2018-19 Sitcom Ratings: Big Bang Theory Goes Out Large (And Takes Nielsens with Them)

All good things must come to an end, and The Big Bang Theory marked the end of the last mega-sitcom.  For sometime, Modern Family was viewed as a competitive mega-show of the same caliber, but its ratings cooled in the late 2010's.  The remaining sitcoms clamored for solid ratings.  Solid as in over 1.0 that is.  Only one third of the sitcoms displayed on broadcast network television achieved this status for their overall seasons, with only 7 in that posse never delivering a fractional rating in its existence.

FOX's controlled burn of eclectic comedies saw resurgence, mainly as Last Man Standing's revival in the fall delivered huge.  The newest network also too a no fuss, no muss approach to scheduling, leaving its Sunday 9:30 timeslot vacant and boarded up with repeats for majority of the season after Rel flamed out.  NBC's fortunes resembled the prior season with soft deliveries despite resurrecting Brooklyn Nine-Nine.  And ABC returned to the cellar following its prior season's Roseanne resurgence, with The Conners delivering a solid entry.  The network as a whole experienced losses, and its landmark Wednesday comedy block softened.  Fresh Off the Boat and Speechless attempted to recolonize Friday nights and could not establish a foundation juxtaposed to Last Man Standing.

The Big Bang Theory's exit marked a bittersweet exit as it debuted during a reality-TV littered era when sitcoms were unpopular.  And TBBT itself only modestly popular.  And somehow it exploded to great heights, carrying all the way to the end.


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