Network television has been struggling for a while now. Many chalk it up to the explosion of streaming services that let you watch almost any show whenever you want. Sure, that’s part of it, but there’s also the issue of the quality of today’s broadcast network programs. Remember the days of hits like The Office, Friends, and Modern Family? Those types of over-the-air successes seem to be a thing of the past.
Nowadays, it feels like genuine comedy and drama have been swapped out for forced diversity and a lot of virtue signaling. If you turn on the TV any given night, you’ll see what I mean. Viewers aren’t interested in watching shows filled with canned laughter and woke themes. Fresh evidence from Nielsen backs this up, showing that American audiences are moving away from politically charged programs in favor of older, nostalgic shows from what many consider a golden age of television.
Make no mistake, the most-watched shows are on streaming services, but they’re not new. While originals like Succession and The Last of Us have their fans, they don’t come close to the popularity of the most viewed streaming show: Suits, a legal drama that debuted more than a decade ago and ended in 2019.
Although Suits wasn’t a traditional network show (it aired on the USA Network), it has found new life through streaming services, possibly because of the intrigue surrounding Meghan Markle, one of its former stars, who is now the Duchess of Sussex. Old shows from pretty obscure networks are smashing viewership records while newer, woke content struggles to find an audience on platforms like Disney+ and others.
The top streaming list for 2023, based on minutes viewed, is pretty telling. Among the top 10 shows, we’ve got Suits, The Big Bang Theory, Gilmore Girls, Friends, and Supernatural—all shows that haven’t aired new episodes in years. A couple of the top spots belong to children’s programming, and the remaining shows all premiered in the 2000s but are still popular today.
Some in Hollywood are quick to blame the writer’s strike and a shortage of new content for these surprising numbers. However, there may be more at play here. These days, America is going through some divisive and restless times. For many, older TV shows offer a comforting escape to better days. Nostalgia has always sold well, and in 2023, television viewers are buying it up.
The show Friends, often criticized by the far-left for not being diverse enough (so much that co-creator Marta Kauffman apologized for it), is still hugely popular despite being off the air since 2004. Similarly, Gilmore Girls, which also features a primarily white and straight cast, ranks as the seventh most-streamed show of 2023. The New York Times even dubbed it “an endless buffet of TV comfort food.”
Nostalgia sells, and people are tired of forced diversity and woke themes in their entertainment. Network television is on life support, and even new content on streaming platforms struggles to match the numbers of older shows from the so-called “good old days.” Hollywood would be wise to take note, but it’s likely that we’ll continue to see a lot of subpar television. Fortunately for us, there’s always a treasure trove of classic shows ready to be rediscovered.
In conclusion, while today’s shows try to tap into modern themes and diverse stories, it’s clear that many viewers yearn for the old classics. Maybe it’s the comfort of familiar stories, the nostalgia, or simply better storytelling, but one thing’s for sure: oldies are goldies when it comes to TV.
