When I first started designing the workshops I am doing here in Norway I wanted to come up with some questions to ask students so that I could learn a little more about them. I’d heard that Norwegian teens are shier than US teens and that at times it can be difficult to get them to talk. (Spoiler alert, it’s pretty similar to teens in the US.) I thought that starting with an “easier,” non-threatening question like, “what’s your favorite television show,” would be a way for them to answer a question in English that they didn’t have to be concerned about getting wrong. I planned on coming up with different questions for each workshop—what’s your favorite musical genre/band/singer for American Music, what’s your favorite sport/athlete, for Athletes as Activists—and I would get a variety of different answers as I taught.
But, I decided to start with the question:
If you could guest star on one television show, what would it be?
And, as I began to get the same answers in each class I realized that what I wanted to do was ask this question to every class I visited as a way to start to understand what parts of American television culture are consumed here.
By far, the top television show that comes up when I ask this question is Ellen. Norwegian teens LOVE Ellen. It does not matter what part of Norway I visit, Ellen comes up in at least one class in each school I visit. Teachers have also told me that Ellen is really popular. Students love Ellen because they think she is fun and she might buy them something. I tried to write Ellen to ask her to give a shout out to Norwegian teens, but there’s been no response. If you have connections, tell Ellen teens need a shout-out here in Norway.
The other talk
There are some who want to be on Dr. Phil (I suggest YouTubing Jerry Springer), James Corden (Missy Elliot showing up when Michelle Obama was riding around with him was the best episode ever), and Graham Norton. Once I even got Letterman. But the clear talk show favorite in Ellen DeGeneres. It’s amazing how far she has come.
The next most popular genre seems to be sitcoms. And the American sitcoms that air in Norway fascinates me. Friends is most often watched by teens. They love Friends. I talked with one teacher who told me part of this was because of the time and frequency it is on. It runs three times a day, one of those times being 16:00 (4:00 p.m.), close to when most teens have finished with school for the day. And, they air two episodes at once, so you can watch a lot of Friends. A Lot. Yet, when I ask if they have seen Seinfeld, a show that aired in the US around the same time Friends did, but they do not often know and even more rarely watch Seinfeld. Teachers tell me Seinfeld used to be on television here, but not anymore so students don’t really watch it.
There are other sitcoms they watch. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (you go Andy Samberg) keeps coming up as well as shows like Modern Family (I’ve decided this is more popular in Norway than in the US), Two and a Half Men, That 70s Show, The Office (the love Dwight the most), and How I Met Your Mother. Sometimes I find another fan of The Big Bang Theory and I can share how my children love to play “Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock” or South Park and we can decide what character to be (but not Kenny since he always dies).
As for scripted dramas, Grey’s Anatomy seems to be the forerunner. Game of Thrones, Prison Break (the original of course, not the reboot), Stranger Things and The Walking Dead all come up as well. If I ask I learn that many of them watch Riverdale (I tell them the parents are the most important people on that show) and Teen Wolf.
They do reality television and game shows too. Keeping Up with the Kardashians is by far the most popular. We talk about shopping with the Kardashians and I warn them to stay away from Kanye. They also LOVE Steve Harvey and all want to be on Family Feud, but without their families. Wipeout has also become more and more popular, which fascinates me.
Of course, there are the Whovians (I know, it’s not the 80s anymore) throughout. I ask their favorite doctor (yes, usually it’s 10) and if they are okay with a female doctor (mixed there). And, I tell them Tom Baker is my favorite and David Tennant comes in #2. And, I tell them about making my students wait outside Don Juan in Soho after we saw it in London so I could get his autograph. And, I say I can show them the photos if they want. More than once they have asked to see them.
Sometimes they surprise me. I’ve got Little House on the Prairie once. It took me back. She said, “it’s really old” and I said, “that’s okay because I’m old.” Or, the student who loves It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia I was really excited about this one. Gilmore Girls as long as we exclude the reboot is sometimes even mentioned. And, Castle has come up a few times. We nerd out over Nathan Fillion, Firefly (my favorite series of his), and they promise they will check out Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.
Then I share with them my show. Really I just put up a photo of Sam and Dean Winchester leaning on the Impala to see if they know my show. There have only been a few times that I’ve had to cry because no one knows the show—sometimes the teacher cries with me. The reaction to Supernatural is fascinating. It has been mentioned by a few students, which always makes me happy, but usually it is the response after I share my photo. There are often some gasps throughout. Once, in a large auditorium there was even a very loud scream (which made me extremely happy). Once I say how much I love SPN I get a number of nods of agreement.
Something happens when Sam and Dean Winchester appear on a screen in front of you. I find students who would be on the show with me. I can say that “Dean is in a bit of trouble right now, but he’ll make it through” and they nod. Sometimes they tell other students who haven’t seen SPN yet why they need to watch it.
I’ve learned that even though my computer thinks I live in the US so that I can continue to watch Season 14 in “real time,” on Norwegian Netflix they stopped airing SPN after season 8. (Even though there are other shows that they air at the same time they are on in the US—like Riverdale.) I tell them I’m looking forward to Episode 300 in a few weeks—an early birthday present for me.
This is the show that I have had conversations about after I’ve finished my workshops. One group of girls came up to me to ask the all-important question: Sam, Dean, or Castiel? Full disclosure I tell them I can’t really answer this question. I go back and forth, but it might have to be just Dean so that I can drink beers with him and drive around in the Impala (not at the same time) blasting music and singing as loud as possible. (But, this could change at any moment.)
I also tell them that I love Sheriff Jody Mills and am mad at the CW for continuing to say they are going to make a spinoff with the women of SPN—the latest attempt was Wayward Sisters—and never following through. There are some badass women on that show. They need have their own show.
There was one student who asked what the show was about. When I told him it was about Hunters who track supernatural beings, hang out with Angels, deal with the fates of heaven and hell and straddle other worlds he said, “don’t shows like that usually end after like 4 or 5 years?” I laughed, because he’s right, they usually do. But not SPN. SPN is special.
The adult, rational, educated me believes it is because writers and actors have figured out a way to evolve with their fan base. Watching the first few seasons, the various ways SPN tried to be a “dude” show, the way they talked about women, it is cringe worthy. But, there is a point where that all changed. A point where the show stopped being what it thought it should be and started being what it was meant be. What the fans needed it to be. For me, that was when they first learned that they were characters in Chuck’s book. It was at that point that SPN started to understand itself.
The fan of American television in me loves the show for so many reasons. The writers are smart and funny and they have found a way to make a show that not only makes fun of itself but also pushes viewers to think about the world around them in new ways. I love the ways that Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins have cultivated real friendships and relationships (and real family) on and off the screen. Watching all of them run a marathon together recently as well as their support and commitment to their fan base even after 14 years is inspiring. Plus, Ackles’ new adventure into Family Business Beer Company is one this beer fan can support.
I think it is all these things combined that allow me to make connections with those students who smile (or scream) when I bring up Supernatural as the show I would most like to be on. It’s always interesting to me to see what aspects of US culture we use to represent ourselves to the rest of the world. Many of the shows they watch frequently make me cringe a bit inside about the ways in which they think people live in the US. But, I’m just glad that one of them is Supernatural and that Hunters from Lawrence, Kansas are also part of the representation of US popular culture.