<P> Due to the success of the first season of The Simpsons , Fox decided to switch the show 's time slot to Thursday at 8 : 00 p.m. EST where it would air opposite of NBC 's The Cosby Show , the number one show at the time . Through the summer , several news outlets published stories about the supposed `` Bill vs. Bart '' rivalry and heavily hyped the first episode of the second season . Several critics predicted that `` Bart Gets an `` F '' '' would do considerably worse in the ratings than The Cosby Show . However , the final Nielsen rating for the episode was 18.4 and a 29 % share of the audience , finishing second in its time slot behind The Cosby Show , which had an 18.5 rating and 29 % share . It finished eighth in the weekly ratings , but was watched by an estimated 33.6 million viewers , making it the number one show in terms of actual viewers that week . It became the highest rated and most watched program in the history of the Fox network and remained in that position until January 1 , 1995 . Currently , it is still the highest rated episode in the history of The Simpsons . </P>
<P> Due to the success of the first season of The Simpsons , Fox decided to switch the show 's time slot to Thursday at 8 : 00 p.m. EST where it would air opposite of NBC 's The Cosby Show , the number one show at the time . Through the summer , several news outlets published stories about the supposed `` Bill vs. Bart '' rivalry and heavily hyped the first episode of the second season . Several critics predicted that `` Bart Gets an `` F '' '' would do considerably worse in the ratings than The Cosby Show . However , the final Nielsen rating for the episode was 18.4 and a 29 % share of the audience , finishing second in its time slot behind The Cosby Show , which had an 18.5 rating and 29 % share . It finished eighth in the weekly ratings , but was watched by an estimated 33.6 million viewers , making it the number one show in terms of actual viewers that week . It became the highest rated and most watched program in the history of the Fox network and remained in that position until January 1 , 1995 . Currently , it is still the highest rated episode in the history of The Simpsons . </P>
what is the most watched simpsons episode ever
what is the most watched simpsons episode ever
Bart Gets an `` F ''
Bart Gets an `` F ''