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Top-rated TV programs in the U.S.
This article presents the top-rated American primetime broadcast network television series by season from 1950 to the present according to Nielsen Media Research .
September 2019–May 2020 [ 1]
September 2020–May 2021 [ 2]
September 2021–May 2022 [ 3]
September 2022–May 2023 [ 4]
September 2023–May 2024 [ 5]
Multiple rankings in the Top 30 [ edit ]
43 seasons
32 seasons
Monday Night Football (ABC)
18 seasons
17 seasons
Disneyland/Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color/The Wonderful World of Disney (ABC/NBC)
The Red Skelton Show (NBC/CBS)
Survivor (CBS)
The Toast of the Town/The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS)
16 seasons
15 seasons
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS)
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
14 seasons
American Idol (FOX/ABC)
Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
ER (NBC)
13 seasons
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Sunday Night Football (NBC)
12 seasons
All in the Family/Archie Bunker's Place (CBS)
Bonanza (NBC)
Law & Order (NBC)
The Lucy Show/Here's Lucy (CBS)
Two and a Half Men (CBS)
11 seasons
Frasier (NBC)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)
Murder, She Wrote (CBS)
My Three Sons (ABC/CBS)
10 seasons
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
CSI: Miami (CBS)
Dallas (CBS)
Friends (NBC)
I've Got a Secret (CBS)
The Jack Benny Show (CBS)
M*A*S*H (CBS)
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
NYPD Blue (ABC)
Roseanne/The Conners (ABC)
9 seasons
The King of Queens (CBS)
Blue Bloods (CBS)
The Carol Burnett Show (CBS)
Cheers (NBC)
Dragnet (NBC)
Happy Days (ABC)
Hawaii Five-0 (CBS)
Lassie (CBS)
The Voice (NBC)
You Bet Your Life (NBC)
8 seasons
The Andy Griffith Show (CBS)
The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS)
The Cosby Show (NBC)
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS)
General Electric Theater (CBS)
Hawaii Five-O (CBS)
Home Improvement (ABC)
The Jeffersons (CBS)
Knots Landing (CBS)
Little House on the Prairie/Little House: A New Beginning (NBC)
One Day at a Time (CBS)
20/20 (ABC)
The Virginian/The Men from Shiloh (NBC)
7 seasons
Alice (CBS)
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (CBS)
Castle (ABC)
Cold Case (CBS)
CSI: NY (CBS)
The Danny Thomas Show (CBS)
The F.B.I. (ABC)
The Golden Girls (NBC)
The Good Wife (CBS)
The Jackie Gleason Show (1962-1970) (CBS)
Laverne & Shirley (ABC)
The Love Boat (ABC)
The Mentalist (CBS)
Murphy Brown (CBS)
Three's Company (ABC)
The Waltons (CBS)
What's My Line? (CBS)
Without a Trace (CBS)
6 seasons
The Bachelor (ABC)
Bewitched (ABC)
Coach (ABC)
Dateline NBC (NBC)
Dynasty (ABC)
Falcon Crest (CBS)
Fireside Theatre (NBC)
Full House (ABC)
Growing Pains (ABC)
Have Gun – Will Travel (CBS)
House (FOX)
The Life of Riley (NBC)
I Love Lucy (CBS)
Ironside (NBC)
Judging Amy (CBS)
L.A. Law (NBC)
Lost (ABC)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS)
Matlock (NBC/ABC)
Newhart (CBS)
Night Court (NBC)
The Perry Como Show (NBC)
Perry Mason (CBS)
Primetime Live (ABC)
Sanford and Son (NBC)
Seinfeld (NBC)
Trapper John, M.D. (CBS)
Wagon Train (NBC/ABC)
The West Wing (NBC)
Who's the Boss? (ABC)
5 seasons
Arthur Godfrey and His Friends (CBS)
Chicago Fire (NBC)
The Colgate Comedy Hour (NBC)
The Dean Martin Show (NBC)
A Different World (NBC)
The Dukes of Hazzard (CBS)
Fantasy Island (ABC)
The Ford Show (NBC)
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (CBS)
Head of the Class (ABC)
In the Heat of the Night (NBC)
JAG (CBS)
The Lawrence Welk Show (ABC)
Magnum, P.I. (CBS)
The Millionaire (CBS)
Modern Family (ABC)
NCIS: New Orleans (CBS)
Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts (CBS)
Private Secretary (CBS)
Rawhide (CBS)
The Real McCoys (ABC)
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (NBC)
Texaco Star Theater/The Milton Berle Show/The Buick-Berle Show (NBC)
This Is Your Life (NBC)
Thursday Night Football (CBS/NBC/FOX)
Touched by an Angel (CBS)
Unsolved Mysteries (NBC)
2 seasons
The Adventures of Robin Hood (CBS)
The Alan Young Show (CBS)
All Star Revue (NBC)
The Amazing Race (CBS)
America's Funniest People (ABC)
Amos 'n' Andy (CBS)
The Ann Sothern Show (CBS)
The Apprentice (NBC)
Armstrong Circle Theatre (NBC)
The Bachelorette (ABC)
Baretta (ABC)
Ben Casey (ABC)
The Big Event (NBC)
Big Town (CBS)
The Bionic Woman (ABC)
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (NBC)
Body of Proof (ABC)
Cagney & Lacey (CBS)
Caroline in the City (NBC)
Chicago P.D. (NBC)
Chico and the Man (NBC)
Climax! (CBS)
Code Black (CBS)
Cosby (CBS)
Cybill (CBS)
Daktari (CBS)
Dave's World (CBS)
Dear John (NBC)
The Defenders (CBS)
Diagnosis: Murder (CBS)
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (CBS)
The Donna Reed Show (ABC)
Doogie Howser, M.D. (ABC)
Ellen (ABC)
Flipper (NBC)
48 Hours (CBS)
The Fugitive (ABC)
Gangbusters (NBC)
The George Gobel Show (NBC)
Get Smart (NBC)
Gilligan's Island (CBS)
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (CBS)
The Good Doctor (ABC)
Grand (NBC)
The Guardian (CBS)
Hee Haw (CBS)
Heroes (NBC)
Hogan's Heroes (CBS)
Hopalong Cassidy (NBC)
How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)
I Dream of Jeannie (NBC)
Jesse (NBC)
The Jim Nabors Hour (CBS)
Julia (NBC)
Kung Fu (ABC)
Little Big Shots (NBC)
The Loretta Young Show (NBC)
Lou Grant (CBS)
Love & War (CBS)
Lux Video Theatre (NBC)
Major Dad (CBS)
Man Against Crime (NBC)
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (CBS)
Martin Kane, Private Eye (NBC)
Maverick (ABC)
McHale's Navy (ABC)
Miami Vice (NBC)
Mike & Molly (CBS)
Mork & Mindy (ABC)
My Favorite Martian (CBS)
The Naked Truth (ABC/NBC)
Name That Tune (CBS)
The Nanny (CBS)
9-1-1 (FOX)
Our Miss Brooks (CBS)
The Patty Duke Show (ABC)
Peter Gunn (NBC)
The Phil Silvers Show (CBS)
Police Woman (NBC)
Private Practice (ABC)
The Red Buttons Show (CBS)
Rescue 911 (CBS)
Riptide (NBC)
Robert Montgomery Presents (NBC)
Route 66 (CBS)
The Roy Rogers Show (NBC)
Rules of Engagement (CBS)
Shark (CBS)
The Single Guy (NBC)
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (CBS)
Still Standing (CBS)
Strike It Rich (CBS)
Sugarfoot (ABC)
Tales of Wells Fargo (NBC)
Taxi (ABC)
3rd Rock from the Sun (NBC)
To Tell the Truth (CBS)
Too Close for Comfort (ABC)
Treasury Men in Action (NBC)
TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes (NBC)
2 Broke Girls (CBS)
Undercover Boss (CBS)
The Unit (CBS)
Vega$ (ABC)
Veronica's Closet (NBC)
Wanted: Dead or Alive (CBS)
Webster (ABC)
What's Happening!! (ABC)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (ABC)
Young Sheldon (CBS)
^ Schneider, Michael (May 21, 2020). "100 Most-Watched TV Shows of 2019-20: Winners and Losers" . Variety . Retrieved April 3, 2025 .
^ Schneider, Michael (May 25, 2021). "100 Most-Watched TV Shows of 2020-21: Winners and Losers" . Variety . Retrieved April 4, 2025 .
^ Porter, Rick (June 9, 2022). "2021-22 TV Ratings: Final Seven-Day Numbers for Every Network Series" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved April 4, 2025 .
^ Porter, Rick (June 7, 2023). "TV Ratings 2022-23: Final Seven-Day Averages for Every Network Series" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved April 4, 2025 .
^ Porter, Rick (June 11, 2024). "TV Ratings 2023-24: Final Numbers for (Almost) Every Network Series" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved April 4, 2025 .
1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s