According to Nielsen's measurements of the top network telecasts of all time, the top 20 most-watched TV episodes ever all date back at least a decade.

For example, the "Seinfeld" series finale, in 1998 — which had a very mixed reaction — was the most recent episode to crack the top 100.

Decades-old miniseries like "Roots" and "The Thorn Birds" and finale episodes of the most popular shows in TV history dominate the list.

We compiled the data from Nielsen on the most-watched broadcasts ever to create this list of the top episodes of TV.

Note: We've excluded all live broadcasts, including Super Bowls and award shows, as well as movies broadcast on TV, all of which appear prominently in Nielsen's top 100.