Nellie Andreeva

The suspense surrounding Michael Scott’s successor as boss on The Office boosted the season finale of the veteran NBC comedy series (3.8/10), which was up 12% from last season’s finale and ranked as the highest-rated scripted show of the night in adults 18-49. The hourlong finale of Parks and Recreation (2.2/6) was flat with last year’s season ender at 8:30 PM. (NBC aired Office reruns in the 8 PM hour.)

The penultimate results show of this season’s American Idol (6.2/19) was flat with the fast national for last week’s show (it was down 5% from the final but is expected to rebound again in the finals this afternoon.) The season finale of Bones (3.2/8) was even with last week and up 14% from the dramedy’s season finale last year. Bones edged the season finale of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy in total viewers (10 million vs. 9.6 million). Fox once again dominated the night in 18-49 and total viewers.

Grey’s Anatomy (3.4/9) was down a whopping 34% from last season, with the season finale of Private Practice (2.5/7) down 22%. Both were the series’ lowest-rated finales ever but were actually up two tenths each from last week. Wipeout (1.7/5) at 8 PM was flat.

The CBS series also posted declines vs. last year in their season finales. The Big Bang Theory (3.5/12) was down 35% from last year’s closer, but that one aired in the Monday 9:30 PM slot. Versus last week, the comedy was up a tenth. In its last regular airing on Thursday before moving to Saturday next season, Rules of Engagement (2.5/7) was down 22% from last season’s finale and flat with last week. It was the series’ lowest-rated finale, as was the the two-hour season ender of The Mentalist (2.7/7), which was down 16% from last year but even with last week’s hourlong episode.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.