TV shows men like

[CaptJohnSheridan]

The top 10 network nonsports series among men ages 18 to 24

American Idol (performance*) (Fox) -- 1.5 million
Family Guy (Fox) --1.2 million
The Simpsons (Fox) -- 1.04 million
Bob's Burgers (Fox) -- 1.03 million
The Voice (NBC) -- 1.01 million
The Office (NBC) -- 950,000
The Cleveland Show (Fox) -- 943,000
America's Got Talent (perf.) (NBC) -- 854,000
House (Fox) -- 801,000
Mondern Family (ABC) -- 776,000

What would these men think of a TV show about a military commander who is intelligent, athletic, and has a good sense of humor who commands a military spaceship? I know a soldier who loves Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, The Expanse, and Mass Effect. Would that type of show be more popular if our society was more militaristic?

 

[Zontar]

Men age 18 to 24 in the US can only get 5 series past the million mark and the highest is only 1.5 million?

Even if we assume women of the same age watch twice as much television, why the hell is this demographic getting such massive over attention by the media if we're consuming so little of it? Especially when advertisements are what keep television running, and older demographics are 1) watching series more, and 2) have more disposable income to spend on stuff?

Whoever started this targeted marking and the myth of young people being important for marketing lost the entire economy trillions I tell ya.

As for science fiction, for this particular demographic you'd not only need military fiction, you'd need the science taken out for it to be a hit with them. I say this as one of them.

There's a reason Star Wars does better then Star Trek at the box office, and it has nothing to do with quality of either one.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Supernatural maybe? Or is that a gay show now? Certainly has changed. All about the drama, no longer about the ghosts.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I'm pretty sure men aged 18 to 24 watch everything on the internet now.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Even if we assume women of the same age watch twice as much television, why the hell is this demographic getting such massive over attention by the media if we're consuming so little of it? Especially when advertisements are what keep television running, and older demographics are 1) watching series more, and 2) have more disposable income to spend on stuff?

Because 18-24 makes a bigger splash on social media. The idea is that if you can get the young trendsetters on Twitter and Facebook to be all about your show, you will get an influx of people that follows the leader and watches your show. The discussions that follows each episode can also boost viewership if it becomes viral enough (Game of Thrones being the poster show for this).

Does it work? I don't know.

Supernatural maybe? Or is that a gay show now? Certainly has changed. All about the drama, no longer about the ghosts.

Supernatural had a very obvious transformation around season 4-5, when the showrunners realized that their main viewership was mostly women. More character drama and focus on the brothers relation came out of that, it didn't help that they started running out of good Monsters of the Week around that time and doubled down on their disastrously bad Angels vs Demon plot line either, which actually seems to have driven off most of their initial viewers.

 

[skywolfblue]

The top 10 network nonsports series among men ages 18 to 24

Cable TV is in it's decline, streaming is king. Rating TV shows on cable viewers is becoming less and less relevant.

What would these men think of a TV show about a military commander who is intelligent, athletic, and has a good sense of humor who commands a military spaceship? I know a soldier who loves Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, The Expanse, and Mass Effect. Would that type of show be more popular if our society was more militaristic?

Our society is pretty militaristic already. That is meant as a neutral statement. We do have a pretty big military and a big military budget. Almost every other person I know has served at one point or another (but that's largely due to living in a town with an air force and military base). America takes a lot of pride in military war heroes, so many of it's movies are about them.

To add to your list:
Stargate
Firefly
Star Trek
Star Wars

There a lot of good "military commander" shows already. More is always welcome!

 

[TrulyBritish]

Men age 18 to 24 in the US can only get 5 series past the million mark and the highest is only 1.5 million?

Even if we assume women of the same age watch twice as much television, why the hell is this demographic getting such massive over attention by the media if we're consuming so little of it? Especially when advertisements are what keep television running, and older demographics are 1) watching series more, and 2) have more disposable income to spend on stuff?

Whoever started this targeted marking and the myth of young people being important for marketing lost the entire economy trillions I tell ya.

As for science fiction, for this particular demographic you'd not only need military fiction, you'd need the science taken out for it to be a hit with them. I say this as one of them.

There's a reason Star Wars does better then Star Trek at the box office, and it has nothing to do with quality of either one.

Streaming/online viewing maybe?
I'd be interested to see that breakdown of shows based on other demographics though. Is this a problem restricted to males of 18-24, or is this a trend across all of them?
It's be nice to have a source on this.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Ugh. Other than House (and Simpsons, missed that), these statistics have terrible taste. And they seem to be shows that are popular regardless of gender, so it's probably a bit of a faulty foundation to work from. I'm sort of kind of maybe identified as something along the "male" spectrum and have no interests in these shows, or established interest in military workings, yet i'd be totally up for watching your space adventure show with a military commander protagonist. You don't need a militaristic society to appreciate these entertainments, just good and varied writing with believable execution.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Meanwhile this 30-year old man's favorite ongoing shows are My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Steven Universe. What can I say, I'm tired of the cynicism that permeates TV nowadays. Lord knows I get enough of it from the internet...

But hey, I also love me some Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I think a show like that would be successful nowadays, especially with what appears to be an increasing interest in the sci-fi genre again. I don't think militarism necessarily factors into the equation; as long as it has good writing, consistent lore and likeable characters, it should work out just fine.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Supernatural had a very obvious transformation around season 4-5, when the showrunners realized that their main viewership was mostly women. More character drama and focus on the brothers relation came out of that, it didn't help that they started running out of good Monsters of the Week around that time and doubled down on their disastrously bad Angels vs Demon plot line either, which actually seems to have driven off most of their initial viewers.

Apparently that's because the original show writer/producer only wrote a story that went 5 seasons. He wanted the show to end. Sam was in Hell, Dean had a wife/son and Bobby was still alive. That was supposed to be the end of the series. And so he left the show. But the suits just kept demanding more and more seasons, so lesser writers just had to wrangle anything they could to fill the seasons.

But its safe to just assume Supernatural ended after Season 5 and everything after that is non-canon soapbox drama.

 

[Phasmal]

Woah a lot of that is terrible TV. (Then again I can't talk, my taste in TV is pretty appalling too).

I have no idea what most dudes would like in TV. My dude doesn't even watch TV unless I'm hassling him to spend some time with me.

On an unrelated note, most of the people who I know who are into things like Star Trek are women. My mother-in-law keeps saying I should watch Star Trek, considering I've never seen it. My ex tried to get me into Babylon 5 and therefore ruined it forever for me, though.

 

[madwarper]

The top 10 network nonsports series among men ages 18 to 24

[...]

House (Fox) -- 801,000

You have a source for this survey? Or, better yet, the year in which the survey took place?

While I enjoy House, it's been off air for half a decade. And, as far as I can tell it's only being syndicated on OXYGN and USA. The former I highly doubt any guy is purposefully watching, and the latter only airs 3 episodes Wednesday morning from 0600-01000.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I'm curious where WWE would fall on that list if you separated it from the sports list...

I think other people have said, normal TV watching is mostly in it's decline.... It's not shocking to me it would be mostly comedies, they're the most palatable and less think-heavy background noise shows.

It does make me concerned about the welfare of the new star trek though.

 

[Hawki]

So, random comments:

-I think it's a bit elitist to arbitrarily tastes to be bad. People will like and dislike what they...um, like.

-That being said, Family Guy? FAMILY GUY?! And above The Simpsons?! I...I don't...I can't...

-Now that we've established that I'm the arbiter of good taste, Bob's Burgers and House are shows I like as well, so, um, yeah.

-I think our society is already militaristic enough, and militarism is missing the point. Shows like Babylon 5 are sci-fi, which is a niche genre, and of the shows the OP lists, all of them are niche within said genre, and B5 is arguably the most niche of them all, given it's been off the air the longest.

-Star Trek and Firefly aren't really 'military commander' shows (and having read the books, I wouldn't think The Expanse is either). Firefly is a space western with the heroes sticking it to said military commanders. Star Trek isn't really military sci-fi either. Oh sure, it has a command structure, and spaceships, and weapons, but it doesn't really conform to the values or tropes that military fiction usually contains.

-Ah, MLP: Friendship is Magic. The show where it jumped the shark in season 6 with AN ENTIRE RACE being redeemed by "the magic of friendship."

Yeah, I know, wrong thread, but while I can enjoy FiM, and tolerate its more cheesy moments, the whole changeling thing really felt like a jumping the shark moment, coupled with the lack of development for Starlight Glimmer across season 6. And then Legend of Everfree sucked, and...anyway, back on topic:

-...oh, that's pretty much it.

 

[KissingSunlight]

I don't know when and where the OP got these ratings. The number one show in America the past few years has been Sunday Night Football. I am guessing a lot more men watch that TV show more than women.

I am surprised that Supernatural is still on the air. I watched an early episode of it, and I was bored senseless by it. Also, I don't know anyone who is a fan of the show. You would think a show like that would have a vocal fan base.

 

[09philj]

I actually watch a fair a bit of TV, but I think that our TV in the UK is meant to be less soul crushingly awful than it is in the US. We get a lot of miniseries too, so there's a lot more space to experiment. There's always at least one thing a week worth watching. I watch a fair amount of police procedural dramas, including a good portion of foreign language ones imported by BBC 4.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

America takes a lot of pride in military war heroes, so many of it's movies are about them.

To add to your list:
Stargate
Firefly
Star Trek
Star Wars

How does Firefly have anything whatsoever to do with "pride in military war heroes"? I'm pretty sure Joss Whedon would bridle at that association, given how the series opens with war taking a man's overly bolshy hope.

There a lot of good "military commander" shows already. More is always welcome!

I'd say the less militarism and war is glamourised the better, but this isn't really the thread for that topic. Then again this is a rather odd thread as it is... ("What would these men think... " is a generalisation so broad and speculative it's almost abstract. "...of a TV show about a military commander who is intelligent, athletic, and has a good sense of humor who commands a military spaceship?" is bizarrely hyper specific, and also an impossible thing to respond to given the basis of the comparison/question)

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I watch none of these shows and I am 24.

And funny they include Family Guy and Cleveland Show but not American Dad? The only thing worth a damn from Seth MacFarlane?