In a time of high unemployment, bad economy and hated political debates, who would have thought that television series would be the best picture of our daily life. It is interesting that Americans recognize their emotional relationships and love life as those depicted in today’s comedies.
A survey conducted in the United States (USA) in February of this year aimed to find out which series best reflects the current relationships and love life of the average American family. ABC’s “The Middle “ took first place (12% of the vote), while the popular series “Modern Family “ came in second (8% of the vote).
Sitcom classics such as “I Love Lucy “ (5% of votes), CBS ‘s “King of Queens “ (4% of votes), “Big Bang Theory “ (4% of votes) and NBC’s “The Office “ (4% of votes) were also mentioned in the top five. Although comedies were the dominant genre, not all interviewees have such a view of their love life.
Out of the total number of respondents, 6% said that their current relationship is best described by the series “Shameles “, while 4% said “American Horror Story “. It is interesting that not a single reality program made it into the top five.
“Given these results, it’s no wonder television comedies have experienced a resurgence in popularity in America,” said Ben Spergel, who conducted the research, adding, “People are turning to comedies in times of turmoil and uncertainty, and these data point to a new trend.”
The depiction of family portraits and emotional relationships has changed significantly from classics such as “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father knows best” to today’s non-traditional comedies with characters that people can easily identify with.
One of the interviewees, 49 years old, said that the series “The Middle” best represents her family, because they are a typical lower-middle-class family that struggles with the daily challenges of life with a constant sense of humor. The 57-year-old respondent explained why “Modern Family ” was her choice. There are many different personality types in her large family. Marriages, divorces, gay couples, age differences between partners are just some of the interesting things. They all have in common that they like to have a good time and joke. Mladić (21 years old) sees his love life reflected in the relationship between the characters from the series “The Office “ Pam and Jim. He says he can totally relate to the dynamic of their relationship: he’s free, she’s not and vice versa. It’s a fun, great and eerily familiar love story.
The final ranking list of the mentioned series in the research:
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- The Middle 12%
- Modern Family 8%
- Shameless 6%
- I Love Lucy 5%
- The Big Bang Theory 4%
- King of Queens 4%
- The Office 4%
- American Horror Story 4%