The Big Bang Theory: Who’s Watching America’s “Favorite” TV Show?

The hilarious Big Bang Theory was consistently one of the most-watched shows on television throughout its 12-season run, meaning millions and millions of people are watching it on a regular basis. But despite its massive success, it’s been attacked by some self-proclaimed geeks and ignored by many critics. That had us at Ranker wondering: does this show all about nerd-dom actually appeal to nerd viewers? And if not, what accounts for its unprecedented success?

Before we dig into what Ranker Insights data reveals about the show’s audience, let’s first explore just how successful The Big Bang Theory really is. It rivaled Seinfeld and Friends during their heydays in its eyeball-attracting dominance, having pulled in a steady stream of 19-to-20 million viewers at its peak between seasons 6-9. The series finale was watched by a total of 1.8 million people, and it left the airwaves as the highest-rated comedy since Friends. What’s more, it remains a huge hit in syndication. In the past, reruns of the show on cable would frequently top the weekly ratings, and it’s expected to become one of the most popular streaming titles online once it’s added to HBO Max’s catalog.

But The Big Bang Theory comes from a different time than Seinfeld and Friends — until rather recently, it was primetime shows like these that dominated watercooler conversations and defined the cultural era. Today, “prestige” shows like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones tend to occupy that space, while three-camera sitcoms like The Big Bang Theory continue to quietly pull millions of viewers every night.

The TV critics who do recognize the greatness of The Big Bang Theory are very much aware of this discrepancy. Joe Reid from The Atlantic and Rob Hoerburger from the New York Times Magazine both wondered how such a massively popular show could also be so off-radar. Back in 2013, during the show’s ratings peak, Hoerburger admitted he had to cajole his sneering friends and elitist peers into giving it a shot, not even meeting a fellow fan until he wore his “Bazinga” t-shirt while on summer vacation and finally caught a fellow fan’s eye. “Twenty million nerds can’t be wrong,” he concluded, counting himself proudly among the pack.

But it can’t be denied that a certain group of “real” nerds and/or geeks are highly critical of the show. A widely-held grievance is that The Big Bang Theory “makes nerd culture the butt of, not the subject of, the jokes.” If that’s true, then our data would reveal a fanbase largely devoid of self-proclaimed nerds, or full of folks okay with some light nerd-roasting, or maybe something in between. However, it probably wouldn’t reveal that “twenty million nerds” are what make this show so wildly popular.

So which is it? Did the show become a 10-season-strong monster on the back of an army of true nerds, or is its audience a lot less geeky than some would have you believe?

The mind-boggling amount of data Ranker Insights has about The Big Bang Theory fans contains the answer, and — Bazinga! —  it looks like the average fan looks a bit more like Penny than Sheldon.

We’ll start with TV habits. You would think fans of a show that purports to celebrate nerd culture would love stereotypically nerdy TV shows such as Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Game of Thrones, and all things Marvel and DC, right? And they do, somewhat, with affinity scores between 100% and 200% for all of those shows, meaning they’re at least twice as likely to be a fan of those shows than the average person. But the shows in the 250%-400% and above range — the shows The Big Bang Theory fans are far and away the most passionate about — reveal they really prefer far less fantastical fare.

The Big Bang Theory fans, more than anything else, love sitcoms and comedy-dramas that were made in the 1990s or feel like they could have been made in the 1990s. The kind of shows that were made back when “Average Television Viewer” was much easier to pin down, before DVR and streaming splintered the monoculture.

These throwback shows get the fanbase excited far more than anything The Big Bang Theory’s characters would actually geek out about, suggesting the show’s biggest fans don’t seek out the fantasy worlds the show constantly name-drops, but instead prefer entertainment that harkens back to a bygone era of watching TV as a nation —  the “lockstep world of three networks,” to quote Scott Timberg of Salon. The Big Bang Theory fans appear to yearn for an era of TV programming that arguably provided, as Timberg puts it, “a communal sense of belonging together, sharing concerns and values at a time when politics, ethnicity and religion often divide us.” We’re talking a lot of Venus vs. Mars domestic comedies — lots of couches facing the camera. Shows starring stand-ups and industry legends, full of hugging and learning. Shows known more for being consistent and crowd-pleasing than for dealing with mature themes or constantly killing off beloved characters. Shows, in other words, like The Big Bang Theory.

Let’s look at the data. Even if you discount The Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre’s other big hits Two and a Half Men, Mom, Grace Under Fire, Mike & Molly, and Dharma & Greg — all 250%+, by the way — you’re still left with Friends, 2 Broke Girls, How I Met Your Mother, Reba, Rules of Engagement, 8 Simple Rules, and My Wife and Kids dominating the upper echelon, with affinity scores of 225% or more. All of these shows are studio-based, multi-camera, laugh-track-heavy sitcoms. Seinfeld, which famously rejected hugging and learning, is notably absent from this tier, sitting at 71%. A mix of comfortable TV staples including popular police procedurals (NCIS, CSI: NY) and light dramedies (Hart of Dixie, with a whopping 473%, as well as 7th Heaven) round things out.

So no, The Big Bang Theory fans do not appear to share the tastes of the show’s main characters. Anything related to superheroes, for example, is walloped in the the rankings by the likes of mainstream favorites iCarly, House, Dateline, and even ‘90s cartoons such as Bobby’s World and The Wild Thornberrys. Perhaps the most damning revelation? There’s not a single iteration of Star Trek on TV with an affinity score even half as high as Ben and Kate, a 2012 sitcom FOX canceled before finishing a season. That’s pretty shocking, considering the constant stream of Trek references on The Big Bang Theory, and that multiple former Trek cast members have made cameos. Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Wesley Crusher) even has a recurring role as a fictionalized version of himself.

It’s also telling to look at the shows The Big Bang Theory fans have the least affinity with. Unsurprisingly, single-camera critical and cult favorites such as Louie, Party Down, Broad City, Veep, Peep Show, and Master of None all have negative affinity scores, along with hip sketch comedy classics such as Mr. Show and The State. The Big Bang Theory fans, it appears, don’t like hoity-toity hipster comedies, preferring instead the cozy world of the American sitcom. That’s not exactly shocking, but it is out of line with the tastes of the show’s comic book-obsessed cadre of characters, who revel in their knowledge of obscure pop culture.

Based on TV affinities, The Big Bang Theory fans appear to be nostalgic, no-nonsense TV fans who appreciate consistency. They’re fairly conservative, avoiding racy, obscene, or controversial content in favor of content that likely confirms their core beliefs. They are not, in other words, your standard nerds. But that’s just TV. What else?

A look at film affinities paints a similar picture. A few nerd classics make the cut with 100%+ affinity scores, but the films The Big Bang Theory fans are the most passionate about are exactly the kinds of movies that the characters would proudly mock. Michael Bay’s Transformers, for example, tops the list at an alarming 382% affinity, while two Star Wars prequels and the universally-panned Fantastic Four are all in the top ten. Meanwhile, anime classics such as Akira and Spirited Away, as well as comedy-nerd classics such as This Is Spinal Tap and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, all have negative affinity scores.

This means The Big Bang Theory fans are less likely than the average person to enjoy these films — more evidence that fan tastes do not match those of the main characters. Proudly touting such widely-reviled films and having negative affinity for more experimental work suggests they’re not the kind of people who care about critical consensus or canon-building. Again: not nerds.

Peering across Ranker’s vast library of lists lends more credence to the idea that “nerds” are not the core fanbase of The Big Bang Theory. Fans who think the show is the “Best Show Currently On the Air” also think ‘90s late-night staple Paula Poundstone is the funniest stand-up comic of all time, with Tim Allen — a ‘90s sitcom star still plugging away on ABC’s multi-camera Last Man Standing — close behind. Users who think the show is “The Greatest TV Show of All Time” also think Julia Roberts should top the list of “Greatest Actors or Actresses of All Time.” Roberts is one of the most charming and talented actresses of all time, but she’s not exactly a geek icon.  

Overall, these preferences show us a noticeable pattern: this fanbase is not searching at every turn to have their opinions questioned, challenged, or even mocked. When they turn on the TV, they’re looking for something consistent, something that can deliver solid punchlines and recognizable characters night after night. That preference for reliable entertainment, rather than intellectual pretension, is evident in almost all their voting behavior on Ranker.

Take fast food, for instance. Fans of The Big Bang Theory cite Arby’s, Taco Bell, Subway, and Papa John’s as their favorites, while the expensive Chipotle and “bet-you’ve-never-head-of-it” In-N-Out Burger are low on their rankings. Musical affinities also point in this direction: fans favor wedding and digital jukebox staples from artists such as Shania Twain, Bryan Adams, Sting, Steve Winwood, and the Foo Fighters, while the genre-bending experimentation of Radiohead, Kanye West, Prince, or Bjork, all have negative affinity scores. (Rapper Wiz Khalifa ranks high, but that’s likely because of his 2015 appearance with The Big Bang Theory actor Jim Parsons playing Catchphrase on The Tonight Show.)

Does that mean that The Big Bang Theory is laughing at nerds, rather than laughing with them? Not necessarily! The fact that a show could be so popular with non-nerds just demonstrates how as Variety’s Katherine Brodsky theorizes, the culture has shifted and become more geek-friendly, and the show “lets audiences identify with and be part of that geek world.” By inserting geeks into a time-tested sitcom formula, The Big Bang Theory is essentially stating that nerds are just as much a part of everyday America as the hardworking dads and wacky housekeepers who starred in America’s most famous sitcoms.

Ranker Insights reveals that if these fans are, in fact, geeking out vicariously through Sheldon, Leonard, Penny & Co., they aren’t exploring geek culture outside the show like you would expect. But that just goes to show you that Americans are more than willing to identify with characters who have completely different tastes and backgrounds than themselves! All the more reason for the self-proclaimed “geek” critics of The Big Bang Theory to get off their high horses and give this historically popular TV show a try.

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These stories are crafted using Ranker Insights, which takes over one billion votes cast on Ranker.com and converts them into actionable psychographics about pop culture fans across the world. To learn more about how our Ranker Insights can be customized to serve your business needs, visit insights.ranker.com, or email us at insights@ranker.com.