Any television series that has the honor to be selected for the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot usually sees huge ratings thanks to the lead-in from the biggest football game of the year. On Sunday, CBS will become the first network to air a late night variety series after the Super Bowl with its flagship show, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" receiving the honor, as HNGN previously reported.
The time slot following the big game is typically the highest telecast show of the year, according to Variety, and has been used as a launching pad for new shows as well as an opportunity for old favorites to shine again.
While shows like "Undercover Boss" and "Grey's Anatomy" were honored with the timeslots by CBS and both performed well, the network has not always had such great luck with its post-game TV picks. The lowest watched post-Super Bowl telecast over the past 10 years went to CBS' "Elementary," which drew 20.9 million viewers in 2013.
So what shows does "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" have to live up to? Check out the top 10 highest rated post-Super Bowl TV episodes below:
1. "Friends" (Super Bowl XXX, 1996, 52.9 million viewers)
Rounding out the top 10 most-watched post-Super Bowl episodes is the 2011 "Glee" episode titled "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle." The episode reportedly cost around $3 to $5 million to produce and featured more than 500 extras for the elaborate football-themed episode. The episode featured songs from Katy Perry, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Michael Jackson.
"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" will broadcast after the Carolina Panthers take on the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 around 10 p.m. EST and will include guests Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Will Ferrell, Keegan Michael Key, Jordan Peele and Megyn Kelly.
