
TV's most controversial show
Here are some sweeping political generalizations I made, based on a recently released survey, conducted by Experian-Simmons and published on EW.com, on what shows “Liberal Democrats” and “Conservative Republicans” love and hate:
Democrats love: Sarcasm (“30 Rock”), New Orleans and/or white guilt (“Treme”), alcohol (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Cougar Town”), gays (“Glee,” “Modern Family”), nudity (“Shameless”), and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “The Colbert Report”). Also, funny things (“Parks and Recreation,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “Raising Hope”).
Democrats hate: Swamps (“Swamp Loggers,” “Swamp People,” “River Monsters”) ghosts (“Ghost Hunters,” “Ghost Adventures”), teen pregnancy (“The Secret Life of the American Teenager”), Drew Carey (“The Price is Right”), and catching bad guys (“Dog the Bounty Hunter,” “COPS”).
Republicans love: When life re-sets itself every week (“Hawaii Five-0,” “NCIS”), swamps (“Swamp Loggers,” “Swamp People,” “River Monsters”), romance based on a lie (“The Bachelor”), Larry the Cable Guy (“Only In America with Larry the Cable Guy”), Nathan Fillion (“Castle”), antique collecting (“American Pickers”), and jokes that begin with “This is in the news” (“The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”).
Republicans hate: Marijuana (“Weeds”), exposing hypocrisy (“South Park”), divorce (“Divorce Court”), gossip and/or water bottles (“TMZ”), zombies (“The Walking Dead”), cancer (“The Big C”), people who take the law into their own hands when it’s not filmed with a shaky camera (“Dexter”), and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report”).
Full list below.
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT FAVORITES
–”The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (Comedy Central)
–”The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central)
–”30 Rock” (NBC)
–”Parks & Recreation” (NBC)
–”The View” (ABC)
–”Glee” (Fox)
–”Modern Family” (ABC)
–”It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (FX)
–”Treme” (HBO)
–”Cougar Town” (ABC)
–”The Late Show with David Letterman” (CBS)
–”The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” (CBS)
Also: “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).
CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN FAVORITES
–“Swamp Loggers” (Discovery)
–“Top Shot” (History)
–“The Bachelor” (ABC)
–“Castle” (ABC)
–“Mythbusters” (Discovery)
–“Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy” (History)
–“American Pickers” (History)
–“Swamp People” (History)
–“The Middle” (ABC)
–“The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (NBC)
–“The Biggest Loser” (NBC)
–“Hawaii Five-0” (CBS)
Also: “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC), “Man vs. Wild” (Discovery), “Auction Kings” (Discovery), “NCIS” (CBS), “The Mentalist” (CBS).
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT LEAST FAVORITES
–“Swamp Loggers” (Discovery)
–“Dog the Bounty Hunter” (A&E)
–“COPS” (Syndication)
–“The Ultimate Fighter” (Spike TV)
–“The Price Is Right” (CBS)
–“CSI: Miami” (CBS)
–“Kitchen Nightmares” (Fox)
–“Secret Life of the American Teenager” (ABC Family)
–“Ghost Hunters” (Syfy)
–“Ghost Adventures” (Travel Channel)
Also: “Operation Repo” (TruTV), “Swamp People” (History), “Hardcore Pawn” (TruTV), “River Monsters” (Animal Planet), “Deadliest Catch” (Discovery), “Only In America With Larry the Cable Guy” (History), “Storm Chasers” (Discovery), “Billy the Exterminator” (A&E), “Deal or No Deal” (GSN), “Forensic Files” (TruTV).
CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN LEAST FAVORITES
–“Weeds” (Showtime)
–“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
–“The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central)
–“South Park” (Comedy Central)
–“TMZ” (syndication)
–“General Hospital” (ABC)
–“Family Guy” (Fox)
–“Dexter” (Showtime): Again, that anti-hero thing…
–“Jersey Shore” (MTV)
–“The Walking Dead” (AMC): Really? But it’s about the Apocalypse!
Also: “Divorce Court” (Syndication), “The Big C” (Showtime), “Let’s Make a Deal” (CBS), “Bridezillas” (WE), “My Fair Wedding with David Tutera” (WE)



There was one show both groups could agree about, Whitney fucking sucks.
I am surprised South Park isn’t more popular with conservatives, it is one of the few shows where they get a fair shake (which sometimes hurts)
Agreed, tacos.
Also, what about moderate Republicans? We exist. I SWEAR WE DO!
The media says otherwise, so you may as well try getting our attention with deathly moans and rattling chains.
so all we really solved here is that conservatives dont like shows that make fun of them all the time (30 rock, the daily show) and liberals hate shows where people actually do something and dont suck on the government tit.
makes sense to me.
Moderates enjoy good TV when they have the free time, and accept that bad reality shows will always be more popular.
As a registered “unenrolled”….I can say Liberals are going to be hating the evening news starting in November 2012.
What about the Libertarians? And I’m with Tacos. South Park at times can be pretty Conservative or at the very least Libertarian.
*waits for the comments to get super serious political*
At least both sides can agree that Pokemon the movie is deeply moving and inspirational.
(seriously, no post about the greatest Daily Show segment all year?)
I’m surprised Breaking Bad and Mad Men don’t appear on the lists for either affiliation. I have to assume they’re more popular with Democrats, though maybe they chart higher with the way-far-to-the-right types—I bet they loved the Roger’s blackface scene.
Also surprised at the lack of Republican love for “Sons of Anarchy.”
@ Chris – You’re right. Ghost hunting and guessing the price of soup are the backbone of our economy.
My love of NBC Thursday night comedy shows and anything with the word “swamp” in it has left me politically broken. Help, Obama!
Green Party still watches old VHS recordings of Bill Nye the Science Guy.
**takes bong hit**
It’s like, science, man….
To their credit, a bunch of whores pretending to want to get married to a closet case seems pretty Republican to me.
Libertarians* like Community and the Ron Swanson show (or whatever the title actually is).
*Survey size of one.
I think we can agree that people who respond to surveys with questions on politics and television shows are probably assholes.
Liberals at least have to give credit to the Conservatives for naming “Jersey Shore” one of their least favorite shows.
I’m guessing that the conservatives who hate “South Park” are the religious right, not the more moderate fiscal conservatives and whathaveyou. I wrote a thesis on the show in college, and there are a bajillion articles about its political leanings. People seem to see what they want to see in Matt and Trey’s politics, but they do come off as pretty moderate, or at least not super dogmatic one way or another.
@Danger
I’m glad you see it… I was afraid someone was gonna take my comments way to seriously and start telling me what an idiot I am.
but you Danger… you see the brilliance in things.
@ Chris – MINE WAS A JOKE TOO WHERE IS THAT GODDAMN SARCASM BUTTON
Aw for god’s sake really? You’re grouping me in with the Reality tv lovers again? You can’t tell me there’s at least one or two liberal commie grass eaters who watched the Bachelor this year and threw the tally off? Come on you god damned pinkos…watch Ghost Hunters so I can watch Parks and Rec and still run for Governor of Texas.
Well I sure as hell didn’t vote for Obama and I love South Park, Family Guy, Parks, Community and 30 Rock. What does that make me?!?!?! A FUCKING ANOMALY, THAT’S WHAT! Stick it up your ass and stop trying to put me in a box society!!!
I hate politics so much, you guys. Like, T————-H————I—————S much.
Conservatives DON’T like South Park??? I can’t believe that would be on the list since it is the show that consistently bashes many “leftist” positions and liberal celebrities. For example, after South Park did their “1%” episode, you couldn’t go to a single conservative website without seeing the clip of Michael Moore shouting at Jimmy and Butters through a bullhorn.
Well I sure as hell didn’t vote for Obama and I love South Park, Family Guy, Parks, Community and 30 Rock. What does that make me?!?!?!
I don’t know, probably racist.
@poon Bravo!
Alternate title: Conservative hatred tells public ‘My Fair Wedding with David Tutera’ exists.
Life doesn’t re-set itself every week, it gets back to its roots, just like the forefathers intended. There were shows I like and don’t like in ever section of those lists. So I guess that makes me part of the MAJORITY of this country that doesn’t have political leanings one way or the other?
Capital letters mean yelling on political blogs.
Seems like the Democrats surveyed were pretty young and the Republicans surveyed were pretty old. Sounds about right.
Meanwhile Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory are universally liked by morons from both parties.
Liberal, Conservative, it ultimately doesn’t matter what matters is that even without Matt running this site, we still had a post about Paz’s tits. And that’s pretty cool.
I wonder how conservatives love of Mythbusters will fare after next season tackles the myth of creation.
Does this mean I have to switch parties now? Cause I ain’t switching my viewing habits.
We already knew that Democrats like education and Republicans hate thinking.
I’m more interested in what cat lovers and dog lovers watch. The people doing these surveys don’t know what they’re doing.
I have to say, by virtue of not having to deal directly with the consequences of US politics, I enjoy watching the country’s discourse slowly circle the drain.
Yet another list Community was left off of.
jason_yingling
Yet another list Community was left off of.
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I can’t believe the show is so forgettable to so many people…..
But rest assured, it must have just missed the “Republicans hate it” list. If you’ll notice, not a SINGLE well-written show made their list (The Middle is ok though).
Why would anybody hate “The Price is Right”? You get smoking hot models and people losing all brain activity once getting on stage.
Furious, Liberals supposedly don’t like the idea of people “earning” their money…..even if the way they “earn” it is completely based on a series of lucky events.
I have to say, by virtue of not having to deal directly with the consequences of US politics, I enjoy watching the country’s discourse slowly circle the drain.
Just wait until President Bristol Palin gets the nuclear codes in 2024. Then you’ll be sorry.
Otto Man
I have to say, by virtue of not having to deal directly with the consequences of US politics, I enjoy watching the country’s discourse slowly circle the drain.
Just wait until President Bristol Palin gets the nuclear codes in 2024. Then you’ll be sorry.
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With what is happening to education the only thing the nuclear warheads will be filled with is bibles and shame.
Like there’s gonna be a 2024.
@danger…
I know man, I know. I hope one day you can learn to forgive me.