Thursday TV Ratings: ‘Parks and Rec’ Special Wins Key Demo, ‘Young Sheldon’ Finale Strong

Parks and Recreation Special
NBC

A virtual one-off special reuniting the cast of NBC’s sitcom Parks and Recreation was a big hit with viewers on Thursday’s primetime broadcast schedule, taking the night in the valued 18-49 demographic. The special reunited the entire cast for a virtual scripted episode of the beloved series. Prior to the special, the Paley Center Salutes Parks and Recreation special also scored well, coming in second in the 18-49 demo in the 8 pm timeslot.

In total viewers, the season finale of CBS’s Young Sheldon hit a high note, taking the night with nearly 10 million viewers. An hour later, the season finale of Mom also grabbed the most total viewers for the 9 o’clock hour (ABC’s Station 19 took the hour in the 18-49 demo).

Here’s the breakdown for Thursday, April 30, 2020 (numbers are fast-affiliate based):

Time Show Adults 18-49 Rating Total Viewers (millions)
8 p.m. Young Sheldon  – F (CBS) 1.1 9.97
Paley Center Salutes Parks and Recreation (NBC) 1.0 3.37
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (ABC) 0.8 6.21
Last Man Standing  (Fox) 0.7 4.11
Katy Keene  (CW)  0.1 446,000
8:30 p.m. A Parks and Recreation Special (NBC) 1.4 3.67
Man with a Plan  (CBS) 0.7 6.63
Last Man Standing – R  (Fox)  0.5 2.74
9:00 p.m. Station 19 (ABC) 0.9 5.53
Mom – F (CBS) 0.7 6.16
Council of Dads –R  (NBC) 0.4 1.81
Mental Samurai – R (Fox) 0.3 1.61
In The Dark  (CW) 0.1 392,000
9:30 p.m. Broke  (CBS) 0.6 5.05
10 p.m. How to Get Away With Murder (ABC) 0.6 2.84
Tommy (CBS) 0.5 5.14
Council of Dads (NBC)  0.3 2.01