Tuesday’s “This Is Us” season finale just broke its own TV Ratings records by double digits.
The freshman drama scored a 3.4 rating/11 share in the key 18-49 demographic and landed 12.8 million total viewers, according to preliminary numbers. Last week, the Season 1 penultimate episode put up a 3.0 rating in the main demo and had 11.2 million total viewers. Those were the previous high-water marks for the freshman series.
Doing a little math, that means “This Is Us” shattered its previous demo record by 13 percent and topped total viewers by 15 percent. Those numbers also make the episode NBC’s top-rated in-season Tuesday scripted show in almost eight years, since “Law & Order: SVU” on May 5, 2009, which posted a 3.7 demo rating. It’s also the most-watched one in nearly nine years, since an April 15, 2008 “SVU,” which hauled in 13.3 million overall audience members.
Tuesday’s season-ender was the highest-rated drama on any broadcast network in five months, since the October 12 “Empire,” which earned a 3.5 rating. Pretty good company to be in.
All told, when combined with lead-in “The Voice” and the decent two-episode debut of new sitcom “Trial & Error” (which averaged out to a 1.2 rating and 5.3 million total viewers), NBC won another Tuesday primetime in the main demo. CBS topped the night among total viewers, thanks to eyeball-giant “NCIS.”
Nielsen’s numbers have been delayed for days due to a Florida power outage at the TV ratings currency company’s data collection headquarters. Clearly, they’re now catching up.
'This Is Us': 7 Craziest Fan Theories on How Jack Dies (Photos)
How does Jack Pearson die? The internet has some theories on Milo Ventimiglia's much-discussed patriarch on NBC's popular series, "This Is Us." His end has been described by cast members as "unexpected" and "extremely heartbreaking." Now fans have put their sleuthing hats on to solve the mystery before the answer is revealed. Here is some of the zanier speculation.
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Suicide It's hard to imagine Papa Pearson willingly leaving the family he clearly adores, but eagle-eyed fans point to Randall's words when he was trying to stop a co-worker from committing suicide at the company Christmas party: You need to be there for your kids.
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Plane crash This would seem to come out of nowhere for casual viewers, but die-hard fans have picked up on several references to planes on the show. Why is Kate so scared of flying? Why did Kevin destroy his toy airplanes?
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Heart attack Jack's unhealthy habits -- in addition to the drinking -- have been picked up by some fans, who believe cardiac arrest will be the cause of death, compounded by Kate's emotional response to Toby's heart issues. But honestly, this just sounds way too normal for a show that's all about throwing curveballs.
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Jack's father kills him This is definitely a stretch, but we know Jack borrowed money from his abusive father without revealing anything about his life or his family. Could the elder Pearson show up decades later in a rage? Uh, probably not, but that's one theory.
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Car accident This is the theory the show sets up as viewers watched Jack drive off to Cleveland to Rebecca as Kate's voice-over tells us she blames herself for her dad's death. That's what makes it pretty unlikely that Jack gets taken out before he's reunited with his wife. Wouldn't you agree?
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Long downfall set off by injury Okay, he probably doesn't die in a car accident in the Season 1 finale, but he could get injured -- seriously injured. So injured that he begins a downward spiral that further strains his marriage and ultimately leads to his death. And it all began when Kate convinced him to drive to Cleveland. It's not too far-fetched, plus it would keep Ventigmilia alive and kicking in flashbacks for a good while longer.
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Jack's not really dead This is a doozy and probably the most unlikely, but what if Jack isn't actually dead? This insane theory involves a car thief who knocks him unconscious, causing amnesia, and his oblivious father, who never knew he had a family to alert to his real whereabouts. So, Kate's been holding onto some stranger's ashes this entire time? Yikes.
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Plane crash? Suicide? Is Milo Ventimiglia’s character secretly alive?
How does Jack Pearson die? The internet has some theories on Milo Ventimiglia's much-discussed patriarch on NBC's popular series, "This Is Us." His end has been described by cast members as "unexpected" and "extremely heartbreaking." Now fans have put their sleuthing hats on to solve the mystery before the answer is revealed. Here is some of the zanier speculation.
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