“3rd Rock” finale is 3rd

3rd Rock from the Sun did not exactly blast off into Nielsen’s stratosphere during the series’ finale Tuesday night. Overnight ratings indicated that the final episode scored an 8.7 rating and a 13 share in the 8 p.m. hour. While that figure put it above its average for the season, it was below the ratings for ABC’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (10.9/17) and CBS’s JAG (10.8/17), which shared the same time period. Among 18-49-year-olds, it ranked second with a 5.0/14 behind Fox’s That ’70s Show with a 5.9/18. Nevertheless, NBC won the night, thanks primarily to outstanding ratings for the season finale of Frasier, which scored a 13.7/20 (peaking in its second half-hour with a 14.6/21). A special episode of The Weakest Link at 10 p.m. pulled a strong 9.0/14, despite heavy competition from the season finales of CBS’s Judging Amy (11.6/18) and ABC’s NYPD Blue (11.3/17).