10 Most Watched TV Shows of All Time

All in The Family was a sitcom in the 1970s that aired for nine seasons, following the life of a working class man and his family. The show introduced complex societal issues such as racism, antisemitism, lgbtq+ rights, women’s liberation and more.

The sitcom became the most watched show in the United States during the summer after its first season and it topped the yearly Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976, making it the first television series to hold the position for five consecutive years. With over 40 million viewers, the show is known as one of the most influential television series of all time.

The Cosby Show is an American sitcom following a Black, upper-middle-class family living in Brooklyn, New York. The sitcom aired from 1984 to 1992 with 201 half-hour episodes.

Known by TV Guide as “TV’s biggest hit of the 1980s,” The Cosby Show spent five consecutive seasons as the number-one-rated show on television. Along with All in the Family, The Cosby Show is the only other sitcom in history of the Nielsen ratings as the number one show for five seasons. The series also remains as the only television show with a predominantly Black cast to top the Nielsen ratings. 

You would have had to be living under a rock if you have not heard about the influential role Game of Thrones has played in the entertainment industry in the last decade or so. Originating as a book series and then moving to the form of a television series, Game of Thrones has enthralled over 44 million fans, both new fans and older fans of the books.

The series aired from 2011 to 2019 putting out eight seasons. The series attracted record viewership on the streaming site, HBO Max, and it is appreciated by critics for its complex characters, storyline, scope, and production value. Game of Thrones goes down in history as one of the most watched TV shows of all time.  

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The beloved sitcom Friends, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004, lasting 10 seasons. The sitcom revolves around six friends in their 20s and 30s living in Manhattan. It portrays the highs and lows of being a young adult, learning to navigate the world of love, careers and friendship.

Friends reached the number one spot in its eighth season and the series finale, aired in May of 2004, was watched by 52.5 million Americans, making it the fifth most watched series finale in television history along with the most-watched television episode of the 2000s. Friends has received many high accolades throughout its run and is still a fan favorite. 

I Love Lucy, a television sitcom classic, aired from 1951 to 1957 with 180 half-hour episodes and 6 seasons total. The sitcom starred Lucille Ball and her Husband Desi Arnaz, following the life of Lucy Ricardo, a young middle-class housewife in New York City, who would often be scheming and concocting plans with her best friends and landlords, Ehtel and Fred Mertz.

I Love Lucy became the most watched TV show in the United States in four of its six seasons and it was the first television series to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings. At its peak, the series was reaching audiences of over 60 million viewers. As of 2011, the episodes of the show have been syndicated in many languages across the globe and remain popular with 40 million American viewers each year. 

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Seinfeld is a sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that aired from 1989 to 1998, with a total of nine seasons and 180 episodes. The sitcom takes place in Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment and is known to be “a show about nothing,” exploring the mundane parts of the characters’ lives.

Seinfeld led the Nielsen ratings in Seasons 6 and 9 and finished among the top two every year from 1994 to 1998, being one of only three shows to finish its run at the top of the ratings. The sitcom is known as one of the best, making space for many similar sitcoms that came after.

Cheers is a sitcom that aired from 1982 to 1993, with a total of 11 seasons and 275 episodes. The show is centered around a bar, its owner and the head bartender, a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. Cheers was a top 10 Nielsen rating show during eight of its 11 seasons, including season nine which ranked at number one. With over 80 million viewers, Cheers became one of the most watched TV shows in television history. 

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Orange is the New Black, created for Netflix, premiered in 2013 and the final season was released in 2019. The drama-comedy series follows a woman in a minimum security federal prison.

As of 2016, Orange Is the New Black was Netflix’s most-watched and longest-running original series, receiving many accolades along the way. With 105 million viewers, Orange Is the New Black has become one of the most watched TV shows ever. 

M*A*S*H is a war comedy-drama series that aired from 1972 to 1983. The show revolved around the United States Army Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War.

The series is one of the highest-rated shows in U.S. television history. Its series finale was the most watched television series broadcast in American history from 1983 to 2010 and remains the most watched finale of any television series with 125 million viewers. 

Stranger Things, which was released in 2016 on Netflix, has taken the entertainment industry by storm. The series is a science fiction horror drama series taking place in the 1980s, centering around residents of a small fictional town in Indiana as they are afflicted with a belligerent alternate dimension known as the Upside Down.

Stranger Things found instant success, attracting record viewership with over 140 million viewers. As the series is still being released, it will continue to gain more traction, making it undoubtedly one of the most watched TV shows ever.