‘Monk’ Finale Sets Record

USA’s “Monk” ended last Friday, and I couldn’t have been more upset. The episode was great. It ended well. Just the series is over. I’m sad about that.

However, there is something awesome for USA in all of this. The dramedy ended with almost 9.5 million viewers watching. This is a record! The series finale of “Monk” became the most watched episode of a regular drama series EVER in the history of basic cable. Part 1 of the 2-part finale aired the week before and scored 5.8 million viewers, the best numbers in 18 months.

From the looks of these numbers, USA should end “Monk” every year. Great ratings!

But seriously, losing “Monk” isn’t as a big a blow to USA as many think it is. Because of “Monk,” USA has two hit series on its hands. “Psych,” which they now have moved to Wednesdays, returns at the end of January, and new series “White Collar” ended its fall season with its best ratings all year (5.5 million viewers) Friday, thanks to “Monk” being its lead in.

Plus “Burn Notice” and “Royal Pains” are doing pretty well for the network on Thursdays. USA just ended the series that started their success in the original series department, but they didn’t end their success.