Whether they were there to say “goodbye” to Jay Leno or “hello” to Conan O’Brien, the late-night viewers turned out in droves.

May 29’s telecast of The Tonight Show earned the program’s best Friday numbers in Leno’s 17-year history with the program. Leno’s pseudo-finale earned a 8.8 rating/20 share in overnight metered markets—that’s a 126% increase over what the average was for this quarter.

Had it not been for President Obama’s appearance on March 19, the show would have had the best ratings for the whole year. (Obama’s visit drew in a 11.2/26 share.) It would have also been the highest performance for a telecast since the tribute to Johnny Carson in January 2005.