“Ted Lasso,” from Apple TV+, stands out as the only streaming original show among the 10 most in-demand comedies for January, according to Parrot Analytics data.
FX comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” was the most in-demand sitcom in the U.S. in January. It had 36.79 times the average series demand for the month, which ranks it among the top 0.2% of shows that reach this level of demand.
The long-running show’s 15th season wrapped up in December and was its first season in two years, so pent-up demand for the popular comedy has likely driven it to the top of the ranking this month.
Demand for “The Golden Girls” surged in January following the death of Betty White at the end of last year. Other classic sitcoms that still rank among the 10 most in-demand this month are “Seinfeld,” “The Office,” and “Friends.” It’s interesting to note that these classic sitcoms all originally aired on NBC, but none of the newer sitcoms in the top 10 hail from the broadcast network.
Looking at the trajectory of three of these classic sitcoms over the past year yields some interesting insights. Demand for “The Office” has remained high and held fairly steady. “Friends” saw a massive spike in demand in the lead-up to its much anticipated reunion on HBO Max. That didn’t translate to a long-term increase in demand for the show however. By October 2021, “Friends” had the lowest demand of these sitcoms.
While demand for “Seinfeld” had historically lagged behind “Friends” and “The Office,” its move to Netflix last October boosted demand for the show. Its spike in demand was not nearly as dramatic as the “Friends” reunion, but so far it has proven more sustainable. Since moving to Netflix, “Seinfeld” has had consistently higher demand than both “Friends” and “The Office.”
