A “Big Brother” veteran, a Pretty Little Liar and “Outlander” stars got viewers talking passionately on Twitter over the past week.
The Wrap has partnered with Canvs, a language analytics company that measures emotions around content, for a weekly look at the characters and stars that have TV viewers the most worked up. The data below covers July 4-10 and is drawn from the 10 most emotionally reacted-to broadcast and cable television shows and specials.
On the Thursday edition of CBS’s “Big Brother,” Season 18 contestant Frank Eudy got viewers buzzing, edging out Bridgette Dunning in terms of Twitter chatter. (Eudy is a “BB” veteran; he also appeared on Season 14, when it was revealed that he’s the son of pro wrestler Sid Eudy, a.k.a. Sid Vicious.) Of the 17,424 specific Emotional Reactions (ERs) surrounding the episode detected by Canvs, 12 percent were about Eudy (vs. 11 percent for Dunning), and of those ERs, 39 percent fell into the “dislike”/”hate” buckets and 16 percent conveyed “annoying.”
Wow, Frank is looking like a complete lunatic #BB18
— Brian Porreca (@bbrianthelion) July 8, 2016
https://twitter.com/koley411/status/751301995714097152
Over on Freeform, the third episode of the 7th season of “Pretty Little Liars” prompted 21,382 specific ERs, and as with “Big Brother,” hate-watching plays a big part in the appeal of some of the show’s characters and plot lines. “PLL” character Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario) led the way in driving ERs, with 11 percent of the total for the episode; nearly a third of Spencer’s ERs fell into the “dislike” category.
Spencer has been pissing me off #PLL
— Destinee (@TaylorsNewsFeed) July 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/tabitha_janese/status/750484103854714881
Finally, for a change of pace, some actual love-watching. Of the 28,295 specific ERs prompted by the season finale of “Outlander” on STARZ, actors Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe were neck and neck in inspiring honest-to-god appreciation on Twitter. Heughan, who plays the character Jamie Fraser, inspired 39 percent of the episode’s ERs, just edging out Balfe, who plays Claire Randall, with 34 percent. But Balfe’s ERs fell into the “love” bucket 61 percent of the time vs. 58 percent of Sam’s ERs. “Outlander” is a show whose viewers are not only deeply engaged with the fictional characters but also with the actors who play them.
Me: *sobbing during that last Jamie/Claire scene* if @caitrionambalfe doesn't get an Emmy I'm gonna be so pissed!!!? pic.twitter.com/5fyCOEFa1G
— Lil ✨ (@lildreamer86) July 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/Oracle1313/status/751956394820063233
