jeffkjoe

Would you consider The Office to be a cult hit? cuz it's not winning any ratings battles, even in the 18-49 yr. old demographic.


Doesn't it feel like more people are watching this show than is being recorded in the Nielsens? How is it possible that 2 million more people are watching Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader on FOX than The Office?

TheMovieman

Actually, considering it comes in fourth in the 8-9 hour, the fact it's #2 in the 18-49 demo for that hour (consistently IIRC), is pretty good. Also, I don't know if Nielson includes DVR recordings and such...

Doughboy

Doesn't a show cease to be a cult hit when it wins a whole bunch of awards including the Best Comedy Series Emmy?

Then again, Arrested Development did all that and remained a cult favorite.

cdollaz

Good taste is not an epidemic.

pinata242

Because a large portion of America is genuinely curious if they are, in fact, smarter than a 5th grader and they need constant practice to stay ahead of the curve.

StealthStratos

I thought I read somewhere that this was the highest rated show among the wealthiest demographic (I don't remember what the income bracket was). So although the show may not have the broadest appeal, it is of particular interest to a certain type of advertisers.

milo bloom

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but in my office of about 30, I'm apparently the only one that watches it. For everyone else it's The Amazing Race, Idol, or general sports discussions.

Draven

I just heard on a tech podcast that Nielsen either just recently or will soon be adding dorms to their equations - I imagine the show is extremely popular on college campuses.

Hopefully that will help the ratings for all of these "cult" shows.

In my 40 person office there are easily 10 people that consistently watch "The Office" every week - of course, they watch "reality" TV, "American Idol" and other garbage too, but for 30 minutes a week they do choose quality television.

ChiTownAbs, Inc

For some reason, I doubt The Office is a big hit on college campuses. I could be wrong........

spainlinx0

I watch the Office, Earl, The Shield, Lost, and I still watch the Bachelor as well. I think there is room for both. I will say I probably would never have watched the Bachelor if my girlfriend didn't want to check it out, but I'm not going to lie and say that it isn't trainwreck funny.

I will say that I cannot get into American Idol. I have watched about 3 episodes total out of every season, and it has never sucked me in.

musick

pretty sure your answer lies within your question
most of the 2 million people should answer "no" to the show that has its title in the form of a question

clckworang

I think The Office should definitely be considered a cult hit. It's definitely not just a hit. The fact that it gets stomped regularly by just about everything else in its timeslot and that I'm shocked whenever I find someone else who watches it makes it clear that it's not a huge show.

I think it can be misleading because it's the type of show that has a much bigger following among people who spend a lot of time on the Internet, like posters in this very forum. So, while the latest Ugly Betty thread never seems to go to page 2 around here, The Office threads regularly reach page 5 or 6.

The Bus

5/5

nateman

I don't know if it I would consider it a Cult hit or Cult Classic but along with my name is earl it is defiantly underrated compared to alot of other shows on TV this year.
I think Scrubs is a Cult Classic because for Ex. this week while the office got 7.48 million viewers Scrubs got only 4.68 million viewers and it ended up being the lowest rated show on thursday night for NBC.
I personally out of the 4 comedies on NBC never got into the office. I don't hate it and compared to all the other garbage, thats on thursday its triffic but compared to Scrubs, My name is earl & 30 Rock its not as good in my opinion only.
I think 30 Rock is becoming a Cult Classic.
I have always liked underrated shows. Newsradio was one of the greatest Cult Classic comedies & another little sitcom on ABC, Coach which i love has sort of become a Cult Classic but not at the level that Scrubs or newsradio is at in the way of a solid fan base.

GearsWar666

yeah, but it is consistently the MOST downloaded show on Itunes every week. Thats how I usually get to see it because Im watching Smallville 8-9 on Thursdays.

milo bloom

Also Battlestar Galactica, which gets slaughtered in the ratings. I imagine it was renewed mainly on the strengthy of it's Itunes downloads and DVD sales (which are supposedly through the roof).

darkside

This show proves how inaccurate the rating system is. The most talked about show every week at my job and I know tons of people that watch it. Sad that people dumber than a fifth grader are the ones with the ratings pull.

Big Dave

That's how my office was at the start of season 2. As that went on, more and more people started wataching the show. I would say that there at least 6-7 people that now watch the show (the office I work is not that big) and talk about it the day after.

Shady12

Personally I've never gotten into Scrubs. Tried a couple times, but I just find the show annoying. I like these type of shows, but another I never got that into was Arrested Development. I liked it alright, better than Scrubs, but not as much as the Office, 30 Rock, or even Earl.

jeffkjoe

I mean, considering how low the ratings are for this show, it seems as if NBC is using this as a "anchoring" show, like Seinfeld, based on the promotion it gets, its exposure, etc.


NBC would never pull the plug on it now.

Super X

Also, "The Office" is one of the most DVR'ed series. According to Zap2It, a recent episode got a 31% boost in ratings once DVR numbers were factored in, the highest percentage increase for any show that week.

JPRaup

you are wrong, almost everyone I know watches it here at college. Alot of us always get together and watch it religously every week. This is the same for all my friends at other colleges also.

esc24

While that may be the case for you at your college, at mine nobody else I know watches it and nobody I know at other colleges watches it. The only time anybody I know watches it is when I have it on.

maingon

""House" and "The Office" are among TV's most DVRed shows, according to figures announced earlier this week by Nielsen Media Research."

zap2it.com

Trevor

They are two of the 6 shows I DVR.

We haven't had an Office thread in quite awhile (I know its rerun season....).

Somehow missed the bat episode when it originally came out and just saw it today. Fantastic!