We're often led to believe that we should all be watching heavy-hitting, thought-provoking documentaries about the world's biggest issues in our spare time - not logging on to Netflix and binging on sitcoms for several hours, polishing off an entire share bag of Chilli Heatwave Doritos all by yourself.



But it turns out that indulging in the latter might not actually be such a bad thing after all. Well, the sitcom bit, not the excessive crisp-munching...

According to a survey by DIRECTV, people who watch Friends apparently do better in exams, which is music to our ears.

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The survey explored the relationship between TV shows and intelligence, having polled universities in the US and comparing their SAT scores to the TV programmes they watch and enjoy the most.

It turns out that US sitcom Friends came out as a favourite among people who performed best in exams, with the research finding that, overall, comedy lovers are more likely to smash their tests than drama fans.

As well as Friends coming out on top for SAT scores, there were plenty of other comedy shows that showed there's a link between being a bit of a boffin and a good ol' laugh in front of the telly.

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The Simpsons - which was the most popular show from respondents - also joined the likes of Seinfeld and South Park as shows favoured by the more academically gifted viewers.

Outside of the comedy realm, similar links were found with those who watched Top Gear, Sherlock and House of Cards - which are, of course, all great shows that we're all more than happy to watch more of.

So what about shows that had a correlation with lower SAT scores? Well, you're probably not going to like this much.

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We're talking Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Arrested Development, Dexter, The Wire and Band of Brothers, which all came out as favourites among those with lower than average SAT results. Dammit.

Looks like you'd better fire up some episodes of Friends, doesn't it?



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Luckily, Netflix added the classic comedy to its extensive catalogue at the beginning of this year, opening it up to an entirely new generation of viewers.



The streaming service confirmed the good news with a simple tweet that said: 'The One With The Show Everyone's Been Asking Us To Add.'