It was a twin-sized finale for The King of Queens. It was a pretty close to an end of an era for the laugh track.

Monday's going-away party for the CBS sitcom was attended by an estimated 13.5 million, the network said.

Looking at the small ratings picture, the hourlong farewell bested NBC's Heroes (estimated 11.4 million) and Fox's 24 (estimated 10.4 million) from 9 to 10 p.m. Overall, ABC won the time slot with the final half-hour of Dancing with the Stars (estimated 21.3 million) and the first half-hour of The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman (11.8 million).

Looking at the big ratings picture, M*A*S*H doesn't have anything to worry about. That show's 1983 finale remains TV's highest-rated comedy series farewell. (With 105.9 million viewers, it also remains TV's highest-rated entertainment or sports telecast of all time.)

King of Queens, of course, wasn't M*A*S*H, either in scope or appeal. The domestic sitcom starring Kevin James belonged to the line of laugh-track sitcoms built around a stand-up comic—the last surviving link to 1990s shows such as Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Roseanne and Everybody Loves Raymond.

Judged against the finales of its peers, the King of Queens' comes up a bit short: 76.3 million for Seinfeld in 1998; 35.5 million for Home Improvement in 1999; 32.9 million for Everybody Loves Raymond in 2005; and 16.6 million for a gassed Roseanne in 1997.

But King of Queens was what it was—it came into this world in the 1998-99 season averaging 12.5 million viewers; it goes out averaging about 11 million.

At nine seasons old, The King of Queens was TV's longest running sitcom. And it was, for all of its age and pokey numbers, the season's most watched sitcom after CBS' Two and a Half Men. In truth, there weren't many sitcoms on; there won't be many on next fall, either—NBC didn't schedule a single new half-hour comedy, laugh-track-enhanced or otherwise.

Monday's finale saw the show's long-time marrieds, Doug (James) and Carrie (Leah Remini), heal their Manhattan apartment-spawned rift—a non-specific enough spoiler for those who TiVo'd, or want to wait for the repeat to air on May 24.

With King of Queens' departure, Two and a Half Men is about all that stands between the guffaw-producing "live" studio audience and extinction.

Word is According to Jim might be renewed by ABC. Who knew Jim Belushi could prove so vital to the survival of the sitcom species?

Elsewhere, here are some ratings highlights from the TV week ended Sunday:

• Ears aren't stupid. Nearly 3 million more sets of the things tuned in Wednesday's American Idol (first place, 28.2 million) results show over Tuesday's Bee Gees debacle (second place, 25.5 million).
• What do eyes know anyway? Nearly 3 million more sets of the things witnessed Billy Ray Cyrus' moves on Dancing with the Stars (fifth place, 19.4 million) over his over-do elimination on the Tuesday results show (eighth place, 16.9 million).
• If Richard Hatch had wanted to keep a low profile from the IRS, then he picked the wrong season to be on CBS' Survivor. Sunday's Fiji finale (13th place, 13.6 million) not only wasn't the week's top-rated show, it wasn't even the week's top-rated Survivor—Thursday's penultimate episode was (12th place, 13.8 million).
• What Law & Order: Criminal Intent has to look forward to: 2.3 million viewers for its top-rated USA broadcast. Its future rerun home, NBC, managed to put together 6.9 million viewers (51st place) for a first-run episode.
• Why George Lopez is angry: The little-watched Notes from the Underbelly (62nd place, 5.7 million) got picked up by ABC.
• Don't tell George Lopez, but little-watched Scrubs (65th place, 5.3 million) got renewed by NBC.
• Why Notes from the Underbelly and Scrubs can look at themselves in the mirror in the morning: The even littler-watched George Lopez season finale (80th place, 4.6 million) got walloped by Tuesday's Idol.
• Traveler (38th place, 8.6 million) didn't make ABC's fall schedule. Of course, the long-shelved drama made last year's fall schedule, and a lot of good that did it.
• The season finale of Jericho (43rd place, 7.7 million) was, according E! Online TV columnist Kristin Veitch, also its series finale. CBS has decided to blow off its apocalyptic drama.
• You know why it's better to leave a party a bit too early rather than way too late? Because the last ever 7th Heaven drew 3.3 million (102nd place), compared to the 7.4 million the Camdens' gathered last May for their first last ever episode.
• In cable, the NBA playoff games were top draws; USA's Monday night wrestling was the biggest draw (5.3 million for the 10 p.m. hour).

In the network races, CBS and Fox shared sweeps-week wins. CBS was the most watched network, averaging 11.3 million crime watchers; Fox was the highest rated network among Idol fans and other youngish adults.

Fox ran second in viewers (10.3 million), followed by ABC (9.6 million), which ran second in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Still apparently banned from the Top 20, NBC was all by itself in fourth place in viewers (6.9 million) and the demo.

Here's a look at the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:

1. American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 28.2 million viewers
2. American Idol (Tuesday), Fox, 25.5 million viewers
3. House, Fox, 21.4 million viewers
4. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 19.6 million viewers
5. Dancing with the Stars (Monday), ABC, 19.4 million viewers
6. CSI, CBS, 18.8 million viewers
7. CSI: Miami, CBS, 17.2 million viewers
8. Dancing with the Stars (Tuesday), ABC, 16.9 million viewers
9. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 16.1 million viewers
10. Without a Trace, CBS, 14.3 million viewers