It isn't strange behavior for TV viewers to want to live vicariously through their favorite TV characters, especially when it comes to comedies. (Though there are definitely some Walter White wannabes out there.) But what about living next to some of those TV familiars? Well, according to a recent survey, The Big Bang Theory's Leonard and Penny are the characters that people would want to live next to the most in 2018. (On average, anyway.) But is it because they want to borrow Leonard's hoodies, or because they want Penny's bubbly personality?
Sadly, the survey didn't have a write-in section where people got to express their innermost desires for hypothetical fictional neighbors. Whatever the justification, it's apparent that Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco's sitcom couple have the ideal level of proximity-appeal going into the new year. And according to the realty website Zillow, which sponsored the report, Leonard and Penny's popularity was consistent across several different demographics tied to gender, age and education levels. Just in case anyone thought that there was an overabundance of comic-loving physicists being surveyed. (Fun-esque fact: West-centric responders were the least impressed with the Big Bang Theory duo as neighbors.)
This is the first time that Zillow inquired about people's preferences as far as TV neighbors go, and perhaps the timing is fortuitous for The Big Bang Theory's Leonard and Penny. After all, it wasn't all that long ago that Sheldon was also one of the people living in that apartment, so he would have been included in this entry. And that likely wouldn't have sat well with responders, as Sheldon and Amy actually came up as the #3 couple that people would NOT want to be neighbors with.
Of the roughly 1,000 people that were surveyed, 19% chose Leonard and Penny as their most-desired neighbor choice, while 9% chose the soon-to-marry Sheldon and Amy as a pair of neighbors they would want to stay away from. It's assumed that people are just neutral about the thought of living next to Howard and Bernadette.
Just under Leonard and Penny on the Good Neighbor list is the Simpson family, which was tied with the Dunphy family at 11% of the votes. Interestingly enough, though, The Simpsons' irreverent clan is actually #1 on the Bad Neighbor list. (Something that Ned Flanders can certainly understand.) They took in a whopping 31% of the votes in the less-positive survey, so on average, every trio of people contains at least one person who doesn't want to live next to Homer this year. Must be people who have a lot of power tools and/or donuts.
Of course, it's definitely worth noting that the true big winners in this survey were the "None of the Above" choices, which got the most votes in both cases. Considering how many families are on TV these days, I guess no one wants to get stuck with such a limited selection. Maybe that's where Howard and Bernadette show up? You can check out the full lineup of results below and draw your own conclusions.
Most Desirable Neighbors for 20181. Leonard Hofstadter and Penny (The Big Bang Theory) - 19%2. The Simpsons (The Simpsons) - 11%3. The Dunphys (Modern Family) - 11%4. Will & Grace (Will & Grace) - 10%5. Jack and Rebecca Pearson (This is Us) - 9%6. The Johnsons (Black-ish) - 5%7. None of the above - 35%Least Desirable Neighbors for 20181. The Simpsons (The Simpsons) - 31%2. The Lannisters (Game of Thrones) - 21%3. Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler (Big Bang Theory) - 9%4. Olivia Pope (Scandal) - 6%5. The Jennings (The Americans) - 5%6. None of the above - 27%
Catch The Big Bang Theory returning to CBS (with Sheldon's mom in tow) on Thursday, January 4, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Be sure to see when everything else is hitting the small screen in the near future with our midseason premiere guide.
