NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' 40th anniversary celebration seen by 23 million viewers

The Nielsen ratings company says NBC's "Saturday Night Live" 40th anniversary bash has drummed up a huge audience. Preliminary figures indicate Sunday's retrospective special was seen by 23.1 million viewers.

That makes it NBC's most-watched prime-time entertainment special since May 2004, when the network aired a "Friends" clips show the night of its series finale.

It's NBC's most-watched prime-time entertainment broadcast overall, excluding post-Super Bowl programs, since May 2004, for an episode of "ER" the night of the "Frasier" series finale.

The 3½-hour special looked back on the comedy series' four-decade run and featured more than 80 guest stars.

Nielsen says the preceding one-hour red carpet special was seen by 11.1 million viewers.