The 10 Most Popular TV Shows & Actors on Social Media (PHOTOS)
Dwayne Johnson
Johnson’s HBO comedy Ballers ended a few weeks ago, and — in case you couldn’t smell what The Rock was cooking — he also returned to the WWE for SmackDown’s 20th anniversary around the same time.
Priyanka Chopra
Chopra is a huge Bollywood star, but for many stateside fans, she’s best known for the ABC thriller Quantico.
Cole Sprouse
Sprouse, who starred in Disney Channel’s Suite Life franchise with twin brother Dylan, is now playing Jughead Jones on the CW teen drama Riverdale.
Eugenio Derbez
Derbez, who topped Variety Latino’s Power List in 2014, is the creator and star of the Mexican sitcoms XHDRBZ, Vecinos, and La familia P. Luche, among other TV shows.
George Takei
The actor formerly known as Star Trek’s Hikaru Sulu drew upon his real-life experience in a Japanese internment camp as a star of AMC’s The Terror: Infamy.
Riverdale
The CW’s moody reimagining of the Archie Comics routinely proves its popularity by sweeping each year’s Teen Choice Awards.
Grey’s Anatomy
The ABC medical drama is tackling healthcare reform in this 16th season, even as the Grey Sloan doctors go their separate ways.
The Walking Dead
The AMC zombie hit has suffered waning ratings this season, but it got a shot in the arm with the announcement of Lauren Cohan’s forthcoming return.
Stranger Things
Netflix’s nostalgia-laden sci-fi hit has spawned novels, comic books, mobile games, a Lego set, and even a themed Dungeons & Dragons starter kit.
Supernatural
The long-running CW show made headlines for off-screen drama recently when star Jared Padalecki was arrested for allegedly assaulting two employees at a bar he owns in Austin, Texas.
In this social media age, follower counts can make or break Hollywood stars and TV shows. (Is it really a coincidence, for example, that Jennifer Aniston joined Instagram just before the premiere of her Apple+ show?)
And some Hollywood entities are doing a great job going viral, intentionally or otherwise.
The Hollywood Reporter routinely tracks the most popular personalities and TV shows using social media data provided by MVPindex, and the gallery above shows the top five TV stars and the top five shows from the magazine’s latest Social Climbers Chart.
Technical note: We’re only including the stars who acted in a TV show this year or who are best known for their TV work. Sorry, Chris Hemsworth, and apologies to you, Jennifer Lopez….
