Either through social media or in person, the small screen can inspire gatherings centered on pop culture.
When the series finale of Breaking Bad rolled around in September of 2013, fans took to Twitter to discuss Walt and Jesse’s final adventure.
According to AMC, 1.24 million tweets from 601,000 different users tweeted about the episode. This type of devotion to the small screen doesn’t only take place online – it also takes place on campus.
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Eric Williams, associate professor in the School of Media Arts and Sciences, said he thinks there are some variations to the type of shows popular with different age groups. Much of those differences stem from the content in the program.
“A lot of the things that I see that attracts specifically college students are ‘stoner’ humor, gross humor, dark comedy –– stuff that is edgy,” he said.
Williams said that a show must do two things to garner a large fan base. The first is appealing to people on different levels, with those levels including different ages, races and genders.
Williams said the important thing is that a show transcends a normal plane and captures audiences of different backgrounds.
“If you look at Breaking Bad you've got something that is not only this crime show where people like to see Walter White be a badass, but it’s also a family drama,” Williams said. “It has to appeal to different audiences.”
The ‘whisper factor’ is the second thing a show looking to be a hit must have, Williams said. He said this is what happens when viewers tune in to a broadcast so they can engage in the social aspects afterwards.
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Williams said shows like Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show reference television shows as cultural phenomena and people do not want to miss out on the punch lines.
OU’s Doctor Who Club allows fans of the program to watch episodes together weekly and talk about the show afterward. Unlike shows like Breaking Bad, Doctor Who has more than 50 years of airtime for fans to celebrate.
“Because of this history, people grow up wanting to be involved in this show, which can lead to some fantastic guest stars and writers,” said Kailey Copelin, a senior studying sports management and management information systems and one of the club’s founders.
She said online activity contributes heavily to the popularity of that particular show, which airs on BBC.
“Social media sites ... are a huge reason for the current popularity of the show, since people can talk about it with other fans all around the world and come up with new viewpoints based on these conversations,” Copelin said.
Chloe Sollars, a freshman studying English and studio art, said she “isn’t much of a TV watcher,” but she does watch television with her friends.
Sollars said she follows several show creators on Tumblr to get a behind-the-scenes look at shows such as Adventure Time, a Cartoon Network program.
Some students, like Brett Wells, a freshman studying English, said she uses social media as a tool to stay caught up with actors.
“I follow a lot of actors, but they’re from shows that I hate-watched in high school,” Wells said.
She said through social media she can find out if they moved on to different projects that she could potentially be a fan of.
Williams said he thinks the content viewers put online through social media is more helpful to the show than the social media activity that the show itself does. He said most viewers recognize that online posts from show accounts or those associated with them are just advertisements.
Others, such as Brooke Courtemanche, a freshman studying English and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality studies, said she does not really follow the actors of shows online but that she prefers to connect with other fans on social sites such as Tumblr.
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