Why Luke Maye, Cookie Lyon and Jack Thornton Are TV’s Social Media MVPs of the Week

TheWrap has partnered with Canvs, a language analytics company that measures emotions around content, for a weekly look at some of the characters and personalities that have TV viewers the most worked up on social media. The data below covers March 22-28 and is drawn from the most emotionally reacted-to television shows, including broadcast, cable, streaming and PPV.

A sophomore Tar Heel, the Empire Co-CEO and a Royal Mountie had viewers talking passionately on social media over the past week.

Once again a NCAA Basketball Tournament game had the most Emotional Reactions (ERs) over the last week — 108,468 ERs during the Kentucky vs. North Carolina matchup. With a second left on the clock, sophomore Luke Maye hit the game-winning shot that sealed victory for North Carolina, and in doing so became the most talked about player of the night. Tar Heels fans wasted no time labeling him the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) — but of course with the good comes the bad, and other people were … a bit less appreciative.

Also Read: Ratings: CBS' March Madness Enacts Revenge on ABC's 'TGIT'

Outside of sports, the most emotionally-reacted to show with 43,551 ERs was Fox’s “Empire,” which started airing again last Wednesday night after a three-month break. Fans rejoiced at the series’ return, and went especially Twitter-crazy over the character Cookie Lyon (portrayed by Taraji P. Henson). In the first minutes of the episode Cookie antagonized Lucious (the second most-discussed character of the broadcast), and viewers were cheering her on.

Also Read: Ratings: 'Empire' Returns to Hand Fox Wednesday Win

Another show that had viewers talking was Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart,” which racked up 34,390 ERs with one tearjerker of an episode. Jack Thornton (played by Daniel Lissing) was the most-mentioned character, closely followed by Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow). People were utterly thrilled that Jack finally proposed to Elizabeth, but were equally crushed about his decision to leave Hope Valley for his job in the Mounties.

Related stories from TheWrap:

'This Is Us' Breakthrough: For First Time in 13 Years, an NBC Scripted Show Is Most-Watched on TV

Vin Diesel Tears Up Over 'Fate of the Furious' Without Paul Walker: 'We Never Want to Let Him Down'

Cara Delevingne Is Luc Besson's Latest Siren in 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets' CinemaCon Trailer

The Scene at CinemaCon 2017: Dwayne Johnson, Tom Holland, Cara Delevingne and More (Photos)