EW.com surveys which shows are popular with Democrats and Republicans.

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If you’re a member of one of the two predominant political parties in this country then a good guess can be made as to which television programs you like to watch. Or at least, that’s what this survey done for Entertainment Weekly seems to indicate.

Here’s their list with my notes as to whether or not I’m a fan of the show named:

LIBERAL-DEMOCRAT FAVORITES:
– The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report (Comedy Central): As you might expect.

I do watch both of these shows though, as mentioned in the last podcast, I’m a bigger fan of TDS than Colbert.

– 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation (NBC): Literate media-savvy comedies score high among Dems in general, notes Experian-Simmons senior marketing manager John Fetto. “Sarcastic humor is always a hook for them,” he adds. 

Don’t care for either one of these, but then there are very few sitcoms I do care for. The Big Bang Theory being one of them.

– The View (ABC): Shows that skew female tend to do better among Dems, while male-friendly shows tend to do perform higher among Republicans.

Can’t stand The View, but then I’m not really its demographic.

– Glee (Fox)

Fuck no.

– Modern Family (ABC): Last year, the progressive Glee and Modern Family scored surprisingly strong among both political leanings. Among conservatives this year, the shows still do fairly well, but have dropped out of their top ranks.

Nope. Watched one episode. Didn’t care for it.

– It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)

Again, not a huge fan of sitcoms and this one is just strange in a way I don’t find particularly funny.

– Treme (HBO): GOP Kryptonite. Not only a Dem favorite, but so unpopular among Republicans that the report scores the show with a “*”  because not enough conservatives in the study group had actually watched it.

Never seen it because I don’t subscribe to HBO or any of the other premium movie channels.

– Cougar Town (ABC)

Another fuck no. I’m surprised that this show and others like it (e.g. Desperate Housewives) do well at all, but I suppose watching people be shitty to each other, especially rich people, has always been popular.

– The Late Show With David Letterman and The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson(CBS): Dems favor late-night programming, with one big exception that we’ll see below.

Well, one out of two ain’t bad. Don’t watch Letterman anymore. He hasn’t been particularly funny or interesting for years, but I record Ferguson nightly to watch the next day.

Also in the mix: The Soup (E!), Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Adult Swim), Raising Hope (Fox), Saturday Night Live (NBC), The Office (NBC), Project Runway (Lifetime), Shameless(Showtime), Parenthood (NBC), Conan (TBS).

No, sometimes, no, no, no, fuck no, no, no, no.

Of that short list I’ll watch ATH every so often, but I rarely understand it. Probably because I’m old.

CONSERVATIVE-REPUBLICAN FAVORITES:
– Swamp Loggers (Discovery) and Top Shot (History): Gritty documentary-style work-related reality shows on cable index really strongly with conservative Republicans. Swamp Loggers is particularly polarizing.

No and no. Does it surprise anyone that these two shows are hot with Republicans? Rednecks swinging axes and gun owners showing off shootin’ skills. If you could somehow work NASCAR into that mix the orgasms some folks would have would give them aneurysms.

Hmmm….

– The Bachelor (ABC): They also tend to gravitate toward broadcast reality competition shows.

No. And I have to say that I’ve very surprised that this is popular with Republicans given that it seems to be somewhat denigrating of the whole marriage thing.

– Castle (ABC): Ranks fairly high among Dems, too.

I will sometimes watch Castle simply because it has Nathan Fillion in it, but I don’t make a point of it.

– Mythbusters (Discovery)

I’m a huge fan and I find it very surprising the it’s popular with Republicans given i’s very pro-science, anti-bullshit bent. If I had to guess I’d say it’s because they blow shit up on a regular basis and the Republicans sit through all the science-y shit just so they can see stuff explode. They probably watch it with the sound turned off so they don’t accidentally learn something.

– Only in America With Larry the Cable Guy, American Pickers, Pawn Stars, Swamp People (History): If you’re a Republican candidate looking to raise money, put ads on History.

No, no, no, and no. Not at all surprised at the popularity of these shows among Republicans.

– The Middle (ABC): Does well among libs, too. 

Never even heard of it before.

– The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (NBC): “Did you hear about this? Yeah, this is true: Jay Leno is the late-night choice among conservatives…”

Not a fan. Not sure why Republicans would be.

– The Biggest Loser (NBC)

Nope, though not surprised the Republicans like it.

– Hawaii Five-O, NCIS, The Mentalist (CBS): Popular crime dramas — except the left-wingLaw & Order franchise — tend to draw a conservative crowd.

No, no, YES! Again, very surprised The Mentalist is a hit given that the lead-character is big on tearing down people’s delusional beliefs in psychics and other supernatural phenomena.

Also: Dancing With the Stars results show (ABC), Man vs. Wild (Discovery), Auction Kings(Discovery), Wheel of Fortune (syndi), Top Gear (BBC America).

No, no, no, no, and no. Only surprised by Top Gear being popular with them as it’s a furriner show. Granted, it’s a car show, but not of the sort that most Republicans seem enthralled with.

This probably explains why I’m an Independent. I just can’t seem to conform to either party’s expectations.

5 thoughts on “EW.com surveys which shows are popular with Democrats and Republicans.”

  1. It seems the country is becoming increasingly polarized.  Maybe someday, Republicans and Democrats won’t even patronize the same fast food restaurants.  I wonder where it will end?

  2. Here in Germany we now get ‘Big Bang Theory’ and ‘How I met your mother’ back to back; I generally watch both. An improvement over Charlie Sheen 😉

    Tell me, do you too think Sheldon Cooper has Aspberger’s ?

  3. @ Ole Phat Stu: Personally I’d say that he does have Aspberger’s based on the few people that I’ve known who had it, but officially the series’ creator says they thought he was just “Sheldony.”

    From the BBT Wikipedia entry:

    Several viewers have asserted that Sheldon’s behavior is consistent with Asperger syndrome.[5][7][71] The writers have stated that they did not use Asperger syndrome as a basis for the character, but instead thought of his actions as “Sheldony”.[71] Series co-creator Bill Prady stated: “We write the character as the character. A lot of people see various things in him and make the connections. Our feeling is that Sheldon’s mother never got a diagnosis, so we don’t have one”.[7] In an interview, Jim Parsons noted the writers’ response, but added that in his opinion, Sheldon “couldn’t display more traits” of Asperger’s.[72] Parsons, who plays Sheldon, has read John Elder Robison‘s memoir Look Me in the Eye about his life with Asperger syndrome, and said that: “A majority of what I read in that book touched on aspects of Sheldon”. However, he also stated that “the way [Sheldon’s] brain works, it’s so focused on the intellectual topics at hand that thinking he’s autistic is an easy leap for people watching the show to make”.[73]

    Also in the-infestation-hypothesis Amy observes Sheldon’s obsessive knocking saying, “You are aware that your ritualistic knocking behaviour is symptomatic of obsessive compulsive disorder?” to which Sheldon responded “Is not. Is not, is not.” also in other episodes when for instance Penny has opened the door before the had finished knocking he still had to finish knocking even when Penny chased him with an ‘infested chair’.

  4. Wow, just reading all those show titles makes me happy I killed my TV 15 yrs ago. I don’t miss it a bit!

  5. Top Gear is well worth watching – the entertainment factor is not so much about cars, but the interplay between the three presenters and the sometimes ludicrous situations they get into.

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