Earlier this week, Sons of Anarchy set a series ratings record: over 6.2 million people tuned in to watch Jax Teller huff and puff and pal around with Marilyn Manson. That’s a whole lot of Married…with Children fans, or maybe they just really like Kurt Sutter’s super-violent bike drama. But how does SoA‘s series-high compare to the top-rated episode of some of our other favorite shows? Let’s find out! Note: I only included shows that are still on (otherwise, series finales would win every time), and I also made series premieres ineligible. More often than not, the most-watched episode is also the first, so I included the second highest rated episode for applicable entries (they’re marked with an asterisk).
Archer — season one’s “Training Day” (1.82 million)
American Dad — season one’s “Threat Levels” (9.47 million)*
Arrested Development — season one’s “Altar Egos” (9.62 million)
Boardwalk Empire — season one’s “Broadway Limited” (3.4 million)*
Bob’s Burgers — season three’s “Mother Daughter Laser Razor” (6.4 million)*
Community — season one’s “Introduction to Film” (5.86 million)*
Game of Thrones — season four’s “Mockingbird” (7.2 million)
Justified — season four’s “Hole In the Wall” (3.59 million)*
Louie — season two’s “Pregnant” (1.57)
Mad Men — season five’s “A Little Kiss” (3.54)
Modern Family — season three’s “Dude Ranch”/”When Good Kids Go Bad” (14.53 million)
Parks and Recreation — season three’s “Go Big or Go Home” (6.14 million)
The Simpsons — season two’s “Bart Gets an F” (33.6 million)
Veep — season two’s “Hostages” (1.32 million)
The Walking Dead — season four’s “30 Days Without an Accident” (16.11 million)
