In a country where people watch as much television as we do in America, it’s hard to believe every day isn’t National Television Day, but the official day is Nov. 21. That makes it seem like a good time to look into each state’s favorite TV shows.
BetCarolina.com took a break from covering North Carolina sports betting to determined the top three television shows in the state. We utilized IMDB’s list of the Top 50 most watched TV shows in the United States during 2023 as a starting point for the research project, as well as AhRefs.com to finalize the Top 5 most searched shows. The shows were “The Last of Us,” “Ted Lasso,” “The Mandalorian,” “Succession” and “The Bear.” We then utilized Google Trends to search each TV show to see the highest level of interest of each state for the show. After completing the trends since Jan. 1, we were able to average out the results to get the top TV shows for each state.
What we learned is that no matter how different our tastes are across the country – whether we watch Fox or MSNBC, urban police dramas or “Green Acres” reruns, when it comes to favorite television shows we’re like-minded. And we all have cable or streaming services.
In North Carolina, the favorite TV show of 2023 was “The Last of Us” (HBO/Max), followed closely by “Ted Lasso” (Apple) and “The Mandalorian” (Disney+). These three shows, in that order, were also the choice in 15 other states, many covering the Midwest – Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Those same shows with “Ted Lasso” and “The Mandalorian” switched, were the picks in 17 more states. In a country that can’t agree on a lot, more than 60% of states chose the same three TV shows as their favorites – and all 50 states chose two out of three.
The only other shows to crack the Top 3 anywhere were “Succession” (HBO/Max), which finished Top 3 in 15 states, and No. 1 in the northeast – Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York – and “The Bear” (Hulu), which ranked third in Illinois: The show is filmed in Chicago and is so Chicago you’d expect the smoke eaters from “Chicago Fire” to do a guest appearance to put out a grease fire in the kitchen. “Ted Lasso” finished first in three states – Maine, Maryland, and Vermont – and “Last of Us” finished first in the other 44 states. For all its popularity, “The Mandalorian” wasn’t any state’s favorite – sorry, Baby Yoda.
As for the shows themselves that North Carolinians love, “The Last of Us” is grim, a post-pandemic end-of-the-world story, based on a video game. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey star. The world hasn’t ended yet – a second season is planned.
Next up is the opposite to “The Last of Us,” the happy, funny, up with people “Ted Lasso.” Jason Sudeikis stars as an American transplant coaching English soccer, with a charming can-do spirit. Word was that the finished Season 3 was going to end the series, but now there are rumors of a fourth season or a spin-off.
Pascal also stars in Mississippi’s third favorite show, “The Mandalorian.” This breakout hit from the “Star Wars” universe, created by “Iron Man” director John Favreau, is about a bounty hunter traveling the galaxy. A fourth season is planned.
Author
Howard Gensler is a veteran journalist covering the North Carolina sports betting market for BetCarolina.com. Before his focus on US sports betting, Howard worked at the Philadelphia Daily News, TV Guide and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Howard is also a founding editor of bettorsinsider.com.
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