Showbiz USA
Our Viewing Tastes Are ‘Polls’ Apart
Republicans love gritty reality shows. Democrats go for comedy, underdogs.
A BY PAUL BOND
s the debate rages about who should be presi- dent for the next four years, a couple of entertainment
publications jumped into the parti- san fray to determine whether or not Democrats and Republicans can at least fi nd common ground on which TV shows and movies are best. No such luck. Two scientifi c polls — one about
movies, commissioned by The Holly- wood Reporter, the other about televi- sion, commissioned by Entertainment Weekly — showed distinct diff erences in taste among the two parties. In TV, Democrats like comedy, at
least today’s version of it, more than Republicans do while Republicans like workplace reality shows like Dis- covery Channel’s Deadliest Catch and Swamp Loggers, the former about extreme fi shing and the latter about loggers working in the swamps of North Carolina. Reality television, says Stephen Winzenburg, communications profes- sor at Grand View College in Iowa and author of TV Programming Per- spectives, “is the only genre that regu- larly includes conservative Christian participants and treats them like they’re normal.” “Republicans’ favorites are fi lled with normal people making diffi cult
42 NEWSMAX | FEBRUARY 2012
American Pickers. Airing both on History and Lifetime, this show has
decisions in an attempt to achieve individual reward.” Probably no channel benefi ts from
this dynamic more than History, where shows like these scored high on the poll among conservatives:
two men traveling through the mid- western U.S. buying collectibles for their antiques business.
Only in America With Larry the Cable Guy. The redneck comedian explores diff erent jobs, lifestyles and hobbies throughout the United States — with his own special take.
Favorite Movies REPUBLICANS
Secretariat
DEMOCRATS
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Chariots of Fire
My Fair Lady
Sound of Music
Kramer vs. Kramer
American Beauty
Crash
THUMB/ISTOCKPHOTO / SECRETARIAT/ZUMAPRESS / APES/NEWSCOM / CHARIOTS/WARNER BROS./MOVIEPIX/GETTY IMAGES / THE KRAMERS/EXPRESS/ ARCHIVE PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES / MY FAIR LADY/JOHN KOBAL FOUNDATION/MOVIEPIX/GETTY IMAGES / AMERICAN BEAUTY/GETTY IMAGES / SOUND OF MUSIC/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/MOVIEPIX/GETTY IMAGES / CRASH/ZUMA PRESS
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