All Finales All the Time Throughout May
Television stations live and die by the ratings that determine almost everything we see on TV, from the breadth and depth of programs available each season, to the volume and subject of the commercial advertisements that interrupt them, always too often for typical viewers' preferences. Sure, we hear about them all the time, but just where do these elusive scores come from? Maybe you already know that they generally refer to Nielsen Ratings, tabulated by the Dutch-owned, Florida-based company named Nielsen Media Research.
The ratings system used in the United States right now—and in over forty countries worldwide—relies upon an intricate algorithm based on information obtained three different ways, one on a national level and two on a local level. In the former case, electronic devices called People Meters are randomly distributed to an allegedly representative sample of 5,100 American households and attached to each TV set to measure what stations and programs are watched and who watches them. Another 400 to 500 non-overlapping households are recruited on the local level to use electronic Set Meters, which are functionally equivalent to People Meters with the exception that they do not record demographic details, only station and program data (i.e., what is being watched, but not who is watching it).
The second local ratings method is arguably the most important to TV watchers personally for it has the largest immediate influence on both advertising rates and future programming. Four times a year, in February, May, July, and November, Nielsen conducts special surveys in 210 U.S. television markets among sample people who do not already have People Meters or Set Meters in their homes. This research process consists of detailed manual diaries that chosen viewers update with their TV-watching habits for one week. Nielsen collects and processes these records after the allotted time period, starting from the Northeast and "sweeping" across the nation through the South and Midwest to the West coast, giving us the familiar industry buzzword Sweeps.
Television Sweeps results are of particular interest to industry insiders and viewers alike because they give a more in-depth account of television-watching habits in smaller local areas of the country to augment the nationwide data collected on a more frequent basis. The exhaustive measurements at the end of each Sweeps period then helps clearly establish the relative success of individual television programs in terms of audience size.
Despite the somewhat misleading name May Sweeps, the second TV Sweeps period of the year actually occurs over the twenty-eight day period between April 27 and May 24. As can be expected during such a crucial event, television executives do their best at this time to attract a maximum number of viewers to the small screen by wowing audiences with as much bombastic programming as possible—special guest stars, special movie events, and, of course, finales, finales, finales. Find your favorite shows below, mark the date, and get ready for the TV stations to regale you with an extra dose of entertainment panache as they attempt to ensure you'll return next season for more (or in the case of ending or cancelled series, won't abandon their channel in anger over a poor send-off).
May Sweeps Season/Series Finales
All times are PM Eastern Standard Time
April 28 | Friday
- Cheerleader Nation (7:00/Lifetime/Season 1)
- Modern Men (9:30/The WB/Season 1)
April 29 | Saturday
- Back on Campus (10:00/ABC Family/Season 1—One Hour)
April 30 | Sunday
- The War at Home (8:30/Fox/Season 1)
May 1 | Monday
- Supernanny (9:00/ABC/Season 2)
May 2 | Tuesday
- According to Jim (8:00/ABC/Season 5)
- Blow Out (9:00/Bravo/Season 3)
- Hope & Faith (8:30/ABC/Season 3—One Hour)
- Nashville Star (10:00/USA/Season 4—90 minutes)
- The Real Housewives of Orange County (10:00/Bravo/Season 1)
- Teachers (9:30/NBC/Season 1)
- Thief (10:00/FX/Season 1)
May 3 | Wednesday
- One Tree Hill (8:00/The WB/Season 3)
- South Park (10:00/Comedy Central/Season 10—Spring Finale)
May 4 | Thursday
- Supernatural (9:00/The WB/Season 1)
May 5 | Friday
- Ghost Whisperer (8:00/CBS/Season 1—Part 2 of 2)
- Reba (8:00/The WB/Season 5)
- Survival of the Richest (8:00/The WB/Season 1)
May 7 | Sunday
- Crossing Jordan (10:00/NBC/Season 5—100th Episode, too)
- Hogan Knows Best (9:30/VH1/Season 2)
May 8 | Monday
- 7th Heaven (8:00/The WB/Season 10—Series Finale)
- All of Us (8:30/UPN/Season 3)
- Girlfriends (9:00/UPN/Season 6—One Hour)
- What About Brian (10:00/ABC/Season 1)
May 9 | Tuesday
- 8th & Ocean (10:30/MTV/Season 1)
- Gilmore Girls (8:00/The WB/Season 6)
- Most Outrageous Moments (8:00/NBC/Season 2)
- The Search for the Funniest Mom in America (9:30/Nickelodeon/Season 2)
- Veronica Mars (9:00/UPN/Season 2)
May 10 | Wednesday
- The Bedford Diaries (8:00/The WB/Season 1—Two Hours)
- Criminal Minds (9:00/CBS/Season 1)
- Mind of Mencia (10:30/Comedy Central/Season 2)
- Top Chef (10:00/Bravo/Season 1)
- Unan1mous (9:32/Fox/Season 1)
May 11 | Thursday
- American Inventor (8:00/ABC/Season 1—Two Hours)
- Cuts (9:30/UPN/Season 2)
- Eve (9:00/UPN/Season 3)
- Everybody Hates Chris (8:00/UPN/Season 1)
- Love, Inc. (8:30/UPN/Season 1)
- My Name Is Earl (8:40/NBC/Season 1—"Supersized" 40 Minutes)
- The Office (9:20/NBC/Season 2—"Supersized" 40 Minutes)
- Smallville (8:00/The WB/Season 5)
May 12 | Friday
- Las Vegas (9:00/NBC/Season 3)
- Real Time with Bill Maher (11:00/HBO/Season 4—Spring Finale)
May 14 | Sunday
- American Dad (9:30/Fox/Season 2)
- King of the Hill (7:30/Fox/Season 10—Spring Finale)
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent (9:00/NBC/Season 5—Two Hours)
- Malcolm in the Middle (8:30/Fox/Season 7—Series Finale)
- The Surreal Life (9:00/VH1/Season 6—One Hour)
- Survivor: Exile Island (8:00/CBS/Season 12—Three Hours)
- The West Wing (8:00/NBC/Season 7—Series Finale)
May 15 | Monday
- Grey's Anatomy (9:00/ABC/Season 2—Two Hours)
- Half & Half (9:00/UPN/Season 4—One Hour)
- How I Met Your Mother (8:30/CBS/ Season 1)
- One on One (8:00/UPN/Season 5)
- Prison Break (8:00/Fox/Season 1)
- Pros vs. Joes (10:00/Spike/Season 1)
May 16 | Tuesday
- Boston Legal (9:00/ABC/Season 2—Two Hours)
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (10:00/NBC/Season 7)
- Love Monkey (9:00/VH1/Season 1—Series Finale)
- NCIS (8:00/CBS/Season 3)
- Scrubs (9:00/NBC/Season 5—One Hour)
- The Unit (9:00/CBS/Season 1—Two Hours)
May 17 | Wednesday
- The Amazing Race 9 (8:00/CBS/Season 9—Two Hours)
- America's Next Top Model (8:00/UPN/Season 6—Two Hours)
- Bones (8:00/Fox/Season 1)
- CSI: NY (10:00/CBS/Season 2)
- Invasion (10:01/ABC/Season 1)
- Law & Order (10:00/NBC/Season 16)
- My Super Sweet 16 (10:00/MTV/Season 3)
May 18 | Thursday
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (9:00/CBS/Season 6)
- ER (10:00/NBC/Season 12)
- That '70s Show (8:00/Fox/Season 8—One-Hour Series Finale)
- The O.C. (9:00/Fox/Season 3)
- Will & Grace (8:00/NBC/Season 8—Two-Hour Retrospective/Series Finale)
- Without a Trace (10:00/CBS/Season 4)
May 19 | Friday
- America's Funniest Home Videos (8:00/ABC/Season 16—Two Hours)
- The Andy Milonakis Show (9:00/MTV2/Season 2)
- Close to Home (9:00/CBS/Season 1)
- Conviction (9:00/NBC/Season 1—Two Hours)
- Numbers (10:00/CBS/Season 2)
- Wonder Showzen (9:30/MTV2/Season 2)
May 21 | Sunday
- Charmed (8:00/The WB/Season 8—Series Finale)
- Cold Case (8:00/CBS/Season 3)
- Desperate Housewives (9:00/ABC/Season 2—Two Hours)
- Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (7:00/ABC/Season 3—Two Hours)
- Family Guy (8:30/Fox/Season 4—90 Minutes)
- The Simpsons (8:00/Fox/Season 17)
- So Notorious (10:00/VH1/Season 1)
May 22 | Monday
- 24 (8:00/Fox/Season 5—Two Hours)
- Alias (9:00/ABC/Season 5—Two-Hour Series Finale)
- Call to Greatness (10:30/MTV/Season 1)
- CSI: Miami (10:00/CBS/Season 4)
- The King of Queens (8:00/CBS/Season 8)
- Medium (10:00/NBC/Season 2)
- The New Adventures of Old Christine (9:00/CBS/Season 1—A New Episode Precedes at 8:30)
- Punk'd (10:00/MTV/Season 7)
- Two and a Half Men (9:00/CBS/Season 3)
- Wife Swap (8:00/ABC/Season 2)
May 23 | Tuesday
- House (9:00/Fox/Season 2)
May 24 | Wednesday
- American Idol (8:00/Fox/Season 5—Two Hours)
- Ghost Hunters (9:00/Sci Fi/Season 2)
- Lost (9:00/ABC/Season 2—Two Hours)