Holy Crap, So Many People Watched ‘Yellowstone’ (And… ‘The Curse Of Oak Island’?)

Your dad’s favorite show, Yellowstone, is popular. Really, really popular. Like, the biggest show on television popular. Variety reports that the Paramount Network hit was the highest-rated scripted series for the 2021-2022 season, finishing number one among both total viewers (11.3 million) and the all-important 18-to-49 demographic (2.7 million)

Here’s the top for total viewers:

1. NFL Sunday Night Football (NBC) (18.1 million)

2. NFL Thursday Night Football (Fox/NFL Network) (15.3 million)

3. Yellowstone (Paramount Network) (11.3 million)

4. NFL Monday Night Football (ESPN) (11.2 million)

5. NCIS (CBS) (11 million)

And the top five for 18-to-49:

1. NFL Sunday Night Football (NBC) (6.6 million)

2. NFL Thursday Night Football (Fox/NFL) (5.6 million)

3. NFL Monday Night Football (ESPN) 4.3 million)

4. NFL Thursday Night Football (NFL) (3.4 million)

5. Yellowstone (Paramount Network) (2.7 million)

It’s true what they say: Americans love football, Kevin Costner wearing a cowboy hat, and CBS procedurals. They also love The Curse of Oak Island, a History Channel show about treasure hunters I have never heard of that finished as the second “most-watched cable entertainment series overall,” according to Variety. Huh, how about that. Good thing there are only nine seasons (!) and 165 episodes (!!!) to catch up with. You’ll have time to spare before the final season of Better Call Saul is back in July.

Speaking of: Better Call Saul finished #99 among total viewers (2.4 million), between WWE Friday Night Smackdown and Mr. Mayor. It ranks 14 spots behind The Walking Dead, the Yellowstone of the 2010s. If one of the something like 17 Yellowstone spinoffs that Paramount has in store is about zombies, look out.