Our mission at SAW is to foster conversations about this thing we all love (or love to hate): film/TV. Many of our features are designed with you in mind. Your opinions, to be more to the point. You have ’em. We want to hear ’em.
Question of the Day (QOTD) is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a film/TV-related question that we put to you, the reader. The comments section below is like the feedback box at work; except, in this example, we actually read what you write and care about what you have to say.
As much as streaming is shaking up how Hollywood makes its film and shows, there has been a silver lining. Services like Netflix and Prime Video have allowed older relics once thought lost in the sands of time a second chance at popularity. Shows that were always funny but were never watched when they aired on network television have been given a second chance at finding (and growing) a fan base.
We all have that one show we could have watched live each weekday years ago, but didn’t, only to binge it in a couple of days over streaming.
So the question I ask today is: what television series has a larger following than when it aired?
I think the easiest answer is The Office. It’s the show that everyone points at when this question is brought up. It also made Peacock fork over millions of dollars to have the show be on its streaming service instead of Netflix. The Office is hilarious, but I never watched it when it aired on NBC. And by the viewership numbers, it looks like I wasn’t alone. Yet it’s constantly one of the top watched streaming shows. It’s amazing.
After that, I’m hard-pressed to think of another show that has had as large of an impact. Friends is extremely popular on streaming, but is it more popular than when it aired? I would find that hard to believe. And shows like Schitt’s Creek and Riverdale benefited from being released on a streaming service after their respective seasons had aired, so it’s really hard to say that they have a “larger following” than when it aired.
I’m definitely interested in hearing what series everyone’s thoughts are on this. Is it honestly just The Office or what else am I missing? I would find it hard to believe that any show made before 2000 would have a larger following now than when it aired.
So what about you, folks? What television series have a larger following now than when they originally aired?
I’ll see you in the trenches.
