# What TV Show Most Represents America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475 "2007-06-10T16:49:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/1 "2007-06-10T16:49:46Z")
If someone in a foreign country told you that he had the time to watch a complete year of an American TV series and asked you to suggest the one that would give him the best idea of what Americans and life in America were like, which show would you recommend he watch? Restrict yourself to non-news and non-“reality” shows and to series of the past ten years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/2 "2007-06-10T16:52:44Z")
Seriously: The West Wing Non-seriously: The Simpsons ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/3 "2007-06-10T17:34:48Z")
My Name is Earl ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/4 "2007-06-10T17:39:40Z")
The Drew Carey Show Working class schlub, modest house, normal looking people on the show. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/5 "2007-06-10T17:40:38Z")
Unfortunately, American Idol. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/6 "2007-06-10T17:41:20Z")
Cheers? ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/7 "2007-06-10T17:41:21Z")
For representing lower-middle class America (the majority, I think…right?), there is no better than Roseanne. The earlier seasons, at least. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/8 "2007-06-10T17:44:43Z")
King of the Hill ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/9 "2007-06-10T17:48:57Z")
[QUOTE=scotandrsn] King of the Hill [/QUOTE] Another vote for this! ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/10 "2007-06-10T17:51:25Z")
For me, back in HS in the 70’s…“That 70’s Show”…My mom was Red Foremann ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/11 "2007-06-10T17:53:08Z")
[QUOTE=Garfield226] For representing lower-middle class America (the majority, I think…right?), there is no better than Roseanne. The earlier seasons, at least. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=scotandrsn] King of the Hill [/QUOTE] I came in to post these very two shows, but I was beaten to it. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/12 "2007-06-10T17:55:56Z")
I don’t think any one show can represent “America”, but I think **Friday Night Lights** is a good representation of many aspects of American life – all kinds of relationships, ambition, ethics, work, school, sports, race, small towns, etc. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/13 "2007-06-10T18:07:40Z")
_Star Trek!_ ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/14 "2007-06-10T18:12:08Z")
Another vote for King of the Hill ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/15 "2007-06-10T20:42:57Z")
The Simpsons. Ever since the early-90s when George Bush Senior said, “Americans should be more like The Waltons and less like The Simpsons”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/16 "2007-06-10T20:49:25Z")
[QUOTE=Garfield226] For representing lower-middle class America (the majority, I think…right?), there is no better than Roseanne. The earlier seasons, at least. [/QUOTE] That’s even better, I was gonna say Married…With Children. Similar to Rosanne with the added benefit of the nagging wife. But yeah, Rosanne would be my top pick. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/17 "2007-06-10T20:54:11Z")
I came in to say Roseanne, but I converted to _King of the Hill_. Honorable mentions would perhaps be _Drew Carey_ and _My Name is Earl_ (though the fact I don’t live in Manhattan or LA makes a difference), with the US version of Brit import _The Office_ also ironically appearing. Least representative (not that it was asked): _Friends_, _Desperate Housewives_ or most things on the [top 100](http://www.tv.com/shows/topshows.html&pop=true) (which is not a judgment but totally understandable as who wants to watch a TV that’s just like daily life?) ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/18 "2007-06-10T22:17:49Z")
It’s only about one part of America… but no show ever does a more real job of showing what life is like than **The Wire** ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/19 "2007-06-10T23:26:44Z")
[QUOTE=Christopher] Another vote for King of the Hill [/QUOTE] The more I think about it, the more I tend to agree with this one. It’s not a perfect representation of America as a whole (a bit too Texas-specific, for one thing), but neither is anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475/20 "2007-06-10T23:39:35Z")
The OP is a great question, but I think it’s also ultimately an unfair one. No TV show can accurately depict more than one segment of life out of a huge variety in a country as diverse and large as the United States. _King of the Hill_ is a very realistic depiction … if you’re a white person from a medium-sized town in the South or Midwest. (This is me; my best friend from college IS Hank Hill, just 20 years younger.) _The Wire_ is very realistic … if you’re a lower-middle-class (or lower) person from a big city. _The Sopranos_ is realistic … if you’re from northeastern New Jersey. They all depict something true, but none of them can be said to be definitive, because the subject matter is too vast. So, my answer to the OP is “All of the above,” and “None of the above.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-most-represents-america/407475.md?page=2)