Drudge reports that 51.1 million viewers tuned in to the Friends finale, 33 percent less than Seinfeld's last episode. Earlier, Drudge reported that NBC executives were in a demented scramble to get the overnight Nielsen ratings, which delivered data from only 15 major media markets due to a massive computer crash.

Other executives were probably busy trying to cut down NBC President Jeff Zucker from a noose, despondent now that Friends is finally over and the network has to pin its hopes on Joey.

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