House Is the "World's Most Popular Show"

Grumpy, witty ol' Dr. House and his team have won over audiences all around the world, according to a poll conducted by ratings agency Eurodata TV Worldwide. In 2008, Fox's House apparently "gathered more than 81.8 million viewers in 66 countries, representing a potential 1.6 billion viewers." This is significantly higher than the number of viewers earned by the shows topping the 2006 and 2007 lists in the TV drama category, CSI: Las Vegas and CSI: Miami. And for a second year, Desperate Housewives is the most popular TV comedy with 65.3 million viewers worldwide, beating out Monk and Ugly Betty.

Does this surprise you? Is there something (perhaps Hugh Laurie?) about House that is universally appealing? Are there other shows that could have taken the top spot instead?

Photo courtesy of Fox