Television history will show that when USA's obsessive-compulsive detective series Monk ended its eight-season, it went out in a dramatic way. I won't tell you what happened on screen in case it's still in your DVR and you haven't watched it yet. But off screen, Mr. Monk had a happy ending.

The final episode of Monk was seen by approximately 9.4 million total viewers, nearly a third in the all-important 18-49 adult demographic. Obviously, a lot of people cared about how Adrian Monk would say goodbye.

The ratings were not only impressive, there were legendary. The largest number of viewers and demo of any drama series ever on cable. It surpassed TNT's The Closer.

Kudos to USA Network and the producers for giving Monk the two-part finale, setting the episodes a week apart. That cliffhanger ending after part one did it's job. The finale improved upon the numbers by 37%, which is a huge bump. It means that during the week, people read about the cliffhanger -- like here on TV Squad -- and were compelled to turn on USA for the big finish.

The week-long promotion on the network was also effective, reminding viewers that this was it, the last chance to see Mr. Monk in action. Also, judging by the numbers from our informal poll, over 56% of viewers were extremely satisfied with the series wrap up.