You Are What You Watch
Some of this is obvious. Conservatives watch Fox; liberals watch MSNBC.
But who’da thunk you’re making a political statement when you tune in to Mad Men or Dancing With The Stars?
In general, Republicans watch TV shows that are huge in the Nielsen Ratings. And they like reality shows — American Idol, Dancing With The Stars, etc. Democrats like programs that are critically acclaimed but have shitty ratings: Mad Men, 30 Rock.
I can truthfully say I’ve never watched any of those retarded reality shows. I had no idea this had any political relevance, but ever since Survivor and Big Brother came out in 2000 (which begat Fear Factor and all the rest of that drivel, IMHO) I’ve thought the whole concept was too dumb for words.
Republicans’ love for conformity and being on the “winning team” sometimes trumps their “family values” rhetoric. Modern Family and Desperate Housewives are favorites among Republicans.
Democrats like shows where the main characters are clearly flawed and show their dark sides. I’ll cop to that. Police dramas are generally more popular among Republicans, with the exception of Law & Order: SVU, which is more popular with Democrats. And yes, I like SVU. You can’t get any more flawed and/or eccentric than the main characters on that show. I also like CSI: New York. That fits the pattern too, since it’s the least popular of the CSI programs.
This article has a list of the top fifteen shows for Democrats and Republicans.
posted by Tom Harper @ 6:04 PM
14 Comments:
I have no time for manufactured "reality" shows. And I do like 30 Rock as well as Community. I guess that's why I tend to favor Democrats over Republicans, because I can't stand pointless gushing drivel.
I wondered if my favorite 60 minutes would be on the list but it's not. Otherwise I watch none of these shows
Erik
I can't fucking stand "reality TV." If that was all that was on, I'd throw the TV in the trash can.
FWIW, "House" and "SVU" are my favorite shows.
Huh, I don't watch any of those shows. And if I were the dums, I might think about rectifying nos. 3 and 4. That's Fox-level rubbish.
I watch, news, football, and documentaries, but I think what's most important is not what people watch on TV, but whether they invest the time to be truly well informed.
I don't like a single show on the Dem side. What I wonder is: How the FUCK did Big Bang Theory get on the republican list????
I watch Fringe every week, and Big Bang Theory when I can get Lil'Bee to hand over the remote at 8:00.
I watch Hoarders purely for the shock value. I can't watch teh Food Network or Top Chef because they make me eat.
OOh, and PBS ran an EXCELLENT Sherlock Holmes miniseries the last 3 weeks. Seriously, it was BBC, and it was AWESOME. This coming from a Holmes-fan.
I miss watching the test pattern...
The test pattern was better conceived and written than most "reality TV" garbage.
We watch a few of the crime shows (Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, NCIS) but also like PBS (and surely PBS is a pinko commie lib channel, right?) Sometimes sports or an old movie will be on, or maybe some drivel like Headline News or CBS Evening News. Maybe "Jeopardy" here and there.
We don't touch the "reality" shows, ever. Yuccch... Once people get in front of a camera, the "reality" part comes to a crashing halt.
"CSI: New York" is favored by Dems? You Democrats who are fans of that show ought to be careful, because Gary Sinise is a Republican!! 8-)
Reality TV. Since it isn't really real, I can see how it would appeal to the right...base and simplistic, not to mention fucking moronic. Did I say how fucking moronic reality TV is? REALITY TV IS FUCKING MORONIC! There, I said it.
I'm with Dave Dubya...however, I preferred Test Pattern the Movie, as opposed to the series.
Lew: I keep meaning to tape 30 Rock; still haven't seen it.
Erik: The only 2 shows from the list that I watch are SVU and Mad Men.
JR: I keep seeing previews for "House" and "Psych" but I haven't watched either of them yet.
Randal: I haven't seen either of those shows; I'll take your word for it.
TC: "invest the time to be truly well informed" -- but that's so last century :)
Bee: I haven't seen Fringe or Big Bang Theory. PBS has some good stuff, but the pledge breaks drive me through the roof.
Dave, JR: The test pattern is definitely higher quality than most of today's programming.
Snave: I sometimes watch Criminal Minds; my wife likes it a lot better than I do. The perp is always somebody who's pure evil, sick beyond words. By the end of the episode when they finally catch him (and sometimes he gets away), I want him to get the mother of all beatdowns, and he gets this kid-glove treatment while they're arresting him. "Sir, it's gonna be all right now. We'll get you the help you need." I fuckin' hate it. But I agree, it's a high quality program.
jadedj: Since rightwingers think Fox News is real, it figures they'd think "reality" TV is real too.
Actually
I'd be happier to see some poll that proves the right wing is watching just as much pay-per-view porn as everybody else.
Erik
Republicans probably watch more of it, especially gay porn.
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