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College students watch television shows to keep up with culture and language, to relax after long hours of studying, and as a way to spend time together. In a large and diverse country such as the United States, television has a way of bringing people together and creating common experiences.

Some of the most popular television programs, according to Nielsen Media Research, are CSI (Crime Scene Investigation), Desperate Housewives, Survivor, and Two and a Half Men.
These shows air once weekly on one of the major network stations. Some popular shows that run in syndication (repeats of old episodes) are Seinfeld, Friends, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Many students, usually more women than men, enjoy watching soap operas. A soap opera is a dramatic show that typically airs in the early afternoon—a time when many college students have breaks between classes. Some popular soap operas are General Hospital, All My Children, Days of our Lives, and As the World Turns.

Cartoons are also popular with U.S. college students. The Cartoon Network runs cartoons all day every day. Some of these shows are intended for children, while some feature content for adults—particularly those that are shown in the “Adult Swim” late-night time slots (shows such as Family Guy and Cowboy Bebop). Some students choose to watch the Disney Network, which features a lot of cartoons, even though shows there are usually geared toward an elementary school audience.

Some students choose to watch talk shows such as Maury and The Jerry Springer Show, which feature a host who interviews guests regarding unusual issues within their lives. The guests on these shows are not actors, but their stories are often sensationalized and their reactions exaggerated to appeal to television audiences. The situations represented on these shows are not typical of life in the United States.