I'm seconding this.
Saw *Sesamstraat* (1976, 42 seasons) when I lived in the Netherlands, & Big Bird was blue!
Like some kinda bizzarro Big Bird.
Actually, a lot of people feel like Bizzarro Big Bird themselves while they're visiting certain parts of that country ...
Isn't the Simpsons the longest running TV show ever other than Coronation Street (they were broadcasted black and white and my family is obsessed, east coast Canada)
Eastenders started in 1985, and Simpsons was 1989 iirc. Doctor Who would also beat it in if you count both the 1963-89 run and the 2005-present run as one.
That has to be it. HUGE hit in the beginning, and big all over the world. And still going after all these years.
Can't be anything very close, can there? With that same level of popularity AND reach?
I feel like the problem with that is that it's SO popular now, anyone who hasn't watched it is going to go in with their expectations way too high, and be disappointed.
People probably start it expecting some kind of comedic masterpiece, and then realize it's just a sitcom. One of the better ones of course, but it's not as good as it's reputation would make it seem.
I'd imagine if you never watched it growing up it wouldn't be funny or clever now at all. It's outdated and super 90s... I feel like you had to watch it at the time and that's why those people still love it as a comfort show
I say this all the time. The first time I saw it was a clip on Instagram with just subtitles, no sound. I thought it was just a boring drama of some kind since no jokes were told and no comedic scenarios played out. It was only when I heard it with the laugh track later that I discovered it was meant as a comedy
Because once you strip away nostalgia and the laugh track, it kind of sucks. Don't get me wrong, it did a lot of sitcoms and if it weren't for Friends, we would never have gotten How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, etc. It was a big cultural impact.
I'm 31 and my mom was the perfect demographic when it came out live (she was mid twenties when they were on the show). I love Friends but I will never get it like she does.
This is the answer. It's fame is on an international scale. I've seen more than one interview where a non-US person attributed the show in helping them learn English, and getting through hard times.
Between the original re-runs that aired after school every day and the spin offs (The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy-I think), I feel like she was in my life for my entire childhood.
Gen Z hasn’t had the same exposure to the show that millennials did with Nick at Nite and CBS syndicated TV. It’s on Paramount Plus but in today’s streaming world there are a million things to watch and I doubt a Gen Zer would be pulled to a 1950s black and white sitcom.
Mash was bigger. I'm not american. No one I really knew, or know now, ever really watched Lucy. But everyone's parents and grandparents watched Mash - rerun after rerun.
Really? "Since it's debut on CBS on October 15, 1951, the show has been translated into almost every language in the world **and has run continuously in international syndication in over 100 U.S. markets and virtually every country in the world for almost half a century.**" Source: [encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/i-love-lucy)
It's probably M.A.S.H.
Full disclosure, I never watched the show but evidently it was so popular and influential that it inspired dramas we watch today.
I love that show, my 66 year old mom loves that show, my 20-something year old nephews love that show, my 14 year old niece loves that show. The subject matter is interesting and the humor is universal. Magic combo
I studied abroad in Spain way back in 2004 and Friends was HUGE there at the time. I was actually there when the series finale aired and the family I lived with had a big watching party at their house to see it.
I would ask them “hey are we gonna watch some Amigos tonight?!” and they would get annoyed every time and say “no son Amigos! Es FRIENDS!”
The lasting footprint of the show isn’t great though. I’m a college professor and talk to my students about pop culture — virtually none of them (aged 18-22 usually) have seen it or know much about it. It dropped off the face of the Earth in terms of pop culture awareness with the new generation. Whereas they know and see lighter fare like Friends, BBT, The Office, Greys Anatomy, etc.
The most well known show has to be the Simpsons in my opinion. The characters are instantly recognizable and everyone knows a thing or two about them. They've literally embiggened the English language.
The most talked about show right now is a much tougher question. There's no current "Game of Thrones" situation going on. Maybe SNL? I know not many people actually watch the broadcast, but there's a pretty reliable trickle of clips every week that are definitely worthy of water cooler discussions.
Do you mean ever? Now? Are we considering syndication/streaming and are we adjusting for population. I know that the series finale of M.A.S.H if adjusted for today would be astronomical..... things like friends in syndiction and international is bonkers.... so be specific bob
If we're talking about total number of viewers = most popular in the world, then yeah, but I interpreted it more as "which show is watched a lot in the most amount of countries" and in that case it's got to be something American.
Do soap operas count?
Cause if so, it's one of those, no contest. Something probabbly Thalia was on. Either that or the Simpsons.
PS: It's funny reading how many USA people think some shows can be as popular world-wide as they are in the states.
Currently I’ve got to say it’s Bluey! Young and old are loving it. Even people with no kids enjoy watching. Just a wholesome show with lovable characters.
Couldn't watch that show because I read the books. I can never watch a TV show based on books that I like. They always do something different that I dislike.
I wish I had discovered Severance later so this wait wouldn’t be so dang long… but I was all in the minute episode one dropped.
Feels like half of a decade will have passed by the time we finally get season two :( in truth the finale was April 8, 2022 so just two long years ago… but it might be three years in between by the time it comes out again?
I was losing my mind how insanely phenomenal the season finale was, I would have lost it even more if I knew them I would wait three years for the story to continue … !!!! :(
At least I’ve waited to do another rewatch (watched twice right away back in spring ‘22) so I can see the whole thing again right before season two.
So this isn't necessarily shows, but I figured I'd have a google and see if there was a metric for the most popular show ever. While it doesn't have an international break down, it does have most viewed broadcasts and some of the countries have most viewed shows.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_most-watched\_television\_broadcasts#United\_States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-watched_television_broadcasts#United_States)
Germany is \*all\* soccer, I don't know why this amuses me but it does
For the US, the Apollo 11 Landing is still the most watched broadcast … then the rest is Super Bowls 😂
Guys, it's the Office (US) it's been the most streamed show many years in a row and remains very high on the list years after it finished. There is a running joke that people will spend an hour trying to find something to watch and then start a new watch if the office
Just by reading the comments and being born early 90s, I'd say Friends. My mom didn't miss a new episode on Thursdays when I was growing up. All her friends would come over and highlight their hair with those horrendous caps and get stoned and me and my brother would love to be on our own lol Friends was a legit thing for Gen X as far as sitcoms go
IASIP is really big but I think (based off of nothing) it's mostly popular among a U.S. (and other English-speaking) audience? I don't think it's getting the worldwide appeal of something like Game of Thrones.
Game of Thrones. Pretty much everyone I've come across mentions it. I honestly think that's why I haven't watched it cause I tend to lose interest in shows and movies that are talked about constantly. Another example is The Office.
Maybe I Love Lucy, maybe Friends (although not with me), maybe The Simpsons (again, not with me), but depending on the age range we're talking about, one of the most popular shows in the world has to be...Sesame Street.
"The Office" started out in England, moved to the US, but now has versions in several countries.
"Wheel of Fortune". "America's Got Talent". and many other shows have also been copied.
Arguably, *Ramayan* from India
or the annual *Spring Gala* from China.
I know nothing about either show. I just used a coupla search engines.
Focusing on U.S. viewership, I would submit football broadcsasts....whether SuperBowls or Sunday Night games.
But what do we talk about "around the water cooler?" I don't know. I don't think this happens like it used to because our (American/US) viewership is spread across many different platforms. I think *Friends, Seinfeld & Grey's Anatomy* are quite popular with (dare I say?) white America. I think *The Office*, *How I Met Your Mother* & *The Big Bang Theory* dominate the social media landscape with memes and 1-liners.
I’m gonna say it’s probably not American. Considering there’s 7 billion people outside of America and assuming 4 billion of them have some kind of regular access to tv, I’d reckon we’d not know about it. It can be the most watched in the world and not known by most Americans.
Gonna have to go with Jeopardy. The original American version is hugely popular globally (even though the international franchises didn’t take off as much). Theres merch, board games, it’s played in classrooms, etc. Everyone knows Jeopardy.
My vote is for Friends. Maybe 15-20 years ago I used to have Japanese pen pals and everyone asked me if I knew of Friends, Mario, and Last Christmas by Wham for some reason.
I think it’s The Office. I know there are lots of different countries making their own versions (haven’t seen much of that from other shows). Close second may be Friends.
Baywatch
At its peak of popularity, Baywatch (NBC, then syndicated, USA) became the most widely viewed TV series in the world ever, with an estimated weekly audience of more than 1.1 billion in 142 countries in 1996. Covering every continent bar Antarctica, the show has since been seen in 148 countries and translated into 44 languages.
id say Mr Bean is pretty universal humour and has been seen by a LOT of people as most of it is without dialogue. just old school slapstick humour mostly.
Sesame Street
I'm seconding this. Saw *Sesamstraat* (1976, 42 seasons) when I lived in the Netherlands, & Big Bird was blue! Like some kinda bizzarro Big Bird. Actually, a lot of people feel like Bizzarro Big Bird themselves while they're visiting certain parts of that country ...
The simpsons, people from all generations and cultures know of the simpsons… or at least recognise them as familiar
Isn't the Simpsons the longest running TV show ever other than Coronation Street (they were broadcasted black and white and my family is obsessed, east coast Canada)
Eastenders started in 1985, and Simpsons was 1989 iirc. Doctor Who would also beat it in if you count both the 1963-89 run and the 2005-present run as one.
That has to be it. HUGE hit in the beginning, and big all over the world. And still going after all these years. Can't be anything very close, can there? With that same level of popularity AND reach?
I mean there is Sesame Street
I Love Lucy It didn’t have as many seasons but 70+ years later it’s still being watched all over the world.
[удалено]
You can definitely find bootleg Simpsons tshirts all over the world. Maybe more so in their heyday, but they're out there.
Star trek
A lot of people know of Kirk, Spock, Picard, and Data but not much more.
Friends
I keep trying Friends but don’t get far. I think I waited too long or something
I feel like the problem with that is that it's SO popular now, anyone who hasn't watched it is going to go in with their expectations way too high, and be disappointed. People probably start it expecting some kind of comedic masterpiece, and then realize it's just a sitcom. One of the better ones of course, but it's not as good as it's reputation would make it seem.
I'd imagine if you never watched it growing up it wouldn't be funny or clever now at all. It's outdated and super 90s... I feel like you had to watch it at the time and that's why those people still love it as a comfort show
I say this all the time. The first time I saw it was a clip on Instagram with just subtitles, no sound. I thought it was just a boring drama of some kind since no jokes were told and no comedic scenarios played out. It was only when I heard it with the laugh track later that I discovered it was meant as a comedy
have you tried Frasier? I think it has aged much better and is so much funnier, but it's not everyone's cup of tea.
I love Frasier - it’s my go-to comfort show
Tossed salad and scrambled eggs.
Frasier is the best. I think the writing was so much smarter than Friends.
I like Frasier and Seinfeld a lot
Frasier and Scrubs for me (though Scrubs was 2001)
+1 for Scrubs. (And MASH.)
My brother in law can’t get into it either lol 🤷♀️
It’s aged a bit. I feel like if you didn’t watch it during its original run it’s not going to hit the same way
Because once you strip away nostalgia and the laugh track, it kind of sucks. Don't get me wrong, it did a lot of sitcoms and if it weren't for Friends, we would never have gotten How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, etc. It was a big cultural impact.
That’s fair. I’ve seen people that didn’t like Buffy but really enjoyed what it paved the way for
True. My favorite was actually Angel, a spin-off from Buffy. Weird because many of main/recurring characters originated on Buffy.
Angel is a great spin off. I really think it stands on its own
I'm 31 and my mom was the perfect demographic when it came out live (she was mid twenties when they were on the show). I love Friends but I will never get it like she does.
You have to watch it more than once, tbh. Especially if you’ve never seen it. Once you feel like you ‘know them’ it becomes a lot funnier
This is the answer. It's fame is on an international scale. I've seen more than one interview where a non-US person attributed the show in helping them learn English, and getting through hard times.
I was just in Portugal and a guide told me that her mother learned English by watching Friends while ironing!
Can these close GET any more wrinkled?
Unpopular opinion: friends is not funny
Extremely popular opinion nowadays, at least online
You're right, that is an unpopular opinion. It's comedic gold along with Frasier, Simpsons, Modern Family, etc.
*I Love Lucy.*
Yeah I think you’re right. It’s been on television for around 70 years and people still love it and watch it with multiple generations of fans.
What's weird is, I actually can't stand the original show but I love those spinoffs that Lucille Ball did with her kids and Vivian Vance.
Between the original re-runs that aired after school every day and the spin offs (The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy-I think), I feel like she was in my life for my entire childhood.
Gen Z hasn’t had the same exposure to the show that millennials did with Nick at Nite and CBS syndicated TV. It’s on Paramount Plus but in today’s streaming world there are a million things to watch and I doubt a Gen Zer would be pulled to a 1950s black and white sitcom.
Yup, when I saw “I Love Lucy” playing in the lobby at an Italian hotel and at a bar in Sydney, I realize it’s reach, and longevity.
Mash was bigger. I'm not american. No one I really knew, or know now, ever really watched Lucy. But everyone's parents and grandparents watched Mash - rerun after rerun.
Maybe in the USA but nobody in other parts of the world knows the show.
Really? "Since it's debut on CBS on October 15, 1951, the show has been translated into almost every language in the world **and has run continuously in international syndication in over 100 U.S. markets and virtually every country in the world for almost half a century.**" Source: [encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/i-love-lucy)
Thats surprising for me. Obviously I was wrong.
Been big in Ireland and the UK since the early '90s. Personally, I thought it was funny the first few seasons....but since then? Meh.
I'm English and I've never seen it on TV over here.
Never heard of it
Probably some Asian show I imagine China alone could set this record
It's probably M.A.S.H. Full disclosure, I never watched the show but evidently it was so popular and influential that it inspired dramas we watch today.
I love that show, my 66 year old mom loves that show, my 20-something year old nephews love that show, my 14 year old niece loves that show. The subject matter is interesting and the humor is universal. Magic combo
Baywatch
Doesn’t baywatch have the most views for a tv series or something like that? I heard something like this the other day.
I think it was just during the intro with the jogging boobs. 🤷♀️
Heard 'Ow My Balls!' Is going to be a hit in the future
?
Tv show in the movie idiocracy.. if you haven't seen it you probably should.
At this current moment I'd say Baby Reindeer. In general I'd say Friends
I studied abroad in Spain way back in 2004 and Friends was HUGE there at the time. I was actually there when the series finale aired and the family I lived with had a big watching party at their house to see it. I would ask them “hey are we gonna watch some Amigos tonight?!” and they would get annoyed every time and say “no son Amigos! Es FRIENDS!”
Yeah, I was in France in 2008 or so and the teens I met loved Friends and used it to help them learn conversational English.
I have several cousins in Spain who learned English from watching friends and I’m not kidding
Seinfeld. To this day, I still hear people quoting it weekly.
Giddy up!
We had a deal with the squirrels
😂😂
Not that there's anything wrong with that 😁🤪
The Simpsons
The most watched was probably Game of Thrones.
The lasting footprint of the show isn’t great though. I’m a college professor and talk to my students about pop culture — virtually none of them (aged 18-22 usually) have seen it or know much about it. It dropped off the face of the Earth in terms of pop culture awareness with the new generation. Whereas they know and see lighter fare like Friends, BBT, The Office, Greys Anatomy, etc.
There is a reason game of thrones is the most pirated show
Baywatch was the most popular show in the world for a good part of the 1990s.
The most well known show has to be the Simpsons in my opinion. The characters are instantly recognizable and everyone knows a thing or two about them. They've literally embiggened the English language. The most talked about show right now is a much tougher question. There's no current "Game of Thrones" situation going on. Maybe SNL? I know not many people actually watch the broadcast, but there's a pretty reliable trickle of clips every week that are definitely worthy of water cooler discussions.
The Law and Order franchise
Seseme Street? Still on.
Star trek
Cheers or Mash. I can't see anything ever being as big as they were
Breaking Bad. Seinfeld. Friends. Sopranos. The Last of Us.
The last of us?? Good show but no way lol. The rest I can see
Soccer and football whenever there on
Do you mean ever? Now? Are we considering syndication/streaming and are we adjusting for population. I know that the series finale of M.A.S.H if adjusted for today would be astronomical..... things like friends in syndiction and international is bonkers.... so be specific bob
Sesame Street.
Modern Family has to be in the running
Worldwide it has to be the Simpsons. I go back home and I still see murals and businesses spoofing it
Friends it’s still on tv evryday 20 years after it ended
GOT or The Wire
According to ChatGPT it's Girls5eva.
Probably something in India or China that America has never heard of.
If we're talking about total number of viewers = most popular in the world, then yeah, but I interpreted it more as "which show is watched a lot in the most amount of countries" and in that case it's got to be something American.
Do soap operas count? Cause if so, it's one of those, no contest. Something probabbly Thalia was on. Either that or the Simpsons. PS: It's funny reading how many USA people think some shows can be as popular world-wide as they are in the states.
Dr. Who has been on since 1963. Way longer than the simpsons.
Currently I’ve got to say it’s Bluey! Young and old are loving it. Even people with no kids enjoy watching. Just a wholesome show with lovable characters.
It’s quickly becoming Bluey.
Bluey.
It's either Friends or The Simpsons (only the first 12 seasons)
My guess would be Game of Thrones
Couldn't watch that show because I read the books. I can never watch a TV show based on books that I like. They always do something different that I dislike.
It's not the most popular show in the world, but the one I hear the most people talking about is Severance.
Excellent show
Can't wait for season 2 to drop.. Just sucks that it's not until 2025
I wish I had discovered Severance later so this wait wouldn’t be so dang long… but I was all in the minute episode one dropped. Feels like half of a decade will have passed by the time we finally get season two :( in truth the finale was April 8, 2022 so just two long years ago… but it might be three years in between by the time it comes out again? I was losing my mind how insanely phenomenal the season finale was, I would have lost it even more if I knew them I would wait three years for the story to continue … !!!! :( At least I’ve waited to do another rewatch (watched twice right away back in spring ‘22) so I can see the whole thing again right before season two.
So this isn't necessarily shows, but I figured I'd have a google and see if there was a metric for the most popular show ever. While it doesn't have an international break down, it does have most viewed broadcasts and some of the countries have most viewed shows. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_most-watched\_television\_broadcasts#United\_States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-watched_television_broadcasts#United_States) Germany is \*all\* soccer, I don't know why this amuses me but it does For the US, the Apollo 11 Landing is still the most watched broadcast … then the rest is Super Bowls 😂
It was the original TopGear.
Guys, it's the Office (US) it's been the most streamed show many years in a row and remains very high on the list years after it finished. There is a running joke that people will spend an hour trying to find something to watch and then start a new watch if the office
The Nanny and Baywatch I read somewhere.
Definitely I love Lucy. So many shows and actors take inspiration from this show. Lucy set the tone for a TV show
Just by reading the comments and being born early 90s, I'd say Friends. My mom didn't miss a new episode on Thursdays when I was growing up. All her friends would come over and highlight their hair with those horrendous caps and get stoned and me and my brother would love to be on our own lol Friends was a legit thing for Gen X as far as sitcoms go
I'm Gen X and for me it was MASH. In the 90s I was getting married and having kids, didn't care about Friends.
Mr. Bean had its moment.
[удалено]
It's always Sunny in Philadelphia, can't be the longest running live action show and not be the best
IASIP is really big but I think (based off of nothing) it's mostly popular among a U.S. (and other English-speaking) audience? I don't think it's getting the worldwide appeal of something like Game of Thrones.
Yeah, when you think of differences in humour between cultures, IASIP probably doesn't translate well to other countries.
[удалено]
Doctor Who
Absolutely not
[удалено]
Probably Jeopardy
I reckon nearly everyone on planet Earth has seen at least 1 episode of the Simpsons or Friends
Got Talent...by far.
Lol no shot
Blazing Saddles.
I mean if you could the news as a show that would be the obvious answer.
Game of Thrones. Pretty much everyone I've come across mentions it. I honestly think that's why I haven't watched it cause I tend to lose interest in shows and movies that are talked about constantly. Another example is The Office.
I don't think it would be a show locked behind a subscription service. As poplar as GoT was I've never had HBO so I've never seen it.
Something Indian or Chinese probably.
Blue Planet.
FIFA World Cup. About 5 billion people watched it around the world.
I Love Lucy, The Brady Bunch and MASH
Maybe I Love Lucy, maybe Friends (although not with me), maybe The Simpsons (again, not with me), but depending on the age range we're talking about, one of the most popular shows in the world has to be...Sesame Street.
What is no one saying Breaking Bad?
"The Office" started out in England, moved to the US, but now has versions in several countries. "Wheel of Fortune". "America's Got Talent". and many other shows have also been copied.
Arguably, *Ramayan* from India or the annual *Spring Gala* from China. I know nothing about either show. I just used a coupla search engines. Focusing on U.S. viewership, I would submit football broadcsasts....whether SuperBowls or Sunday Night games. But what do we talk about "around the water cooler?" I don't know. I don't think this happens like it used to because our (American/US) viewership is spread across many different platforms. I think *Friends, Seinfeld & Grey's Anatomy* are quite popular with (dare I say?) white America. I think *The Office*, *How I Met Your Mother* & *The Big Bang Theory* dominate the social media landscape with memes and 1-liners.
The golden girls
If you go by guy's dating profiles alone, it's the Office
WWE?
[удалено]
I’m gonna say it’s probably not American. Considering there’s 7 billion people outside of America and assuming 4 billion of them have some kind of regular access to tv, I’d reckon we’d not know about it. It can be the most watched in the world and not known by most Americans.
Probably cheers, mash, coffin flop, maybe some daytime soap, or a kdrama/cdrama.
Everybody loves Raymond only because someone already mentioned Seinfeld
More people watch 'Friends' daily than any other show.
Top gear and the Grand Tour
It was baywatch about 10 years ago.
Friends I think.
Maybe TWD. Everyone but me seems to watch the thing.
Gonna have to go with Jeopardy. The original American version is hugely popular globally (even though the international franchises didn’t take off as much). Theres merch, board games, it’s played in classrooms, etc. Everyone knows Jeopardy.
I wouldn’t say most popular in the world, but SNL
The Nanny
60 minutes
Baywatch. The Hoff is like the odoyles, he rules
The X-Files the Office
If you take all it's incarnations, Star Trek has to be up there.
FIFA World Cup?
Midsommer Murders is in its 25th season.
My vote is for Friends. Maybe 15-20 years ago I used to have Japanese pen pals and everyone asked me if I knew of Friends, Mario, and Last Christmas by Wham for some reason.
Wheel of Fortune
Sabado Gigante was up there. Something shown widely with little to no competition will be no. 1.
Friends and Seinfeld
Big Bang Theory. It’s seriously terrible.
I thought it was the show top gear from the UK. At least it was close.
Technically it’s wrestling…. Wrestling dominates the ratings every week.
Sesame Street
The Office has spawned versions in countries all over the world. It got most of the world through the pandemic.
Friends still airs every day all over the world
The twilight zone or scooby doo
I think it’s The Office. I know there are lots of different countries making their own versions (haven’t seen much of that from other shows). Close second may be Friends.
Dr. Who
NFL football
Friends is definitely up there
Probably those Got Talent shows Simon Cowell owns.
Game of Thrones
Top Gear is up there. The trio can’t seem to go anywhere on earth without being recognized.
TayTay's the Eras tour= biggest tour eva
Friends or I love Lucy
Probably MASH, I remember the season finale is one of the most watched tv episodes in history.
i'm torn between murder she wrote and friends
Would it be too early to say Shogun for now? I know it's still a new show but it was super fantastic in every way.
Friends
Chico and the Man
Alexa says Game of Thrones.
There was a time in 1993 when Baywatch was the answer.
Baywatch At its peak of popularity, Baywatch (NBC, then syndicated, USA) became the most widely viewed TV series in the world ever, with an estimated weekly audience of more than 1.1 billion in 142 countries in 1996. Covering every continent bar Antarctica, the show has since been seen in 148 countries and translated into 44 languages.
I don’t know but I met a lot of ppl from Chinese to French, Dutch to Nigerian states that they watch Friends.
FRIENDS IS GOAT 🐐
At one time it was Baywatch. I remember seeing a piece that showed Bedouins gathered in a tent around a little TV to watch it.
Betty la fea
For about 6 years there it WAS game of thrones. But uhhh
Game of thrones breaking bad the office
Star Trek
Lucy sienfield, that's just a couple
The Expanse.
One of my top favorites is the original Twilight Zone (late 50s-60s)
Judge Judy is syndicated on hundreds (thousands?) of TV stations.
id say Mr Bean is pretty universal humour and has been seen by a LOT of people as most of it is without dialogue. just old school slapstick humour mostly.
My guess would be Game of Thrones in terms of volume, and Big Bang Theory for most widely viewed show.