It seems hard to fathom that there are people living today who were born before the advent of television. Inventors worked on the concept of what we know today beginning in the late 19th century, but it wasn’t until 1927 that the first broadcast took place. On Sept. 11, 1928, the first TV drama, “The Queen’s Messenger,” aired on WGY, a Schenectady, N.Y. station.
Television has since become embedded in our lives. Once only a mainstay in living rooms, Nielsen reports that the average home today has 2.3 sets, and that does not count the laptops, tablets and smartphones we also use to binge-watch our favorite shows.
Next week, on Nov. 21, we’ll celebrate World Television Day, a day established by the United Nations to commemorate how significant television has become to society. Television is not just for shows. It’s also how we get the latest news and, of course, watch our favorite sports teams, like the Detroit Lions.
To celebrate the day, BetMichigan.com wanted to find the best shows set in the state. We used IMDB ratings, Rotten Tomatoes Audience score, Rotten Tomatoes Critic score, and awards recognition to create a weighted scoring system.
Rank | Show | Total Points |
1 | Home Improvement | 144 |
2 | Weeds | 137 |
3 | The Loud House | 56 |
4 | Ash vs Evil Dead | 41 |
5 | RoboCop | 40 |
6 | Charmed | 39 |
7 | Accused | 38 |
8 | Run of the House | 35 |
9 | Blockbuster | 31 |
10 | How We Roll | 29 |
This list is exclusive to BetMichigan.com, where you’ll find the best Michigan sports betting promos. We also cover a wide range of lifestyle and pop culture topics.
“Home Improvement” ranks as one of the greatest shows of all time. The ABC sitcom starred Tim Allen as the host of a do-it-yourself repair show who struggles as a husband and a father as much as he struggles with power tools. The show, which ran from 1991-99, is ranked the 110th best television comedy according to Rotten Tomatoes. The show’s run, of course, came well before Michigan sportsbooks became legal and regulated.
Aside from the shows listed above, there are a few more set in the Mitten State that are also worth mentioning.
Mayor of Kingstown: Jeremy Renner stars in this Paramount+ crime drama as a man living in a prison town who tries to keep the peace between all sides on both sides of the prison’s walls.
Bob Hearts Abishola: Billy Gardell starred in this show as the president of his family’s medical supply business who falls in love with a Nigerian nurse who tends to him after he suffers a heart attack.
Good Girls: Christina Hendricks, Mae Whitman and Retta starred in the dramedy as three mothers having trouble making ends meet. They resort to a robbing a local grocery and eventually find themselves immersed in a life of crime.
What’s especially great about modern television is that many of the shows listed above continue to live on in the streaming realm. A simple Google search or a trip to iMDb will let you know where these shows are available, so you can watch them when for the first time or go back to your favorite episodes.
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Author
Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters.
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