Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2013-10-09/Traffic report

Summary: If you're living in the United States, what did you do during the government shutdown? Well, it seems most people watched the final episode of Breaking Bad. Real life and fantasy clashed head on this week, as the first government shutdown in 17 years coincided with the series finale of one of the most popular television shows of recent times. TV beat real life by a hair.

For the week of September 29 to October 4, the 10 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most trafficked pages* were:


 * {| class="wikitable"

! Rank ! Article ! Class ! Views ! Image ! Notes
 * 1
 * Breaking Bad
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"| 1,479,907
 * Breaking Bad logo.svg
 * The final episode of this acclaimed chemistry teacher-turned-Scarface TV series aired on September 29.
 * 2
 * United States federal government shutdown of 2013
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"| 730,644
 * Lincoln Memorial During Government Shutdown 2013.jpg
 * The shutdown of the government was the other major topic of discussion this week.
 * 3
 * Tom Clancy
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"| 675,054
 * Tom Clancy at Burns Library cropped.jpg
 * The popular writer of military thrillers like The Hunt For Red October and Clear and Present Danger died on October 1.
 * 4
 * Government shutdown
 * disambig
 * align="right"| 618,240
 * Lincoln Memorial During Government Shutdown 2013.jpg
 * A disambig most likely reached by people looking for #2
 * 5
 * List of Breaking Bad episodes
 * List
 * align="right"|605,400
 * Breaking Bad logo.svg
 * People will turn to this page to keep up with the show.
 * 6
 * Breaking Bad  (season 5)
 * List
 * align="right"| 571,349
 * Breaking Bad logo.svg
 * As above, people want to keep up with this show.
 * 7
 * Government shutdown in the United States
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"| 556,134
 * Lincoln Memorial During Government Shutdown 2013.jpg
 * This is the article on the concept of a US government shutdown, again probably reached by people looking for #2.
 * 8
 * Facebook
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"| 515,310
 * Ad-tech London 2010 (5).JPG
 * A perennially popular article
 * 9
 * Lorde
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"|502,186
 * The not-quite 17-year-old singer-songwriter from New Zealand released her debut album, Pure Heroine, on 27 September.
 * 10
 * Gravity (film)
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"| 426,904
 * Acclaimed director Alfonso Cuaron's outer space opus was the #1 movie at the US box office this weekend, earning $55 million; the biggest opening of Sandra Bullock's career.
 * }
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"|502,186
 * The not-quite 17-year-old singer-songwriter from New Zealand released her debut album, Pure Heroine, on 27 September.
 * 10
 * Gravity (film)
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"| 426,904
 * Acclaimed director Alfonso Cuaron's outer space opus was the #1 movie at the US box office this weekend, earning $55 million; the biggest opening of Sandra Bullock's career.
 * }
 * Acclaimed director Alfonso Cuaron's outer space opus was the #1 movie at the US box office this weekend, earning $55 million; the biggest opening of Sandra Bullock's career.
 * }
 * }