miss it as well when the end is coming here

  JanineTheRipper Posted 04/05/2009 02:44:36
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  I will truly miss ER on Thursday nights. The past 15 years have been a blessing and I wish everyone well. There will never be a show quite like ER ever again!

  Steve509 Posted 04/04/2009 20:37:29
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  Sad to see it go but all good things come to and end hey how about a feature film called ER the Movie

  pgsuperfan Posted 04/04/2009 20:30:33
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  I think it really lost some focus after Carter left. He had been setting the tone for long years and the writters had trouble making the series stick after that. They killed off Pratt and Gallant and brought new characters. So aside from Morris who had an astonishing development from a weasel to central "set the tone" character, season 12 was going kinda slow, you know what I mean? Bringing new charactes is like starting gym for the first time. It takes time to see results. But overall, it was a great show and the series finale was so fitting.. oh yeah, it was..

  jared85 Posted 04/04/2009 15:25:11
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  Never seen the show because I was two years old when it came out. I didn't want to just start in the middle, now that it's ended I will probably buy the first season on DVD. For a show to last that long it must be good or was good at some point.

  tvaddict_10 Posted 04/04/2009 13:53:00
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  Used to be my FAVORITE show, but I lost interest somewhere around the middle of season 14. A new baby entered my life, and the show just wasn't compelling enough to keep me up for a 10pm slot.

  burnsdg Posted 04/04/2009 06:31:54
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  It will be missed and was good.

  peon4570 Posted 04/04/2009 01:00:42
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  It was good but lacked the power it should have.

  bballer151 Posted 04/03/2009 20:40:44
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  i thought the last episode was a good finish to the show. there were many parrallels between 'in the end' and the pilot episode wich was amazing and would not have picked up on it if i had not watched the piolt episode that same day. I am sad to see the series end but I do like the fact that the hospital will go on! long live County General!

  jus_in_bello Posted 04/03/2009 16:21:30
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  I agree that it's good the hospital will continue without us being there to see it. I hate it when shows end with all the characters somehow going their separate ways.

  PiperPrueLover4 Posted 04/03/2009 15:24:48
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  I never found ER interesting at all....even though I understood the Fans' fascinations with the Show....All the best to the CAST in finding other opportunities!!!!

  MonacoMonarchy Posted 04/03/2009 15:04:26