'This Is Us' scores biggest ratings in Season 1 finale

That must have been some flood of tears, considering the number of viewers NBC's This Is Us attracted for its season finale Tuesday.

The emotionally charged hit drama closed a successful first season with its biggest audience to date and the most viewers for a regularly scheduled NBC scripted program since ER's finale in 2009.

The season closer, which focused on the relationship between Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore), averaged a series-high 12.8 million viewers, a 15% jump from the previous episode and a 10-year high for the time slot. The finale also was up 13% in young adults (18-to-49) from a week earlier, setting a series record in that category, too.

This Is Us picks up a substantial number of viewers in delayed watching in the days after the original broadcast.

Trial & Error, the John Lithgow comedy that followed the finale on Tuesday, averaged 5.9 million viewers for its series premiere.