‘Sex,’ Regis, and ‘Fiance’ are big hits

The farewell of Carrie, the “wedding” of Randi and her “big, fat, obnoxious” fiance and the triumphant return of Regis were all massive hits with TV audiences, according to national ratings released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Services.

Sunday’s series finale of HBO’s “Sex and the City,” in which Carrie Bradshaw finally found true love with Mr. Big, was the highest-rated episode ever for the comedy, attracting 10.6 million viewers, a particularly impressive number considering how few homes subscribe to HBO.

The heavily hyped installment was the second-most-watched episode in HBO’s history, behind the fourth season premiere of “The Sopranos” in September 2002 (13.4 million).

The previous high for a “Sex and the City” episode was the 7.7 million viewers it drew in September, at the start of its final season.

Meanwhile, the premiere of ABC’s “Super Millionaire,” the revamped version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” was an instant hit, attracting 17.5 million viewers. The game show, which featured host Regis Philbin, was the most-watched program Sunday.

Though “Sex and the City” and “Super Millionaire” were expected to perform well, even Fox executives seemed surprised by the tune-in for Monday’s finale of “My Big, Fat, Obnoxious Fiance,” which attracted almost 21 million viewers. The episode was the third-highest-rated unscripted series telecast of the season on any network in the desired 18-49 demographic, behind “American Idol” and the post-Super Bowl “Survivor All-Stars” premiere.

“Fiance,” which started out as a comedy, became more dramatic as teacher Randi Coy’s family grew more distressed with the wedding preparations and with the behavior of her “fiance” “Steven Williams,” who was actually actor Steven Bailey.

Mike Darnell, Fox’s executive vice president of specials, alternative and late night programming, said the series finale was the “best one I’ve ever been associated with. It had the high drama and train-wreck quality, but ended on a high note.”

Fox will repeat the final two episodes of the series Thursday.

In other ratings news, Pax TV announced that Sunday’s premiere of “The Making of ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ ” a one-hour special based on Mel Gibson’s movie of the last 12hours of the life of Christ, attracted 3.1 million viewers, making it the network’s second-highest-rated program in its history.

-- Greg Braxton