Weekly Ratings: 5/10 – 5/16

Sunday Ratings: Apprentice Finale Trumps The Unit and Brothers & Sisters

8 pm/ET
An audience of 10.43 million total viewers looked on as The Amazing Race crossed its latest finish line. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition followed with 8.2 mil (slipping 11 percent week-to-week). The three(!)-hour Celebrity Apprentice finale averaged 8.73 mil (on par with last week) but surged in the 10 o'clock hour to... well, you'll see what it accomplished a few seconds later in this story.

9 pm
Desperate Housewives' penultimate episode of the season drew 12.13 mil, plunging 10 percent from last week. In second, Cold Case concluded its sixth cycle before an audience of 11.78 mil, dipping 680K.

10 pm
The final hour of the Apprentice finale played to 10.24 million viewers, besting the season enders for both The Unit (9.66 mil, down 300K) and Brothers & Sisters (8.84 mil, down 270K). That hissing sound you hear is the Donald's ego re-inflating.

Monday Ratings for the House and Big Bang Finales, and More

8 pm/ET
Dancing with the Stars averaged 18.3 million total viewers over its two-hour run, down 10 percent week-to-week. The House season finale placed second in the hour with 12.33 million, gaining 200K. Or so we think. (Who can be sure of anything anymore?) CBS' Big Bang Theory wrapped up its second season with 9.8 mil (its biggest audience since April 13), while lead-out How I Met Your Mother (8.7 mil) slipped 200 thou. Gossip Girl (2.33 mil) inched up 100K.

9 pm
CBS' Two and a Half Men (12.9 mil) and Rules of Engagement (10.13 mil) dropped 8 and 10 percent, respectively, while 24 held steady at 10 mil. Medium's back-to-back episodes this time around averaged 6.77 mil, down 450K. One Tree Hill matched last week's 2.28 mil. (An aside: OTH recapper Robyn Ross, who is screening the season finale today, just IM'd me to say, "It rocks!" Crave elaboration? Email Mega Buzz.)

10 pm
CSI: Miami topped the hour with an audience of 13.37 million (down 360K), while ABC's Castle closed the book on its freshman run with another increase — 550K — to deliver 10.55 mil. Does anyone else smell a renewal...?

Tuesday Ratings: Here's the Skinny on the Biggest Loser Finale

8 pm/ET
American Idol's Top 3 performed for 21.79 million total viewers, dipping 7 percent week-to-week. NCIS netted second for the hour, with 15.78 mil (down 6 percent). The Biggest Loser packed 'em in, averaging 11.76 mil over its bloated three-hour finale. That's a 29 percent surge from last week, and NBC's best Tuesday-night demo delivery, excluding the Olympics, since Dec. 6, 2005. Trailing ABC's According to Jims, Reaper inched up a bit to flirt with 2 mil.

9 pm
The Mentalist topped the hour with 16.11 mil, down 570K, followed by Dancing with the Stars' results show (13.75 mil, down 810 thou). Boosted by some (seemingly unavoidable) Idol overrun, the Fringe finale drew 11.22 mil (up 21 percent week-to-week). But to keep things in perspective, Fringe finished the hour with an audience of 8.9 mil. 90210 dialed up 2.05 mil, up 210K.

10 pm
Without a Trace (13.43 mil) was No. 1 in total viewers, surging 14 percent, while Biggest Loser (13.18 mil for the hour) dominated the demos. ABC's Cupid closer targeted 5.5 mil, up 7 percent. Maybe we'll get a second reboot in another 10 years?

Wednesday Ratings: Lost Finale Fires Up a Six-Week High

8 pm/ET
The recently renewed Lie to Me's season finale led the hour with 8.36 million total viewers, dipping 320K week-to-week. CBS' sitcombo of Rules of Engagement (6.38 mil) and Old Christine (6.54 mil) placed second. Trailing the Lost clip show and Law & Order: CI, the America's Next Top Model finale drew 4.23 mil, up 410 thou.

9 pm
American Idol's reveal of the Top 2 drew 23.99 mil, inching up 420K. Criminal Minds copped second with 13.03 mil, down 8 percent. Lost's penultimate (sigh...) season finale averaged 9.31 million viewers over its two-hour run, marking a gain of 600K week-to-week and the series' best numbers since April 1.

10 pm
CSI: NY was No. 1 with an audience of 12.18 mil, down 9 percent. (Reminder: The season finale airs tonight at 10!) Law & Order lagged behind Lost with 7.82 mil, slipping 320K.

Thursday Ratings: Which of 11 Finales Delivered the Biggest Bang?

8 pm/ET
Survivor topped the hour with an audience of 12 million total viewers, on par with last week. Bones' surreal season-ender scored 8.7 mil, up a tick. Ugly Betty dropped 9 percent to claim third with 6.83 mil. While NBC's Earl (4.8 mil) wrapped up its season with a 370K gain, Parks & Recreation (4.25 mil) concluded its freshman run with another (8 percent) drop. Smallville saw 3.16 mil (down 180 thou) pull up a chair for the [cough] "epic" clash.

9 pm
Grey's Anatomy's two-hour, two-jaw-dropper season finale drew 16.35 million viewers — marking the serial's largest audience since the Sept. 25 opener and a week-to-week gain of a mil. CSI's finale followed with 14.42 mil. Trailing the Hell's Kitchen closer (7.4 mil), NBC's The Office welcomed 6.72 mil to the company picnic (down 13 percent), while 30 Rock (5.66 mil) dropped 8 percent. Supernatural's Dean and Sam had 2.9 mil (up 100K) at their side as they braved an apocalyptic finale

10 pm
Placing second behind Grey's, CSI: NY's wacky little Thursday season-ender copped 12.84 mil, up 600 thou from its Wednesday outing. Facing outrageously stiff competition, NBC's Southland plummeted 29 percent, to 4.64 mil.

Friday Ratings for Friday's Finales, Farrah, and SNL's Season-Ender

8 pm/ET
Ghost Whisperer's season finale scared up 8.93 million total viewers, dipping 5 percent week-to-week. America's Funniest Home Videos' own season-ender placed second with 5.64 mil, followed by Dateline. Prison Break's final farewell drew 3.33 mil, up 10 percent, while The Game blew the whistle on its own season with 1.86 mil. (And yes, that episode was a taste of how the show would work as a single-camera, hour-long dramedy.)

9 pm
NBC's Farrah's Story doc averaged 8.94 million viewers over its two-hour run, and topped the 9 o'clock hour. Flashpoint followed with 8.42 mil.

10 pm
Numbers was the night's most watched program, scoring 9.6 million viewers for its season finale.

Saturday
Saturday Night Live, hosted by Will Ferrell and featuring musical guest Green Day, matched the show's year-ago closer to equal its best overnight rating for a season finale in four years. The last SNL finale to rate higher was the May 21, 2005 telecast hosted by Lindsay Lohan.